Mexico Aguinaldo Calculator
Calculate the Mexican Christmas bonus by law (LFT Article 87) — 15 days minimum, proportional for a partial year, with the 30-UMA ISR exemption.
Rates verified against the LFT and DOF; nothing you type is sentCalculate the Mexican aguinaldo — 15 days minimum by law, proportional for a partial year
Decimals: use a period or a comma — 15000 or 15,000.50. 2026 UMA: $117.31 a day (DOF, January 9, 2026).
How the aguinaldo works and how the exempt / taxable split is computed
The Mexican aguinaldo is a mandatory year-end bonus that every worker is entitled to under Article 87 of the Federal Labor Law (LFT). The legal minimum is 15 days of salary, paid before December 20 each year, prorated if you worked less than the full calendar year. Many employers pay more — 20, 30, even 40 days — but 15 is the floor by law. This calculator applies the exact formula (daily salary × days × proportion worked) and adds the ISR exemption of 30 UMA that comes from Article 93.XIV of the Income Tax Law (LISR). Argentina’s aguinaldo (the SAC, 50% of the best monthly salary of each half-year) is a different calculation with its own calculator on this site.
Enter your monthly salary, the days of aguinaldo your employer pays (default 15), and the days you actually worked this calendar year (365 if you were on payroll all of it). The tool converts monthly to a daily rate by dividing by 30, multiplies by the days of aguinaldo, and prorates by (days_worked / 365). The result is the gross aguinaldo before taxes.
The aguinaldo is not optional: Article 87 of the LFT says workers who have not completed a full year on the job are still entitled to it in proportion to the time worked, whatever their length of service. That covers new hires, temporary workers, and — under the LFT reforms of 2019 and 2022 — domestic workers. It even applies if you were terminated: the employer must pay the proportional aguinaldo along with the final settlement (finiquito). Employers who miss the December 20 deadline face fines from the Secretaría del Trabajo y Previsión Social (STPS).
On the tax side, part of the aguinaldo is exempt from ISR (income tax) and part is taxable. The exempt portion is capped at 30 UMA — the Unidad de Medida y Actualización, a reference value published each January in the Diario Oficial de la Federación. Anything below the cap is fully exempt; anything above is added to the taxable income for the period and subject to your usual ISR bracket. The calculator shows both portions so you can see how much of your aguinaldo will actually reach your pocket after withholding.
Everything runs in your browser: your salary and days never leave the page. The calculation matches the LFT formula and the DOF-published UMA held as a constant at the top of the source; if the DOF publishes a new UMA in any January, only that one number needs updating. This tool computes the aguinaldo itself and the exempt / taxable split; it does NOT apply your specific ISR bracket to the taxable portion, because that depends on your total annual income and your tax status — for that you need your specific ISR table or a payroll system.
The aguinaldo formula, step by step
The LFT does not give a formula in numbers — it just says "15 days of salary" and "proportional if partial year." The math that translates that into a peso amount is standard payroll practice:
salario_diario = salario_mensual / 30
aguinaldo_full = salario_diario × dias_aguinaldo
proporcion = dias_trabajados / 365
aguinaldo = aguinaldo_full × proporcion
Exemption:
ISR_exento = min(aguinaldo, 30 × UMA_diaria)
ISR_gravable = aguinaldo - ISR_exento- Take your monthly salary (before deductions) and divide by 30 to get your daily salary. A monthly of $15,000 MXN gives a daily of $500.
- Multiply the daily salary by the days of aguinaldo your employer pays. Most pay the legal minimum of 15; some pay 20, 30 or more. $500 × 15 = $7,500 for a full year.
- Prorate by days worked. If you worked all 365 days, the factor is 1 and the aguinaldo stays at $7,500. Hired March 1 and calculating December 20 is about 295 days: $7,500 × (295 / 365) ≈ $6,061.
- Apply the ISR exemption. The first 30 UMA are tax-free. Anything above 30 UMA is added to your taxable income for the period and subject to your usual ISR bracket.
Common aguinaldo mistakes and misunderstandings
| The mistake | What it produces | The correct behavior |
|---|---|---|
| Dividing monthly salary by 30.4 or 30.5 | A slightly smaller daily rate and lower aguinaldo | LFT precedent uses a straight 30-day month for daily salary; divide by 30. |
| Treating "15 days" as calendar days | A tiny aguinaldo for full-year workers | The "15" is DAYS OF SALARY, not calendar days. For a full year the multiplier is 15 days of salary. |
| Withholding 30% ISR on the entire aguinaldo | Too much tax withheld | The first 30 UMA are exempt from ISR. Withholding applies only to the excess, at your period bracket. |
| Skipping aguinaldo for temporary or new workers | Illegal underpayment | LFT Article 87 covers everyone in proportion to time worked. New hires, temporary, domestic — all get their pro-rata share. |
| Paying after December 20 | Fines from STPS | December 20 is a legal cap. Late payment triggers labor sanctions on top of the obligation to pay. |
| Rolling aguinaldo into the regular monthly payroll | Removes the ISR exemption benefit | The aguinaldo must be identified as such on the receipt; that identification is what activates the 30-UMA exemption. Rolling it into monthly salary loses the exemption. |
One further note for domestic workers: the LFT was reformed in 2019 and again in 2022 to explicitly include trabajadoras and trabajadores del hogar. If a household employer does not pay aguinaldo, it is a labor law violation, not a tradition or a "propina" — the STPS handles complaints.
FAQ
How much aguinaldo am I entitled to by law?
At least 15 days of your daily salary, prorated for the days you actually worked in the calendar year. Article 87 of the LFT is explicit: 15 days is the minimum, not a suggestion, and workers with less than a full year are still entitled in proportion. Your daily salary is your monthly salary divided by 30, so someone earning $15,000 MXN a month has a daily salary of $500 and a legal-minimum aguinaldo of $7,500 for a full year — pro rata if not.
When must my employer pay it?
Before December 20 of the year the aguinaldo covers. That deadline is set by the LFT and applies to permanent, temporary, and domestic workers alike. If you were terminated during the year, the proportional aguinaldo has to be included in the finiquito (final settlement) paid within days of the termination, not held until December.
Is any of the aguinaldo tax-free?
Yes — the first 30 UMA are exempt from ISR under Article 93.XIV of the LISR. With the 2026 UMA of $117.31 a day (published in the DOF on January 9, 2026, in force from February 1), the exempt cap is 30 × $117.31 = $3,519.30 MXN. If your aguinaldo is below the cap, none of it is taxed. Above the cap, the excess is added to your period-taxable income and subject to your regular ISR bracket. The calculator shows both portions.
What if I was hired partway through the year?
You get a proportional aguinaldo. Enter the days you actually worked this year in the "days worked" field: for example, hired March 1 and calculating on December 20 is about 295 days, and the aguinaldo comes out to (15 × 295 / 365) ≈ 12.12 days of salary. The formula is the same whether you were hired in March or September — only the days-worked number changes.
Does the calculator apply the exact ISR to the taxable portion?
No — deliberately. Mexican ISR is a progressive-bracket tax that depends on your total annual income and your tax status (asalariado, honorarios, RESICO). Different brackets apply the "aguinaldo procedure" (Article 174 of the LISR) or the standard periodic calculation depending on how the employer processes it. Because the answer depends on your whole tax situation, this tool stops at showing the exempt and taxable portions — the input that any ISR calculation needs.