Christmas bonus (aguinaldo) calculator (El Salvador)

Calculate your Christmas bonus (aguinaldo) in El Salvador by years of service (15, 19, or 21 days per art. 198), the proportional share for under one year, and the ISR-exempt portion.

Salary type

Choose whether you are entering your ordinary monthly salary or your basic daily salary.

Salary amount

Your basic salary for the chosen type, before deductions, without commissions or bonuses.

Years of service

Full years worked for the same employer. Use 0 if you have not completed a year yet.

Additional months

Full months beyond the years (0 to 11). With less than one year of service, the aguinaldo is proportional.

Fill in the fields to see the result instantly.

Calculation assumptions

The aguinaldo days follow art. 198 of the Labor Code: 15 days for 1 year and under 3, 19 days for 3 years and under 10, and 21 days for 10 years or more. These are legal minimums: your contract or employer may improve the benefit.
If you enter a monthly salary, the daily salary is calculated as monthly salary ÷ 30. This is a calculation convention, not a published rule.
With less than one year of service at October 20, the aguinaldo is proportional to the time worked (art. 197, as reformed by Legislative Decree No. 433 of 2025). This calculator prorates by full months (months ÷ 12); the law does not fix the exact proration arithmetic.
The aguinaldo must be paid between October 20 and December 20 (art. 200, as reformed by Legislative Decree No. 433 of 2025).
The aguinaldo is exempt from ISR up to 2 monthly minimum wages of the commerce and services sector (art. 4 num. 16 of the Income Tax Law): 2 × $408.80 = $817.60 at the current rates. The amount is derived from the minimum wage in force; it is not a fixed figure.
The excess is subject to ISR withholding under the proportional method of Executive Decree No. 10 (2025), lit. g). This calculator shows the excess subject to withholding but does not estimate that withholding, because the method depends on payroll data not entered here.
Transitory decrees may raise the exempt amount for a specific fiscal year (in 2025 it was $1,500). If one is in force, it prevails over the permanent amount.
The aguinaldo is not subject to ISSS or AFP contributions.
Each figure is rounded to 2 decimal places (half up) per line.

What this calculator does

This calculator estimates your Christmas bonus (aguinaldo) in El Salvador under the Labor Code: 15 days of salary for 1 year and under 3 of service, 19 days for 3 and under 10, and 21 days for 10 or more (art. 198). If you have less than one year at October 20, it calculates the proportional share (art. 197, as reformed by Legislative Decree No. 433 of 2025).

It also shows how much of your aguinaldo is exempt from income tax and how much is subject to withholding: the exemption covers up to 2 monthly minimum wages of the commerce and services sector (art. 4 num. 16 of the Income Tax Law).

Who it is for

Employees who want to know how much aguinaldo they are owed in December.
People with less than a year on the job who need to estimate the proportional share.
Employers and payroll staff verifying the legal minimum amounts.
Anyone receiving a large aguinaldo who wants to know whether part of it pays ISR.

What information you need

Your basic salary: monthly (divided by 30 to get the daily salary) or the daily salary directly.
Your full years of service with the same employer.
The additional months if you have not completed the year yet (for the proportional calculation).
The tier days (15, 19, or 21) and the ISR-exempt amount are already configured per the law; you do not need to enter them.

How it is calculated

The daily salary is the monthly salary ÷ 30 (a calculation convention) or the daily salary you enter.

With one year or more of service, the art. 198 tier days apply: 15, 19, or 21 depending on the completed years. The boundaries are exact: at 3 completed years it is already 19 days, and at 10 it is already 21.

With less than a year, the aguinaldo is proportional: the 15 days of a full year are prorated by months ÷ 12.

The aguinaldo is days × daily salary. It is then compared with the exempt amount (2 × $408.80 = $817.60): up to that figure it pays no ISR, and only the excess is subject to withholding.

Formula

Daily salary (if you enter a monthly one): daily salary = monthly salary ÷ 30
Aguinaldo (1 year or more, art. 198): aguinaldo = tier days (15, 19, or 21) × daily salary
Proportional aguinaldo (under 1 year, art. 197): aguinaldo = 15 × (months ÷ 12) × daily salary
Excess subject to ISR (art. 4 num. 16 LISR): excess = max(0, aguinaldo − 2 × commerce and services monthly minimum wage)

Worked example

You earn $600 per month and have 4 years of service with the same employer.

Daily salary: $600 ÷ 30 = $20.00.
With 4 years of service (3 or more and under 10), 19 days apply.
Aguinaldo: 19 × $20.00 = $380.00.
ISR-exempt amount: 2 × $408.80 = $817.60. Since $380.00 ≤ $817.60, there is no excess.

Your legal minimum aguinaldo is $380.00, fully exempt from ISR and with no ISSS or AFP deductions.

How to interpret the result

The result is the legal minimum: your contract, a collective agreement, or your employer’s policy can improve the amount, never reduce it.

The aguinaldo is not subject to ISSS or AFP contributions, so up to the exempt amount you receive it in full.

If your aguinaldo exceeds $817.60, only the excess is subject to ISR withholding; the calculator shows that excess but does not estimate the withholding.

Payment must arrive between October 20 and December 20; the employer picks the exact date within that window.

Common mistakes

Counting the years at December 31: the cutoff for the full entitlement and the proportional share is October 20 (Legislative Decree No. 433 of 2025).
Using the salary with bonuses or variable commissions: the aguinaldo is calculated on the basic salary (art. 199).
Believing that exactly 3 years still pays 15 days: art. 198 says "three years or more", so at 3 completed years it is already 19 days.
Deducting ISSS and AFP from the aguinaldo: it is excluded from both contribution bases.
Applying ISR to the whole aguinaldo when it exceeds the limit: only the excess over the 2 minimum wages is taxed.

Frequently asked questions

How many aguinaldo days am I owed?

Per art. 198 of the Labor Code: 15 days of salary for 1 year and under 3 of service, 19 days for 3 and under 10, and 21 days for 10 or more. These are legal minimums.

What if I have been working for less than a year?

You receive the share proportional to the time worked at October 20 (art. 197, reformed in 2025): for example, with 6 months you are owed half of the 15 days of a full year, that is 7.5 days of salary.

When must the aguinaldo be paid?

Between October 20 and December 20 of each year (art. 200, as reformed by Legislative Decree No. 433 of 2025). The employer picks the date within that window and it can never go past December 20.

Does the aguinaldo pay income tax?

It is exempt up to 2 monthly minimum wages of the commerce and services sector ($817.60 at the current rates, art. 4 num. 16 of the Income Tax Law). Only the excess is subject to withholding. In some years, transitory decrees have raised the limit (in 2025 it was $1,500).

Are ISSS and AFP deducted from the aguinaldo?

No. The aguinaldo is excluded from the ISSS and AFP contribution bases, so it suffers neither deduction.

If I was dismissed before December, do I lose the aguinaldo?

If the contract ends with employer responsibility or by de facto dismissal without legal cause before October 20, you are entitled to the aguinaldo proportional to the time worked (art. 202). The right is also never lost for disciplinary reasons (art. 201).

Sources

Código de Trabajo de El Salvador, arts. 196–202 (aguinaldo, texto oficial) — Corte Suprema de Justicia de El Salvador (Art. 198 tiers: 15 days for 1 to under 3 years, 19 days for 3 to under 10 years, 21 days for 10 or more years (legal minimums). Art. 199: daily basic salary base. See docs/research/sv-labor-rules.md, section 11.)
Decreto Legislativo No. 433 (2025) — reforma de los arts. 197, 200 y 202 del Código de Trabajo — Diario Oficial de El Salvador (D.O. No. 194, Tomo 449, 2025-10-15) (Proportional aguinaldo for workers with less than one year of service at October 20; payment window October 20 – December 20, never later than December 20.)
Ley de Impuesto sobre la Renta, art. 4 numeral 16 (agregado por D.L. No. 458 de 2019, D.O. No. 215, Tomo 425, 2019-11-14) — Asamblea Legislativa de El Salvador (texto consolidado, abril 2025) (Aguinaldo exempt from ISR up to 2 monthly minimum wages of the comercio y servicios sector; only the excess is subject to withholding. The dollar threshold is derived from the minimum wage decree in force (see sv-minimum-wage-rules).)
Decreto Ejecutivo No. 10 (2025), art. 1 literal g) — retención sobre remuneraciones extraordinarias — Diario Oficial de El Salvador (texto oficial) (The taxable excess of the aguinaldo is withheld via the proportional (rule-of-three) monthly-table method for extraordinary remunerations.)
Decreto Ejecutivo No. 11 (2025), Ramo de Trabajo y Previsión Social — tarifas de salario mínimo — Diario Oficial de El Salvador (texto oficial) (Source of the comercio y servicios monthly minimum wage ($408.80) from which the ISR exemption threshold (2 × $408.80 = $817.60) is derived.)

Last reviewed:: July 21, 2026
Calculation version:: 1.0.0

Important notice

The results of these calculators are informative estimates and may differ from official calculations. They do not constitute legal, tax, or financial advice. Always verify with the competent institutions or a professional.

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