SSS extends contribution payment deadline for Odette-hit areas

The Social Security System (SSS) on Saturday announced the extension of contribution payment deadline for selected months in 2021 to February 28, 2022, in areas declared under a state of calamity following the onslaught of Typhoon Odette.

In a statement, the pension said it issued SSS Circular No. 2022-004 dated February 9, 2022.

The circular extended the contribution payments deadline until the end of February for the months of November and December 2021 of business and household employers; and October to December 2021 of coverage and collection partners (CCPs), self-employed, voluntary, non-working spouse (SE/V/NWS) members, and land-based Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) members in the following regions:

• Region IV-B (MIMAROPA),
• Region VI (Western Visayas),
• Region VII (Central Visayas),
• Region VIII (Eastern Visayas),
• Region X (Northern Mindanao), and
• Region XIII (CARAGA).

“We have seen the adverse effects brought by Typhoon Odette to our fellow citizens last December. Through this extension, we aim to alleviate the worries of our members, employers, and CCPs in the affected areas by helping them to not miss their contribution payments or avoid the penalties of late payments,” said SSS president and CEO Aurora Ignacio.

For employers with approved installment proposals, their post-dated checks that fall due in December 2021 and January 2022 shall be deposited on or before February 28, 2022, the SSS said.

Meanwhile, no contributions paid retroactively by an SE/V/NWS and land-based OFW member will be used in determining his/her eligibility to any benefit arising from a contingency wherein the date of payment is within or after the semester of contingency, it added.

For example, if an SE/V/NWS or land-based OFW member gets sick in April 2022, his/her semester of contingency will be from January to June 2022, the pension fund explained.

This would mean that contributions paid during this time of extension will not be used to determine the eligibility of the said member for the benefit since the date of payment falls within the semester of contingency, according to the SSS.

“Under normal circumstances, the SSS’ contribution payment deadline of business employers is every last day of the month following the applicable month, while for household employers and SE/V/NWS members, the deadline is every last day of the month following the applicable month or calendar quarter, as the case may be,” it said.

“Moreover, the contribution payment deadline for land-based OFW members for the applicable months of January to September of a given year is every December 31 of the same year, while for the applicable months of October to December of a given year, it is every January 31 of the succeeding year,” it added.

If the deadline falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or holiday, payments may still be made on the next working day, according to the pension fund.

The SSS also opened a calamity assistance package for its members and pensioners affected by Typhoon Odette.

Programs under the package are the Calamity Loan Assistance Program for members and three-month advance pension for SS and EC pensioners, which will run until April 13, 2022; and the Direct House Repair and Improvement Loan Program, which will be open for applications until December 23, 2022. —LBG, GMA News