Government to propose raising MEI limit to R$ 130,000 staggered until 2028, but rules out correcting other Simples brackets, says minister

The Minister of Finance, Dario Durigan, stated this Friday (19) that the government will send a bill to the National Congress to correct the individual micro-entrepreneur framework limit from R$ 81,000 to a value close to R$ 130,000 by 2028. But he ruled out the possibility of correcting the other Simples Nacional limits. "We are not in a position to expand the Simples limits as a whole. We are discussing specifically the MEI limits, not for 2026, but for the coming years (...) We will do this through dialogue with Congress.

We are evaluating the limit, so that we can dose the fiscal impact, of having an increase in 2027 and 2028 so that it reaches something around R$ 130,000 at the end of the process", said Durigan, in an interview with Jota. Now on g1 This week, during a public hearing in the Chamber of Deputies, he had already confirmed that the government would make a proposal to correct the individual micro-entrepreneur limit, but did not cite values. The minister also informed that the economic area agrees that the MEI can hire one more employee. Under current rules, micro-entrepreneurs can hire up to one employee, and must have an annual revenue of up to R$ 81,000 (read more below). 🔎Bill 108, of 2021, which has already been approved by the Senate and is now under analysis in the Chamber, proposes increasing the MEI limit from R$ 81,000 to up to R$ 130,000 per year, also allowing the hiring of one more employee. This project, however, was listed by the economic team among the so-called "bomb agendas", that is, bills or legislative matters that create high-value expenses, putting pressure on public coffers, or reducing revenue. This would even be the main bomb agenda cited by the federal government, with an impact of a loss of R$ 50 billion per year in federal revenue, out of a total of R$ 111 billion in nine projects. Simples in other countries Created in 2006, Simples aims to stimulate small businesses. It consists of the unification of some taxes with more favorable rates for the entrepreneur. The tax reform on consumption, approved in 2023, did not change the framework limits for Simples and MEI companies. Currently, those who can join Simples are: individual micro-entrepreneurs with revenue up to R$ 81,000 per year; independent freight carriers with revenue up to R$ 251,600 per year; micro-enterprises with up to R$ 360,000 per year; small businesses with up to R$ 4.8 million annually; ➡️According to estimates by the Federal Revenue Service, Simples Nacional is expected to generate a revenue waiver of R$ 136 billion this year, about 22% of the total of R$ 612.84 billion in benefits projected for 2026.

This is the main program that generates revenue loss for the government. ➡️In 2022, auditor Fernando Mombelli, from the Federal Revenue Service, cited in the Chamber of Deputies the example of other countries with favorable regimes for micro and small businesses and their annual revenue limits. Brazil = US$ 1 million (about R$ 5 million); Canada = US$ 22,500; Israel = US$ 26,500; Portugal = US$ 11,000; South Korea = US$ 48,000 and United Kingdom = US$ 104,000. ➡️Studies indicate that the tax relief offered to individual micro-entrepreneurs is an important source of imbalance in Brazilian public accounts - which has shown consecutive deficits in recent years. The Minister of Finance, Dario Durigan, at a public hearing in the Committees on Agriculture, Livestock, Supply and Rural Development and Finance and Taxation of the Chamber of Deputies, on June 17, 2026 Kayo Magalhães/Chamber of Deputies.