The Brazilian Federal Revenue Service, through COSIT Consultation Solution No. 151/2019, recognized that "as of November 11, 2017, does not integrate the calculation basis, for purposes of levy of social security contributions, the premium resulting from liberality granted by the employer in the form of goods, services or cash value to the employee or group of employees, due to performance higher than ordinarily expected in the exercise of its activities."
This understanding is based on the Labor Reform, which, among several advances, removed the premiums for superior performance from the levy field of the social security contribution.
The main requirements for non-incidence are the following:
- Liberality of the employer (cannot arise from a prior agreement, such as the employment contract); and
- Actual outperformance (demonstration of what performance was expected and also how much that performance was exceeded).
The eventuality, which before the Labor Reform was always a decisive criterion for verification of the levy of the social security contribution, is no longer decisive, since the new legislation also exempted the usual premiums.
Check out the full text of SC 151/2019 here.
