On February 21st, 2025, the Decree amending, adding, and repealing various provisions of the Law of the National Workers’ Housing Fund Institute (“INFONAVIT” or the “Institute”) was published in the Official Gazette of the Federation (“DOF”), becoming effective on February 22nd, 2025.
Before this amendment, said article stated that the employers’ obligations to contribute five percent of workers’ salaries and deduct from workers’ salaries amounts intended for repayment of loans granted by the Institute would be suspended if salaries were not paid due to absences in accordance with the Social Security Law, provided INFONAVIT was duly notified. In the case of disabilities issued by the Mexican Social Security Institute (“IMSS”), the obligation to make contributions to the Institute would remain in effect.
With the amendment, the suspension of the employer’s obligation to make contributions remains applicable when salaries are not paid due to absences, provided that INFONAVIT is timely notified. Nevertheless, the obligation to deduct amounts from workers’ salaries for loan repayments granted by the Institute will no longer be suspended in cases of absences or IMSS-certified disabilities.
This implies that employers must make payments on behalf of employees for loans granted by INFONAVIT when employees do not receive salaries due to absences or disabilities determined by the IMSS.
It is important to highlight that the obligation to remit these deductions to the Institute has a tax nature, implying potential legal consequences in case of noncompliance.
Notwithstanding the mandatory nature of the amended Article 29, penultimate paragraph, of the INFONAVIT Law, on March 13th, 2025, the Institute published regulatory criterion for tax collection 01/2025 regarding said article. This criterion setsforth that employers must proportionally adjust the calculation of deductions from their employees’ salaries intended for loan repayments for days when salaries are unpaid due to absences or disabilities. Moreover, it clarifies that employers must not deduct more than the salary actually paid to the employee and are not obligated to cover amounts that could not be deducted.
Within the same regulatory criterion, the Institute indicated that it is in the process of determining the granting of a timeframe to allow employers to properly implement this provision (as we understand, regarding the article in question).
It is important to emphasize that the criteria issued by INFONAVIT are merely guiding documents and not legally binding; thus, they do not alter the intent of the amendment to article 29, penultimate paragraph.
This amendment, contradicts several constitutional principles, meaning that there are grounds to challenge it through an “Amparo Indirecto” proceeding within 30 days following its effective date (deadline: April 4th, 2025), or alternatively, within 15 days following the specific act in which the amended Article 29, penultimate paragraph, is applied adversely against employers.
Our Tax and Social Security Practice Group has extensive experience in handling constitutional litigation in tax and social security-related matters and remains at your disposal should you have any questions or require further clarification regarding this amendment.
