What the 13º salário is
The 13º salário is one more salary a year, paid at the end of the year. The law calls it gratificação de Natal, the Christmas bonus. The Constitution guarantees it to every worker with carteira assinada (formal employment, registered in the work card).
What the law says
VIII - décimo terceiro salário com base na remuneração integral ou no valor da aposentadoria;
In English
Each year you get a 13º salário, based on all you earn, not only the fixed salary. INSS (Instituto Nacional do Seguro Social, Brazil's social security) retirees also get it, based on their pension.
Remuneração integral means the salary with extras, commissions and the average of overtime.
What the law says
No mês de dezembro de cada ano, a todo empregado será paga, pelo empregador, uma gratificação salarial, independentemente da remuneração a que fizer jus.
In English
In December, the employer pays the 13º on top of the salary for the month. One does not replace the other.
Who has the right and the 15-day rule
Every employee with a carteira has the right, Brazilian or foreign. That includes domestic workers, rural workers and part-time workers.
If you worked the whole year, you get a full salary. If you joined mid-year, you get a part, 1/12 of the salary for each month worked.
What the law says
§ 1º A gratificação corresponderá a 1/12 avos da remuneração devida em dezembro, por mês de serviço, do ano correspondente. § 2º A fração igual ou superior a 15 (quinze) dias de trabalho será havida como mês integral para os efeitos do parágrafo anterior.
In English
Each month worked is worth 1/12 of the December salary. A month in which you worked 15 days or more counts in full, and one with 14 days or less does not count.
With a salary of R$ 3.000,00, each month is worth R$ 250,00. After 6 months of work, you get R$ 1.500,00 before deductions and R$ 1.387,50 in your account.
Absences the law accepts do not take months off the 13º. Unexcused absences only matter when they leave a month with fewer than 15 days worked.
The two installments and the deadlines
The 13º arrives in two installments. The first is an advance, with no deductions. The second completes the amount and carries the INSS and income tax.
What the law says
Entre os meses de fevereiro e novembro de cada ano, o empregador pagará, como adiantamento da gratificação referida no artigo precedente, de uma só vez, metade do salário recebido pelo respectivo empregado no mês anterior.
In English
The first installment is half the salary and can arrive in any month from February to November. The last day is November 30.
What the law says
A gratificação salarial instituída pela Lei número 4.090, de 13 de julho de 1962, será paga pelo empregador até o dia 20 de dezembro de cada ano, compensada a importância que, a título de adiantamento, o empregado houver recebido na forma do artigo seguinte.
In English
The second installment arrives by December 20. In it, the employer takes off what it already paid in the first.
In 2026, December 20 falls on a Sunday. Since the law says by the 20th, the second installment must be in your account before that Sunday.
The collective agreement can set earlier dates. The employer can also pay it all at once, if it meets both deadlines.
How to work out the 13º, step by step
- Count the months of the year in which you worked 15 days or more.
- Divide the December salary by 12 and multiply by the months counted. That is the gross 13º.
- The first installment is half the salary, with no deductions. If you joined mid-year, it is half of 1/12 of the salary for each month worked until November.
- Work out INSS and income tax on the whole gross 13º, apart from the salary.
- The second installment is the gross 13º minus the first installment, the INSS and the income tax.
13º for 12 months with a salary of R$ 3.000,00
- Gross 13º, 12/12 of the salary
- R$ 3.000,00
- First installment, by November 30
- R$ 1.500,00
- Rest of the 13º, without the first installment
- R$ 1.500,00
- INSS on the whole 13º
- − R$ 248,60
- Income tax on the whole 13º
- − R$ 0,00
- Second installment, by December 20
- R$ 1.251,40
- Both installments in your account
- R$ 2.751,40
Income tax is zero, because the 13º tax base falls in the tax-free bracket. All deductions come out of the second installment, which is why it is smaller than the first.
With a salary of R$ 3.000,00 and 6 months in the year, from July to December, the first installment counts the 5 months until November and comes to R$ 625,00. The second brings the rest of the 13º of R$ 1.500,00, minus the deductions.
INSS and income tax on the 13º, in a separate calculation
The 13º is not added to the December salary for the deductions. INSS and income tax are worked out on it alone, as if it were a separate salary.
For income tax, this is called tributação exclusiva na fonte. It means the tax on the 13º is final. The employer takes it off, and it does not mix with the rest of the year in your tax return.
What the law says
A redução do imposto de que trata este artigo também será aplicada no cálculo do imposto cobrado exclusivamente na fonte no pagamento do décimo terceiro salário a que se refere o inciso VIII do caput do art. 7º da Constituição Federal.
In English
If your 13º is up to R$ 5.000,00, you pay no tax on it. Above that, the cut shrinks step by step, as on the monthly salary.
The FGTS (Fundo de Garantia do Tempo de Serviço, a severance savings fund) is also deposited on the 13º, 8% of the amount, and nothing comes out of your pocket for it.
Special cases for the 13º
What the law says
O adiantamento da gratificação de Natal será pago por ocasião das férias do empregado, sempre que esse o requerer no mês de janeiro do ano correspondente.
In English
If you ask in writing in January, the employer must pay the first installment of the 13º together with your férias (annual vacation) that year.
When you leave the job, the prorated 13º is paid in the rescisão, the final settlement. Only dismissal for justa causa (serious misconduct) takes this right away.
- Maternity leave counts as months worked, and the 13º arrives in full.
- If you earn commissions or overtime, the 13º uses the average of the year. This calculator uses only the fixed salary.
- Domestic workers get the 13º with the same rules and the same dates.
- INSS retirees get the abono anual, the 13º of the pension, paid by the INSS itself.
Common 13º mistakes and what to do
- First installment paid after November 30, or both paid together only in December.
- INSS and income tax on the 13º added to those on the December salary, which raises the deduction.
- A month with 15 days or more of work left out of the count.
- Prorated 13º forgotten in the rescisão.
Compare the 13º contracheque (pay slip) with this calculator. If the numbers do not match, ask human resources in writing to fix it and keep the answer.
If the employer does not fix it, go to the union of your trade or the Superintendência Regional do Trabalho (regional labor inspection office). You can also file a claim at the Justiça do Trabalho (labor courts), up to 2 years after leaving the job.
When does the first installment of the 13º arrive?
By November 30. The employer can pay earlier, from February on. The second installment arrives by December 20, under Law 4.749 of 1965.
If you ask for it in January, the first installment comes with your férias that year.
How much 13º do I get after 6 months of work?
R$ 1.387,50 reaches your account, adding up both installments. The first is R$ 625,00, half of 1/12 of the salary for each month worked until November. The second, with the rest, is R$ 762,50.
That is 6/12 of the salary, or R$ 1.500,00 before deductions. INSS and income tax also go down, because they are worked out on that amount.
Why is the second installment of the 13º smaller?
If you worked the whole year, the first installment is half of the 13º, with no deductions. The second is the other half minus the INSS and income tax on the whole 13º.
With a salary of R$ 3.000,00, the first installment is R$ 1.500,00 and the second is R$ 1.251,40. The gap of R$ 248,60 between the two is INSS, because income tax is zero.
13º for each salary, by installment
| Salary | First installment | Second installment | Total in your account |
|---|---|---|---|
| R$ 1.621,00 | R$ 810,50 | R$ 688,92 | R$ 1.499,42 |
| R$ 2.000,00 | R$ 1.000,00 | R$ 844,31 | R$ 1.844,31 |
| R$ 2.500,00 | R$ 1.250,00 | R$ 1.049,31 | R$ 2.299,31 |
| R$ 3.000,00 | R$ 1.500,00 | R$ 1.251,40 | R$ 2.751,40 |
| R$ 4.000,00 | R$ 2.000,00 | R$ 1.631,40 | R$ 3.631,40 |
| R$ 5.000,00 | R$ 2.500,00 | R$ 1.998,49 | R$ 4.498,49 |
How this calculation works
The gross 13º is the salary divided by 12, times the months worked in the year.
The first installment is half the salary, with no deductions. If you joined mid-year, it is half of 1/12 of the salary for each month worked until November.
The second is the rest of the 13º minus INSS and income tax. Both are worked out on the whole 13º, apart from the December salary.
Income tax uses the standard deduction of R$ 607,20, when it is larger than the other deductions, and the cut of Law 15.270 of 2025.
Overtime, commissions and extra pay are left out of this calculation.
The full method and the data behind this calculation (in Portuguese)