Through Decree 801 of 2020, the Ministry of Work created an economic aid for the unemployed population in the frame of the Economic, Social and Ecological Emergency.
This aid has the following conditions:
- Scope of application: this aid applies to dependent and independent employees who are unemployed, category A and B of public and private sectors and to the Family Compensation Funds.
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Beneficiaries of the aid: dependent employees who meet the following conditions:
- Are unemployed,
- Are category A and B,
- Have contributed to the Family Compensation Fund for at least 6 continuous or discontinuous months in the last 5 years, and
- Have lost their employment as of March 12, 2020 during the Health Emergency declared by the Ministry of Health and Social Protection. -
Recognition of the aid: To the extent that funds are available, unemployed workers who have lost their jobs, have complied with the aforementioned requirements and have not been beneficiaries of the Unemployment Protection Mechanism during the last 3 years, will receive a monthly economic aid of $160,000 local currency for up to 3 months.
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Operation of the aid: will be in charge of the Family Compensation Funds in the national territory. They will be the entities in charge of receiving, validating, and recognizing the aid to beneficiaries.
Unemployed workers who prior to June 4, 2020 have applied to the benefits established in Article 6 of Decree 488 of 2020 (benefits related to the Unemployment Protection Mechanism), and have been included within the waiting list of the Family Compensation Fund, may also be beneficiaries of this economic aid. Nonetheless, if an employee has access to the benefit provided in Article 6 of Decree 488 of 2020, the economic aid herein established will be deducted from it.
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Tax exemption: transfers from operators to beneficiaries of the economic aid will be exempt from the tax on financial movements. Likewise, beneficiaries will not pay any type of commission or fee for the withdrawal or availability of the transfers received by virtue of the economic aid.
This aid will be considered as income not taxable and will not be deemed occasional income for purposes of income tax and complementary.
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Immunity from seizure: The economic aid will not be seized and cannot be used to pay any type of the beneficiary´s obligation with the financial entity through which the unconditional monetary transfer is made. This provision will be in force during the 30 days following the disbursement of the money in the beneficiary's deposit product. This prohibition does not extend to the obligations of the beneficiary with people other than the financial institution through which the unconditional economic aid is transferred, when the beneficiary has given his or her prior consent, at any time, for the debit of the money.