Security

Brazil's tax authority now cross-checks a MEI's personal and business income

Over 570,000 MEIs were removed from the regime for exceeding the revenue cap in 2024, with data coming straight from banks, no privacy waiver needed. The rule combining personal and business income is already in effect.

July 20, 2026|5 min read

The rule already in effect, without much fanfare

An already-effective rule requires an MEI's (Brazilian individual microentrepreneur) gross business revenue to be combined with income the owner receives personally, for the purpose of checking against Simples Nacional revenue caps. The data cross-checking itself isn't new, but it's now formally written into the rule — giving stronger legal backing to automatic enforcement.

Brazil's tax authority cross-references at least five different databases to verify whether declared revenue matches actual account activity, and financial institutions already pass along transaction data without needing to waive banking secrecy — the process is automatic and continuous.

The scale of the problem this enforcement already caught

In 2024, this kind of cross-checking resulted in more than 570,000 MEIs being removed from the regime for exceeding the revenue cap. The rule's stated goal is to prevent business owners from splitting revenue across different business IDs, or acting as a freelancer for part of their work while using MEI status for another part — a practice that used to be common as a way to "stretch" the revenue cap.

What to check in your own situation

Three things help you avoid a surprise removal from the regime: add up, with your accountant, your business's (MEI) revenue plus any personal income tied to the same activity — parallel freelance work, for example — to confirm the total still falls within the MEI cap. Then review whether you have any additional business ID opened thinking it would "reset" the cap — data cross-checking already invalidates that strategy. And keep organized documentation proving the real separation of activities, in case the tax authority questions a cross-check.

Where Diglion comes in

Diglion helps small entrepreneurs understand exactly how combining personal and business income affects Simples eligibility, avoiding removal from the regime due to a lack of information.