--- name: ms-social-security-contributions description: "Montserrat social security contribution reference for 2026, covering ordinary employee and employer rates, weekly and monthly earnings ceilings, insurable pay and remittance timing. Uses the official revised legislation and the Fund’s 2026 monthly rate table. Includes payroll examples and distinguishes the employment-injury component already included in the employer rate. Use after employment coverage and the contribution period have been established. Age-transition weeks, exempt payments and the difference between earnings rounding and contribution amounts are addressed. Self-employed assessments, benefits and post-pensionable-age injury arrangements need separate review. This source-cited draft awaits independent accountant review." license: "AGPL-3.0-or-later (code) / OpenAccountants Guide License v1.0 (content)" metadata: source: openaccountants openaccountants_url: "https://www.openaccountants.com/skills/ms-social-security-contributions" jurisdiction: "MS" tax_year: "2026" last_updated: "2026-10-23" authored_by: "Ryan Duguid" trust_label: "Accountant-authored" review_status: "pending_review" --- # Montserrat social security contributions ## Scope and statutory sources Checked 22 October 2026 for ordinary covered employment. The [Social Security Act, Chapter 18.09](https://parliament.ms/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/18.09-Social-Security-Act.pdf), revised 1 January 2025, includes a scheduled 2026 rate increase. The Fund's [2026 monthly table](https://socialsecurity.ms/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Monthly-Rates-2026.pdf) independently corroborates the rates. These sources support the rules below; a full audit of subsequent instruments remains outstanding. ## Rates and ceilings From 1 January 2026, the employee share is 7% and the employer share is 8%. The employer's 8% already includes 1% for employment injury: do not add that component a second time. The combined ordinary contribution is 15%. Insurable earnings are capped at EC$4,000 monthly or EC$923 weekly. [Contributions Regulations, Schedule, Parts I–II, printed pages 55–57](https://parliament.ms/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/18.09-Social-Security-Act.pdf). The Schedule refers to calculation to the nearest dollar; the Fund's 2026 table uses whole-dollar earnings rows but cent-valued contribution amounts. Do not round every contribution to a whole dollar. The examples below use whole-dollar earnings and therefore avoid unresolved half-dollar earnings rounding. ## Establish the earnings base Regulation 4 includes cash earnings such as overtime, housing allowances, commissions, shift payments, production bonuses, service charges, employer-paid employee liabilities and holiday pay. Its gratuity clause excludes retirement lump sums and Christmas bonuses or similar payments. A production bonus is not automatically a Christmas bonus merely because it is paid in December. Establish the payment's character before excluding it. [Contributions Regulations, regulation 4](https://parliament.ms/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/18.09-Social-Security-Act.pdf). ## Worked calculations Assume an ordinary covered employee aged 40. All figures are EC dollars. | Period and established insurable earnings | Capped base | Employee | Employer | Combined | |---|---:|---:|---:|---:| | Monthly 3,000 | 3,000 | 210 | 240 | 450 | | Monthly 4,000 | 4,000 | 280 | 320 | 600 | | Monthly 5,500 | 4,000 | 280 | 320 | 600 | | Weekly 923 | 923 | 64.61 | 73.84 | 138.45 | | Weekly 1,200 | 923 | 64.61 | 73.84 | 138.45 | A monthly salary of 3,000 plus 500 insurable overtime gives a base of 3,500, with employee 245 and employer 280. These are social-security calculations, not income-tax or net-pay calculations. Keep the weekly and monthly limits distinct rather than deriving one by multiplying or dividing the other. ## Age and payment period The Act defines pensionable age as 65. Regulation 5 starts ordinary contributions in the week a worker turns 16. The last ordinary week is the week the worker reaches pensionable age, unless the birthday is a Monday, in which case that week is excluded. A contribution week begins on Monday. [Act section 2; Contributions Regulations 2 and 5](https://parliament.ms/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/18.09-Social-Security-Act.pdf). The ordinary Schedule records nil outside the age range, while regulation 5(c) separately addresses employment-injury contributions after pensionable age. Do not treat this Guide as a determination that all injury coverage ends at 65. Confirm that arrangement separately for an older worker. Regulation 12 requires employer payment at month end or within one month thereafter, including outstanding contributions on termination. Thus January contributions are payable no later than the end of February, absent an approved alternative arrangement. [Regulation 12](https://parliament.ms/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/18.09-Social-Security-Act.pdf). Reconcile the contribution statement to worker identifiers, contribution weeks, the wage base and both shares, and retain payment evidence. This reconciliation is a suggested control. ## Remaining work Self-employed income categories, voluntary coverage, multiple employments, irregular pay, benefits and later amendments are outside this batch. The sources and examples have author checks only; independent accountant review remains pending. > Contributed by Ryan Duguid. --- ## Talk to a verified accountant This guide is maintained by the OpenAccountants network — accountants who put their name behind the tax answers AI gives people. The live, always-current version (and the professional behind it) is at [openaccountants.com](https://www.openaccountants.com). - Use it in your AI: https://www.openaccountants.com/connect - Meet the accountants: https://www.openaccountants.com/network > **General reference only.** This document does not constitute tax, legal, or > financial advice. Verify figures against the cited primary sources or with a > licensed professional before relying on them. ## Today's figures and who stands behind this skill This file is an AI skill (tax rules your AI follows) from OpenAccountants, copied on 2026-10-23. Rates, thresholds and deadlines change. For the current version of this skill, its official sources and the named accountant (if any) who stands behind it, call `get_skill` with slug `ms-social-security-contributions` on the OpenAccountants connector (https://www.openaccountants.com/connect), or read https://www.openaccountants.com/skills/ms-social-security-contributions. If neither is available, confirm every figure against the official source pages cited above before relying on it.