Accrued Income Tax Calculator (Brazil RRA)

Income that arrives at once but refers to several months

Accumulated Received Income is money paid in a concentrated way but that, at its origin, corresponded to earlier periods, calendar years before the year of receipt. It is typical of court decisions: back wages, labor awards, retirements, and pensions that only come through after a lawsuit. Received all at once, it would artificially inflate the month's income and push the taxpayer into the highest brackets of the progressive IRPF table.

To correct this distortion, art. 12-A of Law 7.713/1988 (introduced by Law 12.350/2010, expanded by Law 13.149/2015) created a dedicated regime: RRA is taxed exclusively at source, based on the number of months the income refers to. The logic is to reconstruct the burden that would have applied had each installment been paid at the proper time, rather than in one lump sum. The mora (SELIC) interest that often accompanies these payments does not enter this base at all, under the STF's ruling (RE 855.091/RS, Tema 808) it is indemnificatory in nature and exempt from income tax.

• Typical origin: back pay awarded by a court decision.
• Refers to periods prior to receipt.
• Legal basis: art. 12-A of Law 7.713/1988 (introduced by Law 12.350/2010, expanded by Law 13.149/2015).
• Taxed exclusively at source, by the monthly table in force at payment.
• Mora (SELIC) interest is exempt and stays out of the base (STF, Tema 808).

Divide by months to find the rate

The core of the method is simple. The calculator takes the tax base (gross income minus the period's deductions) and divides it by the number of months the RRA refers to, for example, 24 months of back wages. On that 'notional monthly base' it applies the monthly progressive IRPF table and finds the month's effective rate. That effective rate is then applied to the full base to reach the RRA tax (art. 12-A §1).

Next, purely for illustrative comparison, the tool calculates how much would be owed if the whole amount were taxed at once, in a single month, without the RRA division, and shows both rates side by side. Because dividing by months tends to keep the taxpayer in lower brackets, the RRA method almost always results in less tax than that single-month scenario. This is different from the art. 12-A §5 option to include the RRA in the Annual Adjustment Return together with the rest of the year's income, a decision that depends on the taxpayer's entire tax situation and is not simulated by this calculator.

Deductions, withholding, and the annual-return option

Before dividing by months, the RRA base may be reduced by: legal expenses necessary to receive the payment, including attorney fees, if paid by the taxpayer without indemnification (art. 12-A §2); and, for the period the income refers to, the official social security contribution, court-ordered alimony, and the per-dependent deduction, the latter computed at the monthly table value (R$ 189.59 per dependent per month) multiplied by the months in the period (art. 12-A §3). There is no 20% simplified deduction inside the RRA computation itself, that discount only exists for the Annual Adjustment Return as a whole.

Withholding is done by the paying source, the entity or party paying the award, which must report the amounts in the DIRF (RFB Instruction 1.500/2014). Separately, the taxpayer has an irrevocable option (art. 12-A §5) to include the RRA in the Annual Adjustment Return for the year of receipt instead of exclusive withholding at source, in which case the withheld tax counts as an advance payment. That is why the result here is an educational estimate: the definitive tax depends on the table in force at the payment date, the deductions actually documented, the withholding reported by the paying source, and any option for the annual return. Confirm with an accountant or tax attorney.

• Deductions: legal expenses, social security, alimony, dependents (per month).
• No 20% simplified deduction inside the RRA computation.
• Withholding by the paying source, reported in the DIRF.
• Irrevocable annual-return option (art. 12-A §5), not simulated here.
• Educational estimate, confirm with a professional.