Hiring in Brazil through an EOR adds 46.4% to the salary. What is in it, and then the fee

Summary

Summary

A hire at R$180,000 costs the employer R$263,610. Three employer lines (INSS at 20%, the Sistema S levies at 5.8%, RAT accident insurance at 2%) run on a base of R$195,000 that includes the thirteenth month, for R$54,210; the thirteenth month itself is R$15,000; and the FGTS accrual at 8% is R$14,400. No line has a ceiling, so at R$360,000 it is still 46.4%, which makes Brazil the country of the fifteen where higher pay does nothing to lighten the share. The fee sits on its own dollar line at $99 to $699. Deel and Remote both have Brazil pages; Remote's says employment contracts must be in Portuguese.

Inside the 46.4%

Employer cost R$263,610, 46.4% above the salary; the same 46.4% at R$360,000. Only Spain is heavier at 47.9%, and Spain's ceiling at €61,214 brings a €120,000 hire down to 32.3%. Brazil does not come down.

The thirteenth month is in the base. INSS, RAT and the Sistema S levies all apply to it; this site confirmed that against the federal revenue service and includes it. If a quote says "27.8% of salary," ask whether the base is twelve months or thirteen.

Not in this floor. RAT is carried at the medium-risk 2%; it runs from 1% to 3% by activity. FGTS is the 8% accrual; the additional payment on dismissal without cause is not in the rate. Paid leave (30 calendar days) and the 10 national holidays confirmed for 2026 are inside the salary.

Higher pay does not lighten it

Five of the fifteen countries show the same share at the mid and senior salaries: Brazil, Portugal, Australia, Ireland and the United States. Brazil's is the highest of the five. A flat EOR fee gets lighter as a proportion when pay rises, but the statutory layer rises with it. A R$360,000 hire costs R$527,220, exactly twice the R$180,000 one.

The fee, in dollars

Scroll sideways on a phone.

Reais and dollars are not added here. The fee's share of salary is annual fee in dollars × reais per dollar ÷ annual salary in reais, at your own rate.

Provider terms that matter in Brazil

• Contract language. Remote's Brazil page notes that employment contracts must be drafted in Portuguese and that employing an expat requires approval from the labor department.
• Days to start. Deel's Brazil page says "as little as 3 days." Remote's published per-country averages, as far as this site read them, do not include Brazil.
• Pay in the month of joining. Most of Latin America requires it; Remote moves a start date to the first business day of the next month when onboarding misses the cutoff.
• Billing the thirteenth month. It is due in two installments, November and December. Whether an EOR accrues it monthly or bills it in those two months differs by provider.

Who can employ in Brazil

Links on this page currently go directly to providers without affiliate tracking.

Sources

• https://seatbill.com/employer-of-record/c/br
• https://www.deel.com/hiring/employees/brazil/ (as read for article-36))
• https://remote.com/country-explorer/brazil (as read for article-36))
• https://seatbill.com/employer-of-record/providers

Related on this site

• Employer cost of hiring in Brazil in 2026 (c/br)
• The thirteenth month, and the countries that require one
• Hiring in Mexico through an EOR
• Does "130+ countries" mean an EOR can hire in the country you need?

Related on this site

• Hiring in Mexico through an EOR: 21.1% with the aguinaldo inside the base
• Hiring in Canada through an EOR: 6.8% on C$95,000, and why it halves to 3.4% at C$190,000