IT professional: open a company or work as an employee (CLT)

The choice between CLT (formal employment) and PJ (working through your own company) is one of the most important decisions a technology professional faces. It is not only about the amount that lands in your account at the end of the month — it is about payroll costs, benefits, predictability and tax burden. Vivian Sampaio walks through the full comparison with real numbers.

CLT vs PJ: the analysis every IT professional should run

Deciding between CLT and PJ means comparing two completely different structures of employment relationship and taxation. Under the CLT, you are an employee with labor rights, and the employer pays the payroll charges. As an incorporated professional (PJ), you are a company that issues invoices and pays its own taxes.

Financial comparison: gross salary vs pró-labore

Example: a senior developer with a gross salary of R$ 20,000 under the CLT.

As a PJ, the professional pays taxes on revenue but does not carry the employer’s payroll charges. In practice, the client company pays the same amount, but the professional working as a PJ takes home more because the labor charges are left out.

CLT charges (INSS, FGTS, 13th salary, vacation) vs PJ costs

The CLT charges are substantial and sit on the employer’s side, not the employee’s:

Employer INSS (social security): 20% of the salary
FGTS (severance fund): 8% of the salary
Employee INSS: 11% withheld from payroll
13th salary: an extra cost of 1/12 per month
Vacation: an extra cost of 1/3 of the amount

As a PJ, the professional takes on these charges differently — paying INSS on the pró-labore (11% or 20%), but no FGTS, no 13th salary and no vacation. The difference stays in your pocket, but the labor protection disappears as well.

Advantages of opening a company as an IT professional

Expense deductions (home office, equipment, software)

One of the biggest advantages of the PJ model for IT professionals is the ability to deduct operating expenses:

Home office: proportional rent, electricity bill, internet, furniture
Equipment: laptops, monitors, peripherals (as a company expense or depreciation)
Software and subscriptions: development tools, IDEs, cloud services
Courses and certifications: professional training that keeps the company up to date
Contributions to private pension plans: PGBL or VGBL as an operating expense

When well planned, these deductions can reduce the tax calculation base by 20% to 40% of revenue.

Withdrawal planning: pró-labore vs dividends

Under Lucro Presumido (presumed-profit regime, the most common one for IT professionals), the professional sets a monthly pró-labore on which INSS of 11% or 20% is paid. The rest of the profit stays in the company and is distributed as dividends, which are exempt from income tax under Lucro Presumido.

This allows planning: setting a moderate pró-labore (with lower INSS) and taking the rest as a tax-exempt profit distribution. As an individual, all income is taxed as compensation.

Which tax regime to choose

MEI: limits and advantages

The MEI (individual micro-entrepreneur) is the simplest and most economical option for IT professionals billing up to R$ 81,000 per year (R$ 6,750/month). The monthly cost is roughly R$ 67 of INSS + ISS (when applicable). It pays no IRPJ, CSLL, PIS or COFINS.

The limitations: you cannot have employees beyond the owner, you cannot bill above the ceiling, and expense deduction is more limited than in larger regimes.

For anyone just starting out as a freelancer or self-employed in IT, the MEI is a good starting point — but it should be reviewed annually as revenue grows.

Simples Nacional for IT

Simples Nacional (simplified tax regime) for IT companies (software development, consulting, technical support) generally carries rates between 6% and 16% of revenue, depending on the sector and the “fator r” (payroll-to-revenue ratio).

For custom software development, the most common CNAE codes are 62.01-5 or 63.11-9, with rates hovering around 6% to 11.5% under Simples.

Lucro Presumido: when it makes sense

Lucro Presumido is advantageous when monthly revenue is high and deductible expenses are low. The calculation base is 32% of revenue (8% for software development activity), on which the following apply:

IRPJ: 15% of the base = 1.2% of revenue (for software)
CSLL: 9% of the base = 0.72% of revenue
PIS and COFINS: 3.65% of revenue (cumulative)
Approximate total: 5.57% + ISS

For IT professionals with revenue above R$ 60,000/month and few expenses, Lucro Presumido is usually more economical than Simples Nacional.

How an IT professional can pay less tax

Deductions allowed on IRPF

If the professional also earns as an individual (for example, under CLT or self-employed), the deductions on the IRPF include:

Contribution to the official pension system (INSS)
PGBL/VGBL (limited to 12% of gross income)
Dependents
Medical expenses
Education (with a per-dependent limit)

Pró-labore and profit distribution planning

The most common strategy is to keep the pró-labore within the lower INSS range (11% up to the INSS ceiling) and take the rest as a profit distribution under Lucro Presumido. This reduces the INSS burden and eliminates IRPF on the distribution.

For professionals who also have CLT income, the planning has to account for the sum of incomes and the progressive taxation bracket.

Common mistakes IT professionals make when going PJ

Not separating personal finances

This is mistake number one. Mixing your personal account with the company’s account undermines cash-flow visibility, makes tax calculation harder, and can create problems in case of an audit.

The solution: a dedicated bank account for the company, a fixed monthly transfer to the personal account (pró-labore or distribution), and expense tracking by category.

Choosing the wrong regime and paying more tax

Many IT professionals open a company under Simples Nacional without working out which regime is actually cheaper. As revenue grows, Simples can become more expensive than Lucro Presumido.

An annual review of the regime is mandatory. If revenue has passed R$ 60,000/month, it is time to recalculate.

When CLT is still the better option

CLT makes sense when:

The professional values stability and benefits (transportation vouchers, health insurance, FGTS)
The company offers salary and benefits above what they could get as a PJ
There is no structured tax planning to justify the change
The professional is early in their career and does not yet have a client network

For IT professionals with more than 5 years of experience and an established client base, the PJ model usually offers more financial advantage — but the decision depends on an individual analysis.

The CLT vs PJ decision is one of the questions that comes up most in the conversations behind the Naprática hub — where the whole point is to move past the generic “it depends” and show how the numbers change in each scenario.

For freelancers and consultants who are just starting out, see the most common mistakes when going PJ and how to avoid them.

And if you want to run the numbers for your own case, talk to the VMAHUB team.

If you are starting out as a freelancer or self-employed in IT, the MEI is a good starting point — but it should be reviewed annually as revenue grows.

And for an analysis of your specific case, talk to the VMAHUB team.

If you are a freelancer or consultant and have not yet opened a company, check the most common mistakes when going PJ before making that decision.

For freelancers and consultants, see the most common mistakes when going PJ and how to avoid them from the start.

And if you want to understand more about profit-distribution planning, see how to legally pay less tax.

If you are an IT freelancer and still just starting out, check the most common mistakes when going PJ so you do not make the same mistakes.