Note published on May 19 in La Jornada, Política [Politics] Section by Jared Laureles.
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The amount of an additional 100 billion pesos, estimated by the Department of Labor and Social Welfare (STPS) to be paid for the concept of profit sharing this year will not be reached “even in half” because companies are still in the process of economic recovery, in the opinion of Ricardo Martínez Rojas, directing partner of the De la Vega & Martínez Firm.
“It will be a difficult year, because the pandemic lasted throughout all of 2021 and inflation rose significantly; it will be hard for companies to have a strong participation of the workers in company profits (PTU)”, he said. “There is, in fact, an improvement in the case of many workers” in this aspect, but “I do not believe that the limits predicted by the Department of Labor will be reached”, he added in an interview.
César Salazar López, an academic at the Institute of Economic Research (IIEc) of the UNAM [National Autonomous University of Mexico], stated that the more than 21 million workers with formal jobs registered before the Mexican Social Security Institute are the ones who are entitled to the payment of PTU, but this will depend on the economic situation of each company given that, he agreed, “not all of them will be in a position to report profits this year, as economic activity has not yet recovered” to pre-pandemic levels.
In 2021, small and medium-sized companies distributed profits amounting to 103 thousand 992 million pesos, according to data from the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (Inegi).
By sector, the manufacturing industry concentrated 58 percent of the payment of profits, paying more than 61 billion pesos to its workers for that concept; wholesale commerce took second place, with 11 thousand 963 million, and financial and insurance services with a total of 7 thousand 946 million pesos.
According to the 2020 Population and Housing Census, only four out of 10 workers receive this right.
A survey conducted by the OCC Mundial platform showed that 48 percent of the country’s wage earners will receive profits, but 25 percent of those consulted do not know if there were profits or losses in their company during the term and, therefore, they are not sure of whether they will receive the benefit.
The STPS stated that, with the reform on subcontracting, companies formally acknowledged 3 million workers, and it is predicted that they will reach an average profit of 55 days of salary (18 thousand 557 pesos). Thus, it estimated an increase of 100 billion pesos for profit sharing.
Companies have May 30 and individuals June 29 as a deadline for complying with this provision.
The limits derived from the reform will apply this year for the first time: three months of salary or the average of the amount received in the last three years, while maintaining the 10 percent of taxable income that the company reported in its annual tax return.
Among the companies that are exempt from the payment of the PTU we find newly created companies during their first year of operation and those that did not make profits above the amount of 300 thousand pesos.
