Countries › Brazil › Guide › 7. Labor and employment › Profit sharing (PLR), meal and transport benefits in Brazil

Profit sharing (PLR), meal and transport benefits in Brazil

Last verified: 2026-10-27 · Status: Stable

Profit and results sharing (PLR) negotiated with employees under Lei 10.101 is not salary, carries no FGTS or social security, may be paid at most twice a year at least a quarter apart, and is taxed separately with an exemption up to R$8,214.40 a year. The transport voucher is mandatory for commuting by public transport, with the employee's share capped at 6 percent of base salary and no salary effects. Meal and food vouchers under the PAT program are not salary when provided in kind, and since a November 2025 decree card issuers face a 3.6 percent merchant fee cap, 15 day settlement and a ban on rebates to employers.

USD figures use the Banco Central do Brasil PTAX selling rate of R$5.5007 per US dollar for 26 October 2026, the last business day before verification. The real moved sharply that day (R$5.0377 on 23 October), so conversions are for orientation only.

Key facts

Maximum PLR payments per calendar year	2 paymentsLei nº 10.101 art. 3 § 2, as of 2026-10-27 · in force
Minimum interval between PLR payments	1 calendar quarter Lei nº 10.101 art. 3 § 2, as of 2026-10-27 · in force
FGTS and social security on compliant PLR	None Lei nº 10.101 art. 3, as of 2026-10-27 · in force
Annual PLR exempt from income tax (from May 2025)	8214.4 BRLLei nº 10.101 art. 3 § 5; RFB table, as of 2025-05-01 · in force
Top income tax rate on PLR	27.5 %Lei nº 10.101 art. 3 § 5; RFB table, as of 2025-05-01 · in force
Maximum employee share of transport voucher cost	6 % of base salaryLei nº 7.418 art. 4 sole paragraph, as of 2026-10-27 · in force
Cap on merchant discount rate in PAT meal and food cards	3.6 %Decreto nº 10.854 art. 182-B, I, as of 2026-10-27 · in force
Cap on interchange fee in PAT meal and food cards	2 %Decreto nº 10.854 art. 182-B, II, as of 2026-10-27 · in force
Maximum settlement period to merchants in PAT cards	15 daysDecreto nº 10.854 art. 182-C, as of 2026-10-27 · in force

The rule

1. Profit or results sharing is negotiated between the company and its employees through a joint committee that includes a union nominated representative, or through a collective agreement or convention. The agreement must set clear and objective rules (such as productivity, quality or profitability targets, or goal programs), verification methods, payment timing, term and review periods, and be filed with the union. Rules count as set in advance if signed before any advance payment and at least 90 days before the final or single payment. The committee must notify the union, which has 10 calendar days to appoint its representative.
Cost to do it: Negotiation and committee costs; the payout itself is set by the plan.Lei nº 10.101 of 19 December 2000, art. 2 as worded by Lei nº 12.832 of 2013 and Lei nº 14.020 of 2020, Art. 2, I and II, §§ 1, 2, 7 and 10, 2000-12-19 official text · verified 2026-10-27

2. PLR does not replace or supplement salary, is not a base for any labor charge and is not subject to the habituality principle. Payments may be made no more than twice in the same calendar year and at least one calendar quarter apart; only the payments that break this rule lose the exemption. Companies on actual profit (lucro real) deduct PLR as an operating expense.
Cost to do it: No FGTS (8 percent) or employer social security (20 percent plus RAT) on a compliant PLR.
Example: A compliant PLR of R$20,000.00 saves the employer at least R$5,600.00 in FGTS and social security compared with the same amount paid as a bonus in salary (8 plus 20 percent, before RAT). / About US$1,018.05.Lei nº 10.101 of 19 December 2000, art. 3 § 2 as worded by Lei nº 12.832 of 2013; art. 2 §§ 8 and 9 as worded by Lei nº 14.020 of 2020, Art. 3 caput and §§ 1 and 2; art. 2 §§ 8 and 9, 2000-12-19 official text · verified 2026-10-27

3. PLR is taxed exclusively at source, separately from other income, using an annual progressive table, and is left out of the annual tax return; several payments in the same year are added up and the tax recalculated. The table in force from May 2025 exempts PLR up to R$8,214.40 a year and applies 7.5 percent up to R$9,922.28 (deduction R$616.08), 15 percent up to R$13,167.00 (R$1,360.25), 22.5 percent up to R$16,380.38 (R$2,347.78) and 27.5 percent above (R$3,166.80).
Cost to do it: Employer withholds and remits the tax.
Example: PLR of R$12,000.00: tax R$439.75, net R$11,560.25. PLR of R$20,000.00: tax R$2,333.20, net R$17,666.80. / Net US$2,101.60 and US$3,211.74.Lei nº 10.101 of 19 December 2000, art. 3 §§ 5 to 11 as worded by Lei nº 12.832 of 2013; Receita Federal PLR table from May 2025, Art. 3 §§ 5, 6, 7 and 11, 2000-12-19 official text · verified 2026-10-27

4. If negotiations stall the parties may use mediation or final offer arbitration, in which the arbitrator must choose one party's final proposal; the award binds the parties without court approval.
Cost to do it: Mediator or arbitrator fees agreed by the parties.Lei nº 10.101 of 19 December 2000, art. 4, Art. 4, I and II, §§ 1 to 4, 2000-12-19 official text · verified 2026-10-27

5. Employers must provide transport vouchers for the employee's home to work commute by regular public transport. The employer bears the cost above 6 percent of the employee's basic salary. The employer's share is not salary, is not a base for social security or FGTS and is not taxable income for the employee.
Cost to do it: Commuting cost above 6 percent of base salary.
Example: Base salary R$3,000.00, monthly commuting cost R$400.00: employee share at most R$180.00, employer share R$220.00. / Employer share about US$39.99 a month.Lei nº 7.418 of 16 December 1985, arts. 1, 2 and 4 as renumbered by Lei nº 7.619 of 1987, Arts. 1, 2 and 4 sole paragraph, 1985-12-16 official text · verified 2026-10-27

6. Work clothing and equipment, education, transport to work, health and dental care, life and accident insurance, private pension and medical reimbursements given by the employer are not salary. Food and housing given habitually as part of pay are salary in kind, capped at 20 and 25 percent of contract pay.
Cost to do it: Benefits outside salary avoid reflections on 13th salary, vacation and FGTS.CLT art. 458 §§ 2, 3 and 5 as worded by Lei nº 8.860 of 24 March 1994, Lei nº 12.761 of 2012 and Lei nº 13.467 of 13 July 2017, CLT art. 458 §§ 2, 3 and 5, 2017-07-13 official text · verified 2026-10-27

7. In the Worker's Food Program (PAT), meal and food card arrangements serving more than 500,000 workers must be open, interoperable arrangements must share the accepting merchant network, and in any transaction the merchant discount rate charged to restaurants and shops may not exceed 3.6 percent and the interchange fee 2 percent, with no other fees. Settlement to merchants must occur within 15 calendar days. Food benefit providers may not offer employers any discount, rebate or benefit unrelated to workers' food and nutrition, nor payment terms that break the prepaid nature; violations carry the maximum PAT fine, doubled with cancellation on repetition. Deadlines run from publication: 90 days for the fee caps and settlement term, 180 days for opening large arrangements and 360 days for full interoperability.
Cost to do it: Card program fees to the employer may not include rebates; merchant fees capped at 3.6 percent.
Example: On R$1,000,000 a year of meal card spending, merchants pay at most R$36,000 in discount fees. / About US$6,544.62.Decreto nº 12.712 of 11 November 2025, amending Decreto nº 10.854 of 10 November 2021 (PAT, Lei nº 6.321 of 14 April 1976 and Lei nº 14.442 of 2 September 2022), Decreto nº 10.854 arts. 174, 177, 182-B to 182-F as inserted or worded by Decreto nº 12.712 art. 2, 2025-11-11 official text · verified 2026-10-27 · changed: Decreto nº 12.712 of 11 November 2025 capped PAT card fees at 3.6 percent, required 15 day settlement and interoperability, and banned rebates to employers.

Annual PLR (R$)	Rate	Deduction (R$)	Tax on top of bracket (R$)
Up to 8,214.40	0	0.00	0.00
8,214.41 to 9,922.28	7.5 %	616.08	128.09
9,922.29 to 13,167.00	15 %	1,360.25	614.80
13,167.01 to 16,380.38	22.5 %	2,347.78	1,337.81
Above 16,380.38	27.5 %	3,166.80	27.5 % minus 3,166.80

Annual PLR withholding table from May 2025 (Receita Federal; Lei nº 10.101 art. 3 § 5). USD at R$5.5007.

Item	Bonus as salary (R$)	PLR (R$)
Employer social security 20 percent	4,000.00	0.00
FGTS 8 percent	1,600.00	0.00
Employee income tax	Monthly table	2,333.20

Bonus paid as salary versus compliant PLR of R$20,000.00 for an employee already above the social security ceiling (Lei nº 10.101 art. 3; Lei nº 8.212 art. 22; Lei nº 8.036 art. 15). Employee income tax on a salary bonus depends on the month's other pay and is not shown.

Worked example

A company signs a PLR plan with an employee committee and the union representative in February, with sales and margin targets, and pays an advance in July and the balance the following March. An employee receiving R$20,000.00 in total in a calendar year pays R$2,333.20 of tax at source and keeps R$17,666.80 (US$3,211.74); the company pays no FGTS or social security on it and deducts it under lucro real.

Step by step

Choose the negotiation route: joint committee with union representative, or collective agreement.
Notify the union and allow 10 calendar days for it to appoint its representative.
Sign clear, objective targets before any advance and at least 90 days before the final payment, and file the plan with the union.
Schedule at most 2 payments a year at least one quarter apart, and withhold tax with the PLR table.
Set transport voucher deductions at no more than 6 percent of base salary.
Review meal and food card contracts for rebates or terms banned by Decreto nº 12.712.

Common traps

A third PLR payment in the year, or two in the same quarter, loses the exemption for the non compliant payments (Lei nº 10.101 art. 2 § 8).
Targets set after the period has largely run, or without objective criteria, expose the PLR to recharacterization as salary.
Health and safety goals may not be used as PLR targets (Lei nº 10.101 art. 2 § 4).
Discounts or rebates from meal card providers to the employer are now prohibited and fined (Decreto nº 10.854 art. 182-F).
Charging an employee more than 6 percent of base salary for transport vouchers breaches Lei nº 7.418.

Sources

← Remote and hybrid work in Brazil, including employees working from abroadOccupational health and safety in Brazil: NR-1 risk management, CIPA, medical exams and hazard pay →