13th salary 2026 in Brazil: how to calculate both instalments

The 13th salary is 1/12 of the December remuneration for each month worked in the year, and a fraction of 15 days or more counts as a full month (Law 4.090/1962, art. 1). Someone who worked all year gets 12/12, one full salary. Someone hired mid-year gets only the months (avos) worked.

The formula is: December remuneration ÷ 12 × number of avos. Legal and justified absences do not reduce it (Law 4.090/1962, art. 2). Variable-pay workers follow a separate averaging rule, which this guide does not cover.

• Law No. 4.090/1962 (Planalto)
• Decree No. 10.854/2021, arts. 76 to 82 (Planalto)

The first instalment is half the salary and may be paid from February to November, with a final deadline of 30 November. The second is due by 20 December and completes the amount owed, minus the advance (Law 4.749/1965, arts. 1 and 2; Decree 10.854/2021, arts. 76 and 78).

Someone hired during the year gets, as the first instalment, half of 1/12 for each month of service (Decree 10.854/2021, art. 78, § 4). The advance can also be paid with your holiday pay if you ask for it in January (Law 4.749/1965, art. 2, § 2).

• Law No. 4.749/1965 (Planalto)
• eSocial: how to pay the first 13th-salary instalment (gov.br)

According to INSS, the 13th salary's contribution is calculated separately: the table is applied to its value, without adding the month's pay. eSocial calculates it in the December 13th-salary payroll. To check it, use the INSS 2026 calculator with the 13th-salary amount in place of the salary.

Income tax on the 13th salary is charged exclusively at source, and the Law 15.270/2025 reduction also applies to it (art. 3-A, § 3). The 8% FGTS also applies to the 13th salary, but the employer deposits it and it does not come out of your pay (Law 8.036/1990, art. 15).

• INSS: monthly contribution table, note on the 13th salary (gov.br)
• Law No. 15.270/2025, art. 3-A, § 3 (Planalto)

On a R$3,000 salary and a 10 May hire date, the 2026 13th salary is R$2,000.00. May counts, because it had 22 days of work (10 to 31), and counting runs to December: 8 avos. The maths is 3,000 ÷ 12 × 8 = R$2,000.00.

The first instalment is R$1,000.00. INSS on the R$2,000.00 13th salary is R$155.69 under the 2026 table, and IRRF is zero, because the base is below R$2,428.80. The second instalment is R$2,000.00 − R$1,000.00 − R$155.69 = R$844.31.

On dismissal without cause, the proportional 13th salary is owed and is based on the pay for the month of termination (Law 4.090/1962, art. 3). On dismissal for cause it is not owed (Decree 10.854/2021, art. 82). The other items are in the guide to dismissal without cause.