What is gross salary?
Gross salary is the employee's total compensation before any deduction — the amount that appears in the employment contract and the job offer. It includes the base salary plus the month's habitual amounts: overtime, premiums (night shift, hazardous or unhealthy conditions) and commissions.
Almost everything is calculated on the gross: the INSS deduction, the IRRF base, the 8% FGTS deposit, vacation and the 13th salary. That makes it the payroll's reference number — and the one used in salary negotiations, even though nobody receives the gross in their account.
The gap between gross and net grows with the salary, because INSS and IRRF are progressive: at low salaries deductions start at just over 7%; at high ones, they can approach a third of the gross.
Hiring in Brazil from another country?
Avos runs Brazilian payroll (13th salary, FGTS, vacation bonus and taxes) alongside your other countries, with digital payslips for every employee.
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An offer of R$ 4,000 gross: INSS of about R$ 374 and IRRF around R$ 130 — net comes to about R$ 3,496, or 87% of gross. FGTS (R$ 320) is deposited separately, without coming out of the salary.
Run the numbers now, for free: Net salary calculator.
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