UI/UX & Product Designer Day Rate Calculator: Brazil 2026

Your tax treatment depends on your operating structure. CLT (Consolidação das Leis do Trabalho): standard salaried employment, INSS and IRRF come off your gross pay directly, the same mechanic as any permanent employee. PJ (pessoa jurídica) under Simples Nacional: your company pays a consolidated DAS tax on revenue (Anexo III or V, depending on the fator R payroll-to-revenue test), a pró-labore salary draw taxed like an employee's, and can distribute remaining profit to you tax-free. The calculator above shows both side by side.

Retention rates vary by structure and revenue level. PJ contractors typically retain significantly more thanks to Simples Nacional's consolidated rate and tax-free profit distribution, which is why the large majority of Brazilian tech contractors operate as PJ rather than CLT. CLT provides FGTS, 13th salary, and paid leave that PJ does not automatically include.

PJ nets more take-home for most Brazilian tech contractors, which is why it's the dominant structure in the market, but it comes without FGTS, guaranteed 13th salary, or the same labor-law protections CLT provides. The calculator above shows the exact net difference at your rate so you can weigh the trade-off concretely, adjust the pró-labore split to see its effect on the fator R test and your Simples Nacional anexo.

At a R$21K/mo monthly rate, the gross annual contract income is R$252K. This is a 24% gross premium over the UI/UX & Product Designer permanent salary median of R$17K/year. The premium compensates contractors for self-funded benefits, FGTS, 13th salary, and business overheads a permanent employer covers on an employee's behalf.