Colombia minimum wage 2026 and auxilio de transporte 2026: the two figures behind Colombian payroll

The Colombia minimum wage for 2026 is COP 1,750,905 a month, and the auxilio de transporte 2026 (the statutory transport allowance) is COP 249,095 a month for employees who earn up to two minimum wages. The government sets both by decree each year, and together they total exactly COP 2,000,000. Most Colombian payroll thresholds are multiples of the minimum wage. The transport allowance is excluded from social-security contributions but included in the base for the prima (a statutory bonus) and cesantías (severance savings), so an eligible employee has two calculation bases on every payslip.

SMMLV 2026: how the Colombia minimum wage increase was set, and the cycle for 2027

The SMMLV (salario mínimo legal mensual vigente, the monthly statutory minimum wage) is a single national figure, with no regional, sector or youth rate. Under Article 8 of Ley 278 de 1996, the Comisión Permanente de Concertación de Políticas Salariales y Laborales (a tripartite commission of government, employers and unions) has until 15 December to agree the increase. If it does not agree, the government sets the minimum by decree no later than 30 December, effective 1 January.

For 2026 the commission did not agree. Decreto 1469 de 2025, issued on 29 December, raised the minimum by 23%, from COP 1,423,500 to COP 1,750,905. For a figure meant to be settled on New Year's Day, the 2026 decree has spent a long time in court. In February the Consejo de Estado (Colombia's highest administrative court) suspended the decree for insufficient reasoning, and the government reissued the same figure as Decreto 159 de 2026. In a decision made public on 17 July, the court revoked the suspension and restored Decreto 1469. The February order expressly left payrolls already calculated and paid on the 2026 figure unaffected. By 13 October 2026 the court had closed the evidence stage and ordered an early judgment (sentencia anticipada), but had issued no final ruling on legality.

None of the litigation changed the amount on a payslip. The commission has already begun negotiating the 2027 SMMLV, which will be fixed by 30 December 2026. Every peso threshold in this article changes from 1 January 2027.

Auxilio de transporte 2026: who receives it and how much

Decreto 1470 de 2025 sets the 2026 auxilio de transporte at COP 249,095 a month, payable to public servants and private-sector employees who earn up to two SMMLV (COP 3,501,810 in 2026). The allowance exists under Ley 15 de 1959 to cover the commute, so three groups do not receive it in the usual form:

• employees earning more than two SMMLV;
• employees whose employer provides the transport, or who live at the workplace;
• remote workers earning less than two SMMLV, who receive an auxilio de conectividad digital (a digital connectivity allowance) of the same amount instead, never both.

Ley 15 de 1959 and its regulation, Decreto 1258 de 1959, also provide that the allowance is paid only for days worked. An employee hired on the 16th of the month works 15 of the 30 payroll days and receives COP 249,095 × 15 ÷ 30 = COP 124,547.50 for that first month.

Excluded from contributions, included in the prima and cesantías

The transport allowance is not salary. Article 17 of Ley 344 de 1996 excludes the allowance from the IBC (ingreso base de cotización, the base for social-security contributions) and from the base for the payroll levies that fund SENA (the national training service), ICBF (the family welfare institute) and the family compensation funds.

The prima de servicios is a mandatory bonus of 30 days' salary a year, paid half by 30 June and half by 20 December. Cesantías are severance savings of one month's salary per year, deposited in a fund before 15 February of the following year. Article 7 of Ley 1 de 1963 counts the transport allowance as salary for these benefits, so both are calculated on salary plus allowance. Vacation pay uses salary alone (CST, the Labour Code, Art. 192).

The thresholds indexed to the SMMLV

• Contribution floor, 1 SMMLV (COP 1,750,905). A full-month IBC for health and pension cannot be lower (Ley 100 de 1993, Arts. 18 and 204).
• Transport allowance ceiling, 2 SMMLV (COP 3,501,810).
• Pension solidarity contribution, 4 SMMLV (COP 7,003,620). From this IBC the employee pays an additional 1% to the Fondo de Solidaridad Pensional (the pension solidarity fund), rising in steps from 16 SMMLV to 2% above 20 SMMLV (Ley 797 de 2003). The pension reform (Ley 2381 de 2024), due to take effect on 1 April 2027 under the Constitutional Court's Sentencia C-264 de 2026, keeps the 4 SMMLV threshold and raises the first rate to 1.5%.
• Salario integral minimum, 13 SMMLV (COP 22,761,765). An all-inclusive salary, agreed in writing, requires at least 10 SMMLV of ordinary salary (COP 17,509,050) plus a prestational factor (the part that pays for benefits in advance) of at least 30% of that salary, COP 5,252,715. The integral salary replaces the prima, cesantías and surcharges, but not vacation. Contributions are calculated on 70% of the integral salary: COP 15,933,235.50 at the minimum.
• Contribution cap, 25 SMMLV (COP 43,772,625). The IBC may not exceed this figure.

The 23% increase raised every threshold by 23%, so a payroll still using the 2025 values was wrong from the first January pay run.

Part-time and daily-wage workers: the proportional minimum

For employees on fewer hours than the legal maximum, the minimum wage applies in proportion to the hours actually worked (CST Art. 147, numeral 3). Since 15 July 2026 the maximum is 42 hours a week (Ley 2101 de 2021). An employee contracted for 21 hours a week must therefore earn at least half the SMMLV, COP 875,452.50. With Colombia's 30-day month, the daily minimum is COP 1,750,905 ÷ 30 = COP 58,363.50; the hourly minimum, at 210 monthly hours, is COP 8,337.64.

A part-time employee who commutes every day receives the full transport allowance, because the Ministry of Labour counts days of commuting, not hours (Concepto 2000257 de 2021, non-binding guidance). An employee hired by the day receives the allowance for the days worked. An employee on reduced hours who works the whole month still contributes on at least one full SMMLV. Only employees engaged for fewer than 30 days in the month and earning under one SMMLV may contribute to pension and the family compensation fund in weekly fractions of a quarter SMMLV (Decreto 2616 de 2013, now in Decreto 1072 de 2015).

Worked example: one SMMLV employee, contribution base versus prima base

Take an employee on the SMMLV who commutes and works all of October 2026 with no overtime.

• Salary: COP 1,750,905
• Auxilio de transporte: COP 249,095
• Total paid before deductions: COP 2,000,000

Contribution base. The IBC is the salary alone, COP 1,750,905. The employee's health contribution is 4% (COP 70,036.20) and pension is 4% (COP 70,036.20), so COP 140,072.40 is withheld, before rounding on the PILA (the monthly contribution return). The employee receives COP 2,000,000 − COP 140,072.40 = COP 1,859,927.60.

Prima base. The prima base is salary plus allowance, COP 2,000,000. For a full second semester of 180 days, the December prima is COP 2,000,000 × 180 ÷ 360 = COP 1,000,000. Cesantías for a full year use the same base: COP 2,000,000.

Using one base for both produces one of two errors:

1. Allowance included in the IBC. Employee contributions become 8% of COP 2,000,000 = COP 160,000, an over-deduction of COP 19,927.60 a month. The employer's 12% pension share is overstated by COP 29,891.40 as well.
2. Allowance left out of the prima base. The December prima becomes COP 1,750,905 × 180 ÷ 360 = COP 875,452.50, short by COP 124,547.50. For a client with 40 employees on the minimum, the December shortfall is COP 4,981,900.

Summary

For 2026 the SMMLV is COP 1,750,905 and the auxilio de transporte is COP 249,095 for employees earning up to COP 3,501,810. The allowance is excluded from the IBC and included in the prima and cesantías base. The contribution floor, the 4 SMMLV solidarity threshold, the 13 SMMLV salario integral minimum and the 25 SMMLV cap all change with the minimum. The 2027 figures will be decreed by 30 December 2026.

Flux applies the current SMMLV and transport allowance on every pay run and keeps the contribution and benefits bases separate. When the 2027 decree is published, Flux updates every indexed threshold, so an accounting firm's payroll team can spend December advising clients rather than re-keying figures.