Mexico IMSS contributions: compare Modalidad 40, independent-worker cover and AFORE saving

Systems covered: IMSS and the AFORE retirement account.

Payroll contributions fund several kinds of insurance

IMSS employer reporting separates retirement, unemployment in advanced age and old-age contributions from other insurance branches. These include occupational risks, sickness and maternity, disability and life, and childcare and social benefits. Housing contributions and loan repayments are also separate items in the employer's SUA reporting system. Therefore, the full social-security payment is not the amount credited to retirement savings. Obtain your registered contribution salary, payslips, IMSS weeks record and AFORE statement. Keep deductions you paid apart from employer contributions and any separately identified government contribution. The pension treatment must be confirmed for your own applicable regime.

Disputed weeks and authorised retrospective payments are different

If the IMSS weeks certificate does not match actual employment, request Constancia de aclaracion de semanas cotizadas, using your NSS, CURP and supporting affiliation records. IMSS directs workers whose employer never registered them to its inspection area for a complaint. This is different from paying voluntary arrears. The continuation procedure can allow an approved start from the day after leaving compulsory coverage, with the omitted contributions payable; reinstatement after payment default has separate conditions and surcharges. Ask the subdelegation for the authorised dates and payment notice rather than buying an arbitrary block of missing years.

Choose voluntary cover by the protection it provides

Modalidad 40 lets qualifying former insured workers continue specified pension and disability/life insurance. Eligibility depends on prior contributions and leaving compulsory employment, and the chosen salary must satisfy the official limits. IMSS must check the application and contribution history. This continuation does not itself provide current medical services. Independent workers can instead examine the separate Personas Trabajadoras Independientes scheme, which combines broader social protection with retirement saving, subject to its own registration and payments. An AFORE voluntary deposit is another distinct action: verify how the administrator classifies it and do not assume that a deposit alone adds IMSS weeks.

A retirement deduction requires the correct account and holding conditions

SAT allows qualifying complementary and voluntary retirement contributions, including eligible personal retirement plans, under its deduction rules. Contributions must meet permanence conditions, use an eligible provider and have the required fiscal evidence; freely withdrawable savings should not automatically be treated as deductible retirement contributions. The deduction is constrained by income and an annual UMA-based ceiling. Confirm the payment year's rules without substituting an old peso limit. Check your RFC, payment method and annual certificate against the return. Obtain the actual tax saving and any withdrawal consequences from SAT-compliant advice. Do not apply the AFORE deduction rule automatically to a Modalidad 40 bill.

Which step should you take next?

1. If recorded IMSS weeks are wrong, request an official clarification before pricing any voluntary continuation.
2. If you have left employment, ask IMSS which continuation dates and insurance branches are available; if you work independently, compare the separate independent-worker scheme.
3. If an AFORE contribution is intended to be deductible, obtain the provider's confirmation of its classification, holding conditions, fiscal certificate and payment-year limit.

Compare your contribution costs →

What the cost calculator needs

Use your IMSS recognised-weeks certificate and approved payment notice, payroll receipts, paid bank references and AFORE statements. Enter only personal amounts actually payable or paid, and use a confirmed SAT tax calculation for relief. Employer and government credits shown on the account belong in separate fields; do not treat a total AFORE balance or projected pension as a contribution.

It adds confirmed payment amounts and separates cash tax savings from funding paid by others. It does not calculate statutory liability from salary, buy contribution years, choose an insurance product or predict pension entitlement.