DOF Eyes Uniform Contribution Cap for PERA — What Savers and OFWs Need to Know
PERA CONTRIBUTION LIMIT 2026 – Finance Secretary Frederick Go is reviewing the annual contribution limits of the Personal Equity and Retirement Account (PERA), including a possible single cap for all contributors, in a bid to get more Filipinos to save for their retirement.
In a statement released on Tuesday, November 3, the Department of Finance (DOF) said the review aims to encourage long-term saving, widen participation in long-term investments and deepen the local capital market, GMA News reported.
What Is PERA?
PERA was created under Republic Act No. 9505, or the PERA Act of 2008. It is a voluntary retirement savings program where eligible individuals can put money into approved investment products while enjoying tax incentives, subject to applicable rules. It is meant to add to, not replace, the retirement benefits members get from the Social Security System (SSS), the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) and other pension plans.
Current PERA Contribution Limits
Under the present rules, the yearly maximum contributions are:
- Regular contributors – up to ₱200,000 per year
- Overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) – up to ₱400,000 per year
What the DOF Is Reviewing
Based on the DOF statement, as reported by GMA News, The Chronicle and Context.ph, the review covers the following:
- Contribution limits – whether adjusting the current caps would let contributors set aside more money for retirement, taking into account income levels, financial needs and prevailing economic conditions
- Uniform annual cap – a single contribution limit for all contributors to simplify the rules and promote greater equity
- Barriers to joining – policy and regulatory changes that could make enrollment easier
- Awareness and incentives – ways to strengthen public awareness of PERA and its incentives and improve the program’s overall effectiveness
No amount for the proposed uniform cap has been announced yet, and the DOF stressed that the proposals remain under study.
“Our goal is to make PERA a more effective tool for helping Filipinos prepare for retirement. We welcome stakeholder recommendations on how to improve the program, strengthen its incentives, and encourage more people to build long-term savings,” Go said in the statement.
Who Can Send Recommendations
The DOF is inviting the following groups to submit inputs on how to make PERA more accessible, beneficial and attractive to Filipino workers, OFWs and other eligible contributors:
- Financial and investment firms
- Employers
- Labor groups
- Retirement and pension institutions
- Other relevant organizations
Earlier Proposal: ₱300,000 and ₱600,000 Caps
The DOF review follows talks of PERA reforms last month. In October, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Commissioner McJill Bryant Fernandez said the PERA Inter-Agency Board was studying higher contribution limits together with the DOF, BusinessMirror reported. The proposal then was to raise the caps to ₱300,000 for local contributors and ₱600,000 for OFWs, and to give companies that match their employees’ PERA contributions a tax incentive equal to 150 percent of the amount contributed.
Fernandez also said that more than 30,000 PERA accounts had been opened, with assets under management of ₱757.55 million, according to the same report. These figures are not yet final policy, and any new limits will depend on the outcome of the DOF review.
Are you saving for your retirement aside from your SSS or GSIS contributions? Would a higher PERA limit encourage you to open an account?
