The so-called "Christmas bonus" should not be confused with the fourteenth bonus, recognized following other criteria, as well as the 100 bonus for employees. To establish the beneficiaries of the bonus, INPS considers the minimum treatment, i.e. the total amount of the pension received in a year, which for 2026 is equivalent to 7,954.05 euros, equal to 611.85 for thirteen monthly payments. The payment of the contribution is triggered only to those who, adding together the pensions received, do not exceed this threshold.
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For pension holders who receive annual payments between 7,954.05 and 8,108.99 euros, the bonus is presented in a reduced form, functional to reaching the maximum threshold of 8,108.99 euros with the amount.
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In addition to the treatment, the second requirement is based on the overall personal income which for the current year must be within the limit of 11,931.08 euros. For those who are married or in a civil union, the couple's income must not exceed 23,862.15 euros per year, without prejudice to the personal income limit. In the case of legally separated spouses, the other person's income is not counted.
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However, the recognition of the bonus arriving in December is not determined by the personal data required, for example, for other contributions. Among the parameters considered, ISEE is also excluded while only income subject to Irpef, including pension, counts. If a pension recipient receives an annual salary below the threshold but has other income above the permitted limit, the bonus is not paid.
The group of potential beneficiaries of the contribution does not include pensioners receiving welfare treatments such as, for example, social allowances and civil disability benefits. Some specific categories such as pensions of credit institution employees and company managers are also excluded.
The credit will be issued automatically with the December payslip without the need to submit an application. In the event that the income and contribution requirements are correctly updated, the disbursement will take place automatically.
For pensioners who, at the end of the INPS checks, are excluded from the credit but believe they are entitled to it, there remains the possibility of submitting - via the institute's website - a request for reconstitution with the request to review the amounts of the treatment.
However, the checks may reveal the opposite situation with the request for repayment of sums unduly received. As communicated by the INPS on 29 July, the bonus of 154.94 euros was requested back from some pensioners who, after checks, were found to lack the necessary financial requirements. In this case, the recovery occurs through pension deductions spread over twelve monthly installments.
The minimum thresholds - both of treatment and personal income - necessary to receive the 154.94 euro bonus change every year. For 2025, the contribution was recognized in full to those who received an annual pension not exceeding 7,936.87 euros. The numbers change but not the mechanism. In the case of amounts between the minimum treatment (7,781.93 euros) and this threshold, INPS recognized the difference, so as to guarantee integration up to the established limit. Furthermore, the total income subject to Irpef must not exceed 11,672.9 euros for singles or 23,345.79 euros for married earners. In 2021, for example, the pension threshold was even lower: 6,702.54 euros gross per year.
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