Starting a business in Brazil
MEI made a business a ten-minute website visit with one fixed monthly bill - and above its cap, Simples Nacional keeps the famous complexity at bay.
Checked against the sources on 2026-08-30
Before anything else
Brazil built the world’s most successful micro-business regime: MEI (microempreendedor individual) - free registration on gov.br, a CNPJ (company tax number) in minutes, and everything - tax, pension - folded into one fixed monthly payment of roughly R$70-80. The cap is R$81,000 of annual revenue, and a long list of professions (many regulated liberal professions excluded) defines who may use it.
Above MEI, the Simples Nacional regime unifies federal, state and municipal taxes into one monthly payment on revenue (starting ~6% for services, by table) up to R$4.8 million - still simple by Brazilian standards, which is the only standard that matters here. Beyond that lies the full system whose complexity is internationally proverbial; a first business plans to stay inside the simplified tiers.
The legal shell
MEI, or a Simples company?
MEI
Solo, under R$81,000/year, activity on the permitted list.
Free to open; ~R$70-80 fixed monthly (the DAS).
One employee maximum, the activity list, and crossing the cap mid-year forces migration with back-charges if ignored.
ME/LTDA under Simples Nacional
Above the MEI cap, excluded professions, or partners.
Formation through a contador, commonly R$500-1,500; no minimum capital for an LTDA.
A contador (accountant) is legally required for companies - budget the monthly fee as a fixed cost.
The sequence
For MEI: register on gov.br
Where: gov.br/meiCost: R$0Takes: Minutes; the CNPJ is immediate
A gov.br account, the activity choice from the permitted list, and the address. The certificate (CCMEI) prints at the end; city hall permits are handled through the same integrated flow in most municipalities.
Pay the DAS every month
The single monthly document covers INSS pension and the token taxes. Miss it and the pension coverage lapses - the point of MEI for many. The annual declaration (DASN-SIMEI) is one revenue number, once a year.
Invoice as required
Service invoices (NFS-e) issue through the new national portal or the municipality’s system; B2B customers need them. The e-invoice world is universal in Brazil - assume every sale wants a nota fiscal.
Watch the cap and plan the migration
Approaching R$81,000, engage a contador and migrate to Simples before the crossing, not after. The reform rolling out through 2026-2033 (IBS/CBS replacing several taxes) will reshape rates; simplified-regime businesses are the most insulated, which is one more argument for staying inside.
What it costs to start
| What | Amount |
|---|---|
| MEI registration | R$0 |
| DASEverything included. | ~R$70-80/month |
| LTDA via contador | R$500-1,500 |
| Contador monthlyMandatory for companies. | R$300-800 |
The words on the forms
- MEI
- The micro-entrepreneur regime to R$81,000.
- CNPJ
- The business tax number.
- DAS
- The single monthly payment slip.
- Simples Nacional
- The unified regime to R$4.8M.
- Contador
- The accountant companies must retain.
- NFS-e / nota fiscal
- The e-invoices every sale expects.
- INSS
- The pension system the DAS keeps you inside.
The traps
- An activity outside the MEI list registered anyway - unwound painfully at fiscalisation.
- Blowing the cap and ignoring it - the retroactive recalculation treats the whole year as Simples.
- Missing DAS payments and losing pension coverage silently.
- Treating the contador as optional for an LTDA - it is not.
Where to check this yourself
- gov.br - MEIRegistration and the rules.
- Receita Federal - SimplesThe regime above MEI.
This is a map, not legal or tax advice - and an honest one about how it was drawn: the Germany guide was written by a person who walked the route; most other countries were drafted with AI against the official sources and have not yet been walked by someone who did it. Laws change. Every guide carries the date it was last checked and the sources to check it yourself - and if you have been through one of these routes, your corrections are exactly what this handbook wants.