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INSS lifetime review
What is Lifetime Review?
In 2022, the STF recognized the right of retirees who went to court to request that their benefits be recalculated based on alls social security contributions made throughout your working life.
Until then, the calculation was made based only on the remuneration of these workers from July 1994, when the Real Plan was implemented, putting an end to hyperinflation. In other words, from the moment the real became the country’s currency.
A INSS lifetime review it would only be valid for those who retired before 2019, the year of the Pension Reform. If you are going to retire later, see how much time is left and the value of the benefit in the GLOBO calculator. If you are not viewing the calculator, click here.
How was the STF’s judgment on the review of your entire life?
After the 2022 decision of the STF, the INSS appealed and the review did not come into effectr. The body claimed that it was necessary to establish some parameters before applying any correction to social security benefits, resulting from the new interpretation of the law. The INSS wants to restrict the effects of the decision because this would have a strong financial impact on the Social Security accounts, which are already in deficit.
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However, the STF has not yet evaluated this INSS resource. This appeal was also on this Thursday’s agenda, but first the ministers decided to analyze two other actions that question changes to the pension system promoted by a 1999 law, which implemented the pension reform of President Fernando Henrique Cardoso’s government.
When analyzing these actions, the ministers approved a thesis that establishes that the insured cannot opt for the most favorable rule. By majority, the court understood that policyholders do not have the right to choose, even if the rule is more beneficial to them. It is a decision exactly opposite to reviewing your entire life.
Would the lifetime review be automatic?
No, after completing all the procedures at the Supreme Court, only those who already have a case in court or who file a lawsuit would benefit, as long as it meets the required deadline and criteria.
The Social Security reform carried out in 1999 determined that Brazilians could retire considering the average salary of the 80% highest contributions made from July 1994 onwards. The date was chosen as a milestone because this was the month in which the Real Plan came into force. Before that, the country was experiencing a period of hyperinflation, and the calculation of monetary correction could create distortions.
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In 2022, however, the STF plenary decided that the “whole life review” mechanism was constitutional. This means that all social security contributions made to the INSS by workers in the period prior to July 1994 can be taken into account when recalculating pensions, which tends to increase the income of some retirees.
In general terms, for the “whole life review” to be advantageous, the taxpayer must have paid, before 1994, higher amounts of social security contributions than those collected afterwards.
Who would be entitled to a lifetime review?
The review in benefit values, if it were in force, would benefit taxpayers with the following requirements:
- Have retired (received the first retirement payment) less than ten years ago. After that, the deadline for being entitled to review expires. This is because there is a deadline (from the granting of the benefit) to file any request for value review.
- Have retired before the start of the last pension reform, that is, before November 2019.
- Have started working formally (i.e., with a signed work card or contributing to the INSS as a self-employed person) before July 1994.
In February 2023, the INSS stated that it was “totally willing” to comply with the decision, but still requested the suspension of processes on the grounds that there was still room for appeal.
Minister Alexandre Moraes, who is the rapporteur of the process, partially accepted the decision. He suspended the processing of processes that dealt with the issue. But he demanded that the INSS present a schedule for paying for the review.
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In March last year, in a statement sent to the STF, the institute stated that it could only “present a minimally feasible schedule” when it knew the exact terms of the decision, which would occur when the trial ruling was published. This was published on April 13th.
In May, the INSS filed a motion for clarification, which is a legal instrument used to request clarification of certain points in the decision. When presenting the embargoes, the institute requested the suspension of the processes until a final decision was reached. This request was accepted by Moraes. Therefore, the matter is still under discussion in the STF.