The government announced measures that will change, from November 1st, the rules for anticipation of the so-called anniversary withdrawal from the Service Time Guarantee Fund (FGTS). The worker who joins the birthday withdrawal can advance the benefit through banks, like a loan. Now, there will be deadline restrictions and a grace period.
According to the government, the change aims to avoid abuses against workers who take out loans to anticipate their birthday withdrawal, paying interest. The argument is that FGTS money should go directly to the worker, not to the financial system. The use of the balance as a loan guarantee has led many Brazilians to vulnerable situations in cases of dismissal, according to the government.
Currently, 21.5 million workers have joined the birthday withdrawal, equivalent to 51% of active accounts. Of these, around 70% have already carried out advance operations.
Check out the main changes to the rules below:
What is the FGTS birthday withdrawal?
Since 2020, the FGTS birthday withdrawal allows workers to withdraw part of the balance from their accounts linked to the fund annually, always in the month of their birthday. To do this, the beneficiary must sign up for the withdrawal, through the application or website of the FGTS.
The amount to be withdrawn depends on the total balance available in the fund account. On top of this amount, a tax rate is applied, plus an additional fixed installment. However, the worker who opts for this modality loses the right to withdraw the full balance in the event of unfair dismissal, retaining only the right to a 40% termination fine.
How does the anticipation of the FGTS birthday withdrawal work?
Anticipating the birthday withdrawal works like a loan: the customer who has a balance in the FGTS account can ask the bank to deposit this payment in advance. When, in the month of the anniversary, the worker receives the withdrawal, the amount remains with the bank where the advance was contracted. Each bank had its own rules for advance payment. Some institutions allowed you to advance more than ten installments of the birthday withdrawal, that is, for the next ten current years. Interest was charged on this operation.
What is the grace period like?
From November onwards, workers will only be able to take out advance payments at financial institutions 90 days after joining the birthday withdrawal. Until now, there were no restrictions regarding the grace period, and 26% of workers anticipated their birthday withdrawal from banks on the same day they joined the modality.
Are there new value limits?
From November 1st, the loan will be limited to between R$100 and R$500 per installment, with a maximum of five installments over the next 12 months, totaling R$2,500.. Already from November 2026, the limit will be reduced to three installments of R$100 to R$500 for each birthday withdrawal. Until now, there was no value ceiling.
Will it be possible to take out more than one birthday withdrawal per year?
The worker may contract only one advance operation per year. Under the previous rule, it was possible to carry out several credit operations annually, so-called “simultaneous operations”.
