INSS Autônomo

INSS for self-employed (contribuinte individual)

If you work for yourself in Brazil (autônomos, liberal professionals, freelancers), you pay into INSS as a contribuinte individual. There are two plans to pick from. The simplified one charges 11% on a base you choose somewhere between the minimum wage and the INSS ceiling (R$ 7,786.02 in 2024, which caps the contribution at about R$ 856.46), but it only buys you retirement by age, never by contribution time. The regular plan applies 20% over the same range and unlocks every benefit, retirement by contribution time included. The math is plain: INSS = base · rate, with the base never going above the ceiling. So a base of R$ 3,000 at 11% comes to R$ 330, and the same base at 20% gives R$ 600. MEI is a different story — it pays a flat 5% of the minimum wage through DAS.

Brazilian context

You pay it through GPS (Guia da Previdência Social), code 1007 for the regular plan or 1163 for the simplified one, and it falls due on the 15th of the month after. Things change when a company hires you: the company withholds and pays 11% on your fee itself (this is called substitution), so you only chip in extra if the base sits below the ceiling. The people who usually fall into this group are accountants, lawyers, doctors without a clinic, freelance developers and private tutors.

FAQ

Simplified or regular plan? Go with the simplified 11% if you want to spend less and retirement by age (65/62) works for your plans. Pick 20% when you'd rather hold on to retirement by contribution time and a bigger benefit down the road.

Can I switch from 11% to 20% later? You can. Pay an extra 9% on the past months, with interest, and those months convert over so you get the full set of benefits back.

I have a CLT job and freelance on the side. Do I pay twice? No. You only apply 11% or 20% to the freelance earnings, and you watch the combined ceiling, since the INSS taken from your payroll already covers part of the base.