Auxílio Brasil replaced Bolsa Família in November last year and since then more than 7 million families have been accepted as beneficiaries of the social program. In addition to the almost 14 million Brazilians who have already received the monthly benefit, Auxílio Brasil reached a record 20.2 million families benefiting this month of August.

With the entry of millions of new families, many beneficiaries are unaware of the program's rules. One of the doubts is the possibility of individual microentrepreneurs (MEIs) receiving payments from Auxílio Brasil.

During an appearance on 'A Voz do Brasil' on August 17, the Minister of Citizenship, Ronaldo Vieira Bento, reiterated that people who were approved to receive Auxílio Brasil do not lose the benefits when formalizing as MEI.

“It is important to make it clear to these beneficiaries that Auxílio Brasil will not only lose their job, they will not lose their social security benefits, but they will also receive an incentive, a promotion for all families who have formal employment, as well as an individual micro-enterprise“, explained Bento.

It is important to make it clear to these beneficiaries that Auxílio Brasil will not only lose their job, they will not lose their social security benefits, but they will also receive an incentive, a promotion for all families who have formal employment, as well as an individual micro-enterprise”, explained Bento .

According to the balance released by the Ministry of Economy in June this year, individual microentrepreneurs represent 69.9% of companies operating in the country. Of the 19,373,257 active companies, 13,489,017 are MEIs.

Of this group of almost 13.5 million, 1,114,826 were opened between January and April 2022, an increase of 14% compared to the last four months of 2021 and a reduction of 3.2% compared to the same period last year .

For the director of the National Department of Business Registration and Integration of the Special Secretariat for Productivity and Competitiveness of the Ministry of Economy, André Luiz Santa Cruz, the large number of MEIs is the result of the success of public formalization policies for those who had informal activities. There are not many difficulties in opening companies in Brazil.

For an individual entrepreneur to formalize as a MEI, an annual turnover of up to R$ 81,000.00 from January to December is required. On the other hand, small business owners who formalize in the current year have a prorated revenue limit of R$ 6,750.00 per month until December 31st of the same year.

For example, an entrepreneur who becomes a MEI in June has a revenue limit of R$ 47,250.00 per year, that is, 7 months x R$ 6,750.00. To become a MEI, the entrepreneur must also meet other requirements:

The minister also highlighted that if the beneficiary loses his job, the government guarantees the return to the program, the return to Auxílio Brasil is guaranteed without having to return to the waiting list to receive the benefit.

The right to benefits even after entering formal employment is guaranteed by the Auxílio Brasil Emancipation Rule. With the aim of promoting the emancipation of families in situations of poverty and extreme poverty, the federal government created this rule, which guarantees families to remain in Auxílio Brasil for a period of 24 months after an increase in monthly family income.

Thus, if the monthly income per family member exceeds the maximum amount to receive the benefit (R$ 210 – poverty line value), the family will benefit from the emancipation rule.

Under the emancipation rule, the beneficiary can continue receiving Auxílio Brasil for up to 2 years, as long as the monthly income per person does not exceed two and a half times the poverty line, that is, no more than R$ 525.00.

Even if the family income is exclusively from pension, retirement, permanent Social Security benefits paid by the sector or the Continuous Payment Benefit (BPC), the maximum stay in the program is 1 year.

Families that are registered in the Federal Government's CadÚnico (Cadastro Único) and that demonstrate monthly per capita income of up to R$ 105, for extreme poverty, or monthly family income between R$ 105 and R$ 210 for families in poverty situation.

It is also important that the family has updated their CadÚnico registration at least two years ago so that there are no inconsistencies in the information found in other federal government databases. Families that are already part of CadÚnico can update their data by confirming them through the application.

Those who need to register with the Cadastro Único for the first time can pre-register through the app and schedule a personalized service to complete the registration at a CadÚnico service point in their city.

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