MEI is an acronym that means "Individual Microentrepreneur”, that is, they are those who work on their own, informally. For this, these workers need to be registered as small businessmen and carry out one of the more than 400 activities covered by the regulations for Individual Microentrepreneurs in Brazil.
These occupations can be from the industry, commerce or service sectors, which include artisans, gardeners, plasterers, animal trainers, announcers, photographers, among many other activities. To qualify as MEI, the company's annual revenue cannot exceed R$ 81,000. In addition, it can have a maximum of one employee who earns the minimum wage or the minimum wage for the category.
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As MEI, the worker manages to formalize without facing so much bureaucracy, obtains social security benefits and his company now has a CNPJ. He can also open accounts and obtain credit more easily, in addition to issuing invoices. Another advantage of being an Individual Microentrepreneur is simplified taxation: the MEI is exempt from federal taxes, paying only a monthly fee, with all due taxes already included.
Anyone can become a MEI, including those who receive sickness benefit, family assistance, unemployment insurance or disability retirement. However, there are some exceptions. Servants, pensioners, foreigners without a permanent visa and holders of other companies cannot formalize in this modality.
The program was created in 2008, with Law nº 128. Its objective was to take Brazilian workers out of informality, since their activities were carried out without legal support or legal security. The law came into force the following year, and since then, more than 8 million entrepreneurs have managed to formalize it.
The procedure to carry out the formalization is completely online and free, just register on the Entrepreneur Portal.