THE PERIOD for individuals to file their personal Income Tax (IRPF) starts on March 15th. This is when Brazilians inform the Federal Government how much they earned over the previous year, and what financial transactions they carried out. A series of regulations determines who does or does not need to file an IRPF. In 2024, for example, individuals who earned over 2,824 reais (two minimum wages) a month were required to fi le taxes. This year’s deadline is May 31st.

Income tax filings are a way for the government to calculate the exact amount of income to be taxed, and for the Federal Revenue Service to check whether the amount charged is correct.

What is the IRPF?

Tax is any amount paid by individuals and companies to a government (of a country, for example) for different purposes that benefit society, such as health services. Those who do not pay their taxes could be penalized, which includes being fined.

The IRPF collects money from the income that citizens earn for their work. One of the Brazilian government’s main objectives for this tax is to somewhat reduce economic inequality, by levying higher tax rates on those who earn more and lower tax rates on those who earn less.

Glossary

FEDERAL REVENUE SERVICE: manages and supervises the taxes paid by citizens and levied on goods coming into Brazil. Did you know that the lion became a symbol of the IRPF in the 1980s? The idea was to create an association between the tax and a strong, loyal, and just animal.

MINIMUM WAGE: is the smallest amount, determined by law, that a company can pay someone formally registered as its employee.

SOURCES: MINISTRY OF FINANCE, O GLOBO, AND RECEITA FEDERAL.

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