Business · Economy · 1 hr ago
Brazil to forgive eligible MEI debts from January 2027
Brazil’s government has begun sending notices to eligible individual microentrepreneurs, known as MEIs, about a new debt-relief law.
The law covers qualifying debts owed to the federal government, including overdue social security contributions, fines and interest, if they were incurred by October 13, 2026.
The government estimates more than 3.6 million MEIs could benefit, with over 18.7 billion reais in debt forgiven.
The forgiveness takes effect on January 1, 2027, and eligible debts will be cleared automatically; people can check their status on the Federal Revenue Service portal from that date.
To keep the benefit, MEIs must pay their monthly DAS contributions on time for six months after it begins.
MEIs contesting debts in court must drop their cases and give up their claims to have those debts cleared.
Payments already made will not be refunded, and debts incurred after October 13, 2026, are not covered.
A law provides for forgiveness of eligible individual microentrepreneurs’ tax debts from January 1, 2027.
The forgiveness covers only the INSS portion of the DAS payment guide, not its ICMS or ISS portions.
It applies to debts accumulated by October 13, 2026, including overdue DAS payments.
The process is expected to be automatic, with no registration or application required.
Analyst Patrícia Ellen said nearly 7 million people could be covered.
- Who
- Individual microentrepreneurs (MEIs) with debts accumulated by October 13, 2026.
- What
- The INSS portion of eligible tax debts will be forgiven. ICMS and ISS portions are excluded.
- When
- From January 1, 2027.
- Where
- Brazil.
- Why
- The measure is intended to relieve indebted MEIs and help recover economic activity.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
The eligibility cutoff for debts covered by the measure.
The debt forgiveness is scheduled to take effect.
- Forgiven portion
- INSS component of the DAS
- Excluded portions
- ICMS and ISS
- Eligibility cutoff
- October 13, 2026
- Start date
- January 1, 2027
- Potential coverage
- Nearly 7 million people
2 sources
What people are saying
What will be forgiven is only the INSS line, not the ICMS line or the ISS line. But the good news is that it is the heaviest line, accounting for more than 90% of the total DAS amount.
The expectation is that this will be automatic so as not to create additional work for entrepreneurs.
This is a very important respite for us to recover economic activity for next year.