INSS Payment Calendar for March, April and May 2026: Payment Dates

This page is a translation of the original Portuguese text, provided for convenience. It deals with Brazilian law. If there is any discrepancy, the Portuguese version prevails. Read the original in Portuguese

The INSS (Brazil’s National Social Security Institute) payment calendar for March, April and May 2026 follows the last digit of your benefit number. Retirement benefits and pensions above one minimum wage start on the 25th of each month, and all others start on the 1st of the following month.

How the INSS Payment Calendar Works

INSS pays benefits monthly on a staggered schedule organized by the last digit of the Benefit Number (Número de Benefício, or NB). This staggering keeps the banking systems from being overloaded and ensures that payments are processed in an orderly way for the more than 40 million beneficiaries.

Beneficiaries who receive exactly one minimum wage are paid at the beginning of the following month, while those who receive more start getting paid on the 25th of the same month.

The calendar divides beneficiaries into two groups. Those who receive exactly one minimum wage (R$ 1.621,00 in 2026) are paid at the beginning of the month after the reference month. Those who receive more than one minimum wage are paid starting on the 25th of the reference month itself.

When a payment date falls on a Saturday, a Sunday or a national holiday, the deposit is moved up to the immediately preceding business day. Municipal holidays do not change INSS’s national calendar, but they can affect your access to the bank on the day the deposit arrives.

Payment Calendar, March 2026

For benefits above one minimum wage, March 2026 payments follow the schedule below, based on the last digit of the NB:

For benefits equal to one minimum wage, payments for the March 2026 reference month are made at the beginning of April 2026, following the same staggering by last digit of the NB.

Payment Calendar, April and May 2026

April 2026 payments for benefits above one minimum wage begin on April 25 (digits 1 and 6) and run through April 30 (digits 5 and 0). For benefits equal to the minimum wage, the payment for the April reference month is made in May, starting on the 2nd (because the 1st is a holiday, Labor Day).

For May 2026, payments above the minimum wage begin on May 25, and payments at the minimum wage are processed in June. Labor Day (May 1) is a national holiday and may move payments that would normally fall on that date up to April 30.

The Meu INSS platform lets you look up the exact payment date for each NB, as well as your payment statement. Go to meu.inss.gov.br and log in with your Gov.br account to check the date of your next payment and the history of the last 12 months.

How to Check Your Payment Date

The simplest method is to check the last digit of your NB, which appears on your benefit award letter. With that number, you can find your exact payment date in the calendar above. The NB also appears on your bank statement, on your beneficiary ID (if one was issued) and in the Meu INSS app.

The Meu INSS app also lets you check whether there is any block or inconsistency on your benefit that could delay payment. Court-ordered withholdings, a block from a pending benefit review (pente-fino) or an overdue update of your registration data can prevent the deposit from arriving on the scheduled date.

Keep in mind that the calendar published by INSS is a deposit forecast: the money reaches your bank account on the date indicated, but your access to it may depend on the bank’s clearing hours. Transfers to accounts at other banks may take one additional day to process.

We recommend reading our firm’s article on the progressive minimum age for retirement to learn more about the topic.

Early Payments and Special Situations

In certain circumstances, INSS may move the payment calendar up. In situations of public calamity, such as floods and natural disasters affecting specific regions of the country, the federal government may authorize early deposits for beneficiaries living in the affected areas. In those cases, ordinances from the Ministry of Social Security (Ministério da Previdência Social) define which municipalities are covered and the new payment dates.

Another situation that deserves attention is the payment of the 13th salary to INSS beneficiaries. Traditionally, this annual allowance is split into two installments: the first paid between August and September, and the second between November and December. However, the government may move these installments up to the first half of the year, as it has done in prior years, with the first installment paid together with the April or May benefit. Confirmation of the dates depends on a presidential decree published each year.

Beneficiaries who are paid into a checking account, a savings account or a payment account should check with their financial institution about any particularities in how it processes INSS deposits. Some digital banks process the deposit on the same day INSS makes it, while traditional banks may vary in timing depending on the type of account the beneficiary holds.

Frequently Asked Questions

What should I do if my payment did not arrive on the scheduled date?

The first step is to check your bank statement and confirm that the deposit was not made to a different account than the one you expected. Next, check Meu INSS to see whether there is any block or pending issue on your benefit. If everything looks regular in the system and the payment is not in your account, contact INSS at 135 or through Meu INSS to report the problem and get guidance.

Does the INSS calendar change every year?

The exact dates change every year because the number of business days varies with the calendar. The logic, however, stays the same: staggering by last digit of the NB, starting on the 25th for benefits above the minimum wage and at the beginning of the following month for benefits equal to the minimum wage. INSS publishes the full calendar for the year on the previdência.gov.br website.

Do BPC/LOAS beneficiaries get paid on the same calendar as retirees?

Yes. The BPC/LOAS (Continuous Cash Benefit, Brazil’s social assistance benefit for older adults and people with disabilities in need) follows the same payment calendar as other INSS benefits, with the same staggering by last digit of the NB. The benefit is paid at the amount of one minimum wage, so BPC beneficiaries are paid at the beginning of the month after the reference month, according to the calendar that applies to those who receive the minimum.

As informações deste artigo são de caráter informativo e não substituem consulta jurídica individualizada. Cada caso possui particularidades que exigem análise específica.