[00:01] the question in a very practical way: do I need to register a CNPJ (Brazilian business registration number) to work online, whether it's to sell as an affiliate on Shopee, TikTok Shop, or elsewhere? When does it make sense to register a CNPJ?  When does it make sense for me to use my CPF (Brazilian tax identification number)?  And everything you need to know is about a
[00:17] topic that few people talk about, but it's extremely important.  Remember that everything I'm going to share with you in this content is based on information I gathered from my accountant.  So what I'm about to tell you isn't nonsense
[00:29] .  And that's a beginner's mistake that every beginner makes.  That's how it is for most beginners, especially when you start out without any information.  And so that you don't risk having problems with the Internal Revenue Service, in
[00:41] everything you need to know about it. So go ahead and like this video, subscribe to the channel, because what I'm going to teach you for free today is something I paid a lot of money to learn.  The vast majority of platforms allow you to
[00:54] register using only your CPF (Brazilian tax identification number), so you won't have any problems.  You don't need to open a CNPJ (Brazilian company registration number) just to register, or anything like that.  But there's always a "but," and it 's not always smart to
[01:08] not register a company (CNPJ).  Sometimes you think, "Oh, I won't have the cost of maintaining it, even if it's just an open MEI (Individual Microentrepreneur)," right?  MEI, for those who don't know, stands for individual micro-entrepreneur, which is a simpler type of CNPJ (Brazilian tax ID).  You don't need
[01:21] an accountant or anything, you can even open a MEI (Individual Microentrepreneur) by yourself from home. For those who are less experienced or afraid, it's possible to open a business with an accountant, but in a much less bureaucratic way than a regular CNPJ (Brazilian business registration number).  And you only pay a
[01:34] 80-something reais.  V, and put the exact value here in the edit for us.  And then you paid that fee, and that's it, you don't need to worry about any more taxes, issuing DAS forms, or anything like that. You only pay those R$ 80 per month,
[01:49] bye and best wishes.  No problem.  Until you hit the monthly or annual revenue limit , you won't have any worries.  Now, there are some platforms where registering as an affiliate using your
[02:03] CPF (Brazilian tax identification number) can be detrimental.  For example, on Shopee, if you register using your CPF (Brazilian tax identification number), there's no problem at all.  I did my first few months, and since it was kind of a test, as I didn't know if it would really take off or not, I did it as an
[02:16] individual with my regular CPF (Brazilian tax identification number), but you automatically fall into the highest tax bracket that exists, which is 27%.  So, 27% of everything you invoice will
[02:28] automatically be withheld, and you 'll be paying a much higher tax , which makes no sense at all. Let's say you're making R$ 1,000 a month, 27% of that will be just taxes. R$270 will be imposed.  You will receive
[02:43] R$ 270 less, considering that the monthly fee for MEI (Individual Microentrepreneur) is R$ 80 per month, a little over 80. So you're paying much more than you would if you were paying monthly.  There will be that much money.  For example, one month I make R$ 1000, but the next month I make R$600.
[02:59] Okay?  But the months you saved will pay off, you understand? So, in that case, when you start making around R$500, R$600, R$1000, making around R$500, R$600, R$1000, R$200, it starts to make sense to open
[03:11] a MEI (Individual Microentrepreneur) if you are only affiliated with Shopee.  Now, if you're an affiliate on other platforms and you're not yet earning over 5,000 per month, there's no need to open the month.  Why? Because up to 5,000 now, recently,
[03:25] including the ceiling, right, it increased for individuals.  So, up to R$ 5,000 you are exempt from income tax, you don't pay anything and it doesn't make sense to open the pay anything and it doesn't make sense to open the middleman.  Now I've made 5,300,
[03:37] 5,500, 6,000, 7,000.  That's when it starts to make sense for you to open MI.  Why?  Because the MEI (Individual Microentrepreneur) limit is R$ 81,000 within 12 months, which amounts to R$ 67,750 per month.  If one month you earn R$ 7,000, and the next month you earn CCO, that's no
[03:52] problem.  What matters is that at the end of 12 months it has to be up to R$ 81,000. That's how you end up in the middle, and everything you receive in your account these days, the Internal Revenue Service uses to eventually put you under scrutiny.  So,
[04:07] even if you think, "Oh, but I 'm not declaring it, nobody will ever find out about this."  You might get caught in the tax net and end up having pay a fine for not having declared it.  So, if you receive
[04:20] Pix payments, anything in your account, and it exceeds R$5,000 per month as an individual, the ideal thing to do is to open a CNPJ (Brazilian business tax ID) under the MEI (Individual Microentrepreneur) regime and do everything through the MEI, because then you have a slightly higher ceiling of R$67,750 per month or R$
[04:35] 81,000 over 12 months.  It doesn't matter if one month was zero and the next was 10, as long as at the end of 12 months it has to total 81,000. So, to make it easier, if you are an individual, the maximum you can earn is up to 5,000.  But in some
[04:51] affiliate programs, such as Shope's, you'll fall into the highest tax bracket because they'll deduct the tax even before paying out your commission; they'll calculate it right away .  So you'll pay 27%.  If you have the MEI (Micro Individual Entrepreneur) registration number, you only pay the
[05:05] in that case.  Now, if you are self-employed and earn less than 5,000, you don't need to worry.  If you start making more than R$5,000 per month or more than R$1,000 in 12 months, it's worth opening the month.   If your revenue dropped from R$81,000 to R$1,000 in 12
[05:19] months, you need to be very careful, because what happens is that the MEI (Individual Microentrepreneur) status is automatically disqualified, meaning you will be deregistered and will fall back to being classified as a micro-enterprise.  That's where you'll need an accountant monthly to
[05:33] manage that company's tax ID (CNPJ) for you.  So you 'll already have the cost of the accountant, which will average around R$ 500 to R$ 600 per month, depending on the accounting firm you hire. It can even reach a minimum wage per month for the accountant,
[05:45] plus the monthly DAS tax, which will be from 6% per month of everything you invoice.  So, let's say I made R$ 10,000 every month, 6% of that R$10,000, R$ 1,000, which will be R$600, you'll pay in taxes.  Then you'll have the cost of the
[06:00] accountant plus those R$ 600, which is the monthly DAS (Simplified Tax Collection Document) that the accountant will generate for pay the tax, which then obligates you to file a tax return.  And in that case, you declare and pay, right?  And then you enter another area that starts to
[06:16] can't do it without an accountant starting from 81,000 per year, complex.  You'll start having to withdraw profits from your company's tax ID (CNPJ), withdraw profits from your company's tax ID (CNPJ), because otherwise you'll pay taxes on both the company's tax ID and your personal tax ID
[06:30] again when you transfer the profits.  So, when you have a CNPJ (Brazilian business tax ID), you can never take money from your business account and transfer it to your personal account without justifying it to the Federal Revenue Service, because otherwise, if you
[06:42] do this for too long, you could be flagged for audit again and have to pay a fine and a lot of other fees. But Fran, how do you know that?   Oh my god, that's impossible.  Oh my God, I've already done that.  I didn't know I had to
[06:54] file both as a company (CNPJ) and as an individual (individual). And so I spent years simply , and vice versa , as if nothing was happening.  And then I messed up because I didn't know I couldn't do that
[07:09] to declare everything.  Ah, but what does the government have to do with a business deal that I initiated?  It all makes sense.  You live in this country, you follow these rules, pay for everything.  So pay attention, because up to 81,000 you still qualify
[07:24] for MEI (Individual Microentrepreneur), there's no problem. If you exceed 81,000, and you're issuing invoices or receiving payments via Pix, the government itself will disqualify you from the MEI (Individual Microentrepreneur) category and reclassify you as a micro-enterprise.  And then you'll have to pay 6%, you no longer pay the
[07:39] monthly fee, you pay 6% on everything, starting from 6%.  So, depending on your starting from 6%.  So, depending on your activity, it's more than 6%.  6% is like the minimum rate, but it can range from 6 to 10%; I 've even paid 11% per month.  It
[07:52] largely depends on what product or service you're offering under your company registration number (CNPJ).  Another point of attention, which I know many affiliates have doubts about or difficulty with, is that if you do it as an individual and start making money,
[08:07] depending on the monthly amounts, you may lose government benefits, such as Bolsa Família or any other type of assistance.  But it depends a lot on each case; it's very individual, because every person is different according to the Internal Revenue Service
[08:21] .  So, your life, your context, all of that is taken into consideration, your income, how much you made in the last 12 months, all of that.  So, it depends on many factors.  Some people lose, some people don't, and some
[08:34] people can manage to do it using only their CPF (Brazilian tax identification number), because depending on how much they earn per month there, they won't have any problems.  Some people will already have to switch to monthly payments.  To start the month, you can do it yourself through the portal
[08:46] here, even through GOV, right?  You'll go there and create your MEI (Individual Microentrepreneur).  It's very easy to do online.  You can do it yourself, there's no bureaucracy involved, but if can ask an accountant for help. Generally, when I opened my makeup business, it was like this,
[09:01] years ago, so I do n't know if it's the same amount now, probably not, but I paid R$ 100 to the accountant to open the business for me was scared.  And then I paid him.   What should it be like nowadays?  Around R$200 or
[09:13] R$300, but you only pay once, he opens it for you, and that's it.  I think it regions that are more expensive, regions that are cheaper, and digital accounting. So, accountants who offer online services are generally cheaper than
[09:27] person at their office.  So, even today, my accounting, thank God, I'm no longer in that position, right?  But my accounting is 100% online.  I do it online.  I have never, ever been to the accountant's office in person or anything.  So,
[09:41] that's basically the answer.  There is no such concrete answer.  Yes, open it; no, don't open it.  But the answer is it depends, you have to evaluate the context.  I've given you all the possible contexts here, and you'll have to evaluate whether or not it's worthwhile to open a
[09:54] CNPJ (Brazilian business registration number) to work as an affiliate.