What this calculation compares
On one side is CLT, the employee with carteira assinada (formal employment, registered in the work card). The calculation adds up what reaches their hand over the whole year, with the 13º and the 1/3 de férias (one-third vacation bonus), plus the FGTS deposited. Everything is divided by 12.
On the other side is PJ, short for pessoa jurídica, a person who opens a company and issues an invoice every month. In Brazil the invoice is called nota fiscal. Out of it come the company taxes, the INSS, the income tax on the pró-labore (owner's monthly pay) and the accountant.
The 40% FGTS fine is left out. It only exists if the CLT employee is dismissed without justa causa (serious misconduct), and nobody knows if that will happen.
By default, the PJ spends 30 days a year without billing. That is the fair way to compare with the CLT employee, who has paid férias. If the PJ works all 12 months, change that option.
Who counts as an employee under the law
The CLT does not look at the name of the contract. It looks at how the work happens day to day.
What the law says
Considera-se empregado toda pessoa física que prestar serviços de natureza não eventual a empregador, sob a dependência deste e mediante salário.
In English
An employee is someone who works in person, on a regular basis, takes orders and is paid for it. If those points are met, the carteira is mandatory, with or without a company in the middle.
What the law says
Considera-se empregador a empresa individual ou coletiva, que, assumindo os riscos de atividade econômica, admite, assalaria e dirige a prestação pessoal de serviços.
In English
An employer is whoever hires, pays and directs the work of a specific person. If a company acts that way with a PJ, it acts as an employer.
A PJ contract that hides a job
Hiring a PJ is legal when the person works independently. The 2017 labor reform wrote that into the CLT.
What the law says
A contratação do autônomo, cumpridas por este todas as formalidades legais, com ou sem exclusividade, de forma contínua ou não, afasta a qualidade de empregado prevista no art. 3º desta Consolidação.
In English
A truly independent worker does not become an employee just for working a long time or for a single client. What matters is having independence in the work.
When the PJ works just like an employee, with hours, a boss and orders, the contract serves to hide the carteira. In Brazil that disguise has a name, pejotização, and the law voids it.
What the law says
Serão nulos de pleno direito os atos praticados com o objetivo de desvirtuar, impedir ou fraudar a aplicação dos preceitos contidos na presente Consolidação.
In English
A contract made to escape the CLT is not valid. The court ignores the paper and applies the rules of carteira assinada, with all the rights.
What the courts look at to recognize the job
At the Justiça do Trabalho, the judge checks whether the points of art. 3º of the CLT are present. What actually happens counts, not what the contract says. If even one point is missing, there is no employment.
- Personal work. You do it yourself, and you cannot send someone else in your place.
- Regular work, which the law calls não eventual. You work continuously, as part of the company routine.
- Subordination. The company directs your work, sets hours, demands targets, approves days off and can punish you.
- Payment. You get money for the work every month, like a salary.
- A natural person. The worker is a person, even if paid through a company opened only for that.
People who prove pejotização usually show messages with orders, time control, a company email, a badge and witnesses. Having several clients and deciding how you do the work weighs in favor of the PJ contract.
If the court recognizes the job, the company pays the carteira rights for the whole period. That includes the 13º, férias with 1/3, the FGTS with the fine and the aviso prévio (notice period), within the time limit for the claim.
What a PJ stops getting
The calculation above already weighs the 13º, the férias and the FGTS. Other rights have no fixed price, but they matter when things go wrong.
- 13º salário and férias paid with an extra 1/3.
- FGTS of 8% a month and the 40% fine on dismissal without justa causa.
- Seguro-desemprego (unemployment insurance), which only exists for people with carteira assinada.
- Aviso prévio of 30 to 90 days, depending on time at the company.
- Paid leave and job security, such as for pregnant workers and after a work accident.
- Overtime, night pay and what the trade wins in its collective agreement.
- Retirement and sick pay based on the whole salary, not only on the pró-labore.
To see what some of them are worth, try the seguro-desemprego and severance calculators.
How a PJ pays taxes
People who provide intellectual services as a PJ usually choose between the Simples Nacional (simplified tax regime for small businesses) and the Lucro Presumido (presumed-profit tax regime). The calculator covers the three most common cases.
In the Simples Nacional, taxes are paid on a single slip, the DAS (Documento de Arrecadação do Simples Nacional). The rate rises with what the company billed in the last 12 months. The city ISS (municipal tax on services) and the employer INSS are already inside it.
Services such as consulting, technology and engineering fall in Annex V, the more expensive one. They move to Annex III, the cheaper one, if the company has a high payroll. That is called fator R.
What the law says
As atividades de prestação de serviços a que se refere o § 5º-I serão tributadas na forma do Anexo III desta Lei Complementar caso a razão entre a folha de salários e a receita bruta da pessoa jurídica seja igual ou superior a 28% (vinte e oito por cento).
In English
If the company pays at least 28% of what it bills in salaries and pró-labore, it uses the cheaper table. That is why many PJs take a pró-labore of 28% of the invoice.
In Annex III with fator R, the calculator sets the pró-labore at 28% of billing. In Annex V, it uses a pró-labore of 1 minimum wage, R$ 1.621,00.
In the Lucro Presumido, the law assumes the profit is 32% of service billing. On that, the company pays 15% of corporate income tax and 9% of CSLL (social contribution on company profits). On top come 0,65% of PIS (Social Integration Program) and 3% of Cofins on the whole invoice.
In the Lucro Presumido the ISS is paid separately, 2% to 5% depending on the city. The calculation starts at 5%, the top rate, which many state capitals charge for consulting. If your city charges less, change the ISS.
Pró-labore, INSS and profit
Pró-labore is the salary a partner takes from their own company for their work. On it, the partner pays 11% of INSS, up to the ceiling, and income tax by the same table as a salary.
In the Lucro Presumido, the company also pays 20% of INSS on the pró-labore. In the Simples, that part is already inside the DAS.
What is left after taxes, pró-labore and the accountant is profit. Profit paid out to the partner is free of income tax up to R$ 50.000,00 a month from the same company.
What the law says
Consideram-se isentos do imposto de renda, na fonte e na declaração de ajuste do beneficiário, os valores efetivamente pagos ou distribuídos ao titular ou sócio da microempresa ou empresa de pequeno porte optante pelo Simples Nacional, salvo os que corresponderem a pró-labore, aluguéis ou serviços prestados.
In English
Profit received by the partner of a Simples company pays no income tax. The pró-labore does, because it is payment for work.
The full exemption depends on complete bookkeeping, done by the accountant. Without it, the tax-free profit of a service company only reaches 32% of billing, minus the DAS.
This page assumes that bookkeeping, as art. 14, § 2º, of the same law allows. Ask your accountant to keep it up to date.
Since January 2026, Law 15.270 of 2025 requires 10% to be withheld when profit paid in the month goes over R$ 50.000,00. The withholding applies to the whole amount, not only to what went over the limit.
People who receive more than R$ 600.000,00 in the year may still owe a yearly minimum tax, created by the same law. That yearly adjustment is left out of this calculation.
Example with the salary you typed
What a CLT employee on R$ 5.000,00 gets, monthly average
- Money in hand, with 13º and 1/3 de férias
- R$ 4.940,18
- FGTS deposited
- R$ 444,44
- CLT, monthly average
- R$ 5.384,62
PJ in the Simples, Annex III, invoicing R$ 6.940,71
- Invoices for the year, divided by 12
- R$ 6.362,32
- DAS at 6%
- − R$ 381,74
- Partner INSS on a pró-labore of R$ 1.781,45
- − R$ 195,96
- Income tax on the pró-labore
- − R$ 0,00
- Accountant and fees
- − R$ 400,00
- What the PJ keeps, monthly average
- R$ 5.384,62
That is 11 invoices a year, because the PJ spends 30 days without billing. They are divided by 12 to compare with the CLT.
The retirement base on each side
The INSS works out retirement from the average of the salários de contribuição. That is the amount on which the person paid INSS, up to the ceiling of R$ 8.475,55.
For a CLT employee, the salário de contribuição is the whole salary, up to the ceiling. With a salary of R$ 5.000,00, it is R$ 5.000,00 a month.
For a PJ, only the pró-labore counts. In Annex III with fator R, it reaches R$ 1.781,45. In Annex V and in the Lucro Presumido it stays at R$ 1.621,00, and retirement tends to come out at the minimum.
A PJ who wants a bigger pension can raise the pró-labore. The cost is more INSS and, above the exemption, more income tax.
When being a PJ is worth it
A PJ can take home more money than a CLT employee. For that, the invoice must be well above the salary. With R$ 5.000,00, it only breaks even at 39% more.
Companies often accept a higher invoice because a CLT employee costs them R$ 7.722,23 a month, averaged over the year. Invoices of R$ 6.940,71 over the year, divided by 12, come to R$ 6.362,32. So the company saves R$ 1.359,91 a month.
PJ makes sense for people who work independently, serve more than one client and save money for months without invoices. Without savings, an illness or the end of the contract hits much harder.
If you are a PJ but work like an employee
- Keep proof of the daily routine, such as messages with orders, hours, targets and requests for days off.
- Write down how much you got each month and since when you have worked for the company.
- Go to the union of your trade or the Superintendência Regional do Trabalho (regional labor inspection office) for guidance.
- If you want to claim your rights, file a claim at the Justiça do Trabalho up to 2 years after leaving. The claim covers the last 5 years.
If the job is recognized, the company pays the 13º, the férias, the FGTS with the fine and the other rights for the period. To see how much that is, use the severance calculator.
How much to charge as a PJ to match your CLT salary?
With a CLT salary of R$ 5.000,00, the invoice must be R$ 6.940,71 a month in Annex III of the Simples, 39% more than the salary. With a carteira, you get R$ 5.384,62 a month on average, counting the FGTS.
In Annex V the invoice would have to be R$ 7.698,24, and in the Lucro Presumido, R$ 8.197,30.
PJ in the Simples or the Lucro Presumido, which is better?
For most salaries, Annex III of the Simples, with fator R. To match a CLT salary of R$ 5.000,00, Annex III of the Simples needs the lowest invoice. It is R$ 757,53 below the invoice for Annex V of the Simples and R$ 1.256,59 below the one for Lucro Presumido.
The Lucro Presumido gets better when the city ISS is lower and billing grows.
Does a PJ retire with less?
Usually, yes. With a CLT salary of R$ 5.000,00, the INSS counts R$ 5.000,00 a month. As a PJ in Annex III, it counts the pró-labore of R$ 1.781,45.
In Annex V and in the Lucro Presumido, with a pró-labore of 1 minimum wage, the base stays at R$ 1.621,00.
PJ invoice that matches each CLT salary in 2026
| CLT salary | Simples, Annex III | Simples, Annex V | Lucro Presumido |
|---|---|---|---|
| R$ 2.000,00 | R$ 3.254,91 | R$ 3.620,84 | R$ 4.079,46 |
| R$ 3.000,00 | R$ 4.524,93 | R$ 5.033,65 | R$ 5.506,29 |
| R$ 5.000,00 | R$ 6.940,71 | R$ 7.698,24 | R$ 8.197,30 |
| R$ 10.000,00 | R$ 11.462,03 | R$ 12.563,07 | R$ 13.110,39 |
| R$ 15.000,00 | R$ 16.856,22 | R$ 18.396,94 | R$ 18.941,38 |
| R$ 20.000,00 | R$ 22.982,77 | R$ 24.346,68 | R$ 24.772,37 |
How this calculation works
The CLT side gets, as a monthly average, the money in hand over the whole year, with 13º and 1/3 de férias, plus the FGTS. The FGTS fine is left out.
The PJ issues 11 invoices a year, or 12 with no time off. The calculation divides everything by 12, as on the CLT side.
Company taxes come from Annex III or V of the Simples Nacional, or from the Lucro Presumido with the ISS separate.
The partner pays 11% of INSS and income tax by the monthly table on the pró-labore. Profit is tax-free up to R$ 50.000,00 a month.
The invoice that breaks even is found by trial, going up or down until the PJ keeps the same as the CLT employee.
The full method and the data behind this calculation (in Portuguese)