Carnê-Leão Mensal

Carnê-leão: monthly IRPF for income paid by individuals

If you're an individual (PF) earning taxable income from other individuals or from abroad, the Brazilian Federal Revenue (RFB) requires you to use carnê-leão. Think rent paid by a tenant who isn't a company, freelance fees from individual clients, a foreign salary, alimony. Wages from an employer stay out of it, since those are already withheld on the payroll. It runs on the same 2024 progressive table: exempt up to R$ 2,259.20, then 7.5% / 15% / 22.5% / 27.5%. Each legal dependent knocks R$ 189.59 off the base. The formula is tax = (base − deductions) · rate − parcel. Say you collect R$ 4,000 in rent and have no dependents: that lands in the 22.5% bracket with a parcel of R$ 636.13, so you owe R$ 263.87.

Brazilian context

You pay it with DARF code 0190, and the deadline is the last business day of the month after you earned the income. The monthly bookkeeping happens inside the eCAC portal (Carnê-Leão Web), and those values flow automatically into your annual DIRPF. Who actually uses it? Liberal professionals with no company behind them, private tutors, therapists, people subletting property, content creators getting paid by foreign platforms.

FAQ

What if my tenant is a company? Then the company withholds IRPF at source (DARF 3208), and that rent stays out of your carnê-leão.

Can I deduct expenses? You can. INSS you've paid, livro-caixa expenses (office rent, employees, utilities tied to the activity) and court-ordered alimony all bring the monthly base down.

What if I forget to pay on time? A late DARF picks up a 0.33%/day fine (capped at 20%) plus Selic interest. Go back into eCAC, issue a corrected DARF, and pay it.