Reimbursement of expenses with home office is free of INSS contribution

The Federal Revenue recognized the reimbursement of home office expenses as a compensation amount, so the worker does not need to declare the amount received in the Income Tax and contribute this amount to the INSS. There is no fixed amount or percentage of reimbursement, but it must be proven.

“Amounts paid to reimburse expenses incurred by employees with internet and electricity consumption, as a result of the provision of services under the telework regime, should not be included in the calculation basis of social security contributions. However, the beneficiary must prove them , by means of competent and reputable documentation”, states the Revenue’s norm published on the 19th of this month.

The guidance is a response to a query from a soft drink and refreshment manufacturer that adopted the full home office regime for some of its sectors and questioned how it should declare the monthly allowance amounts to the Tax Authorities.

According to the tax auditor Amilson Melo Santos, who responded to the question, the legislation says that the allowance seeks to reimburse expenses arising from telework and is no longer paid if the employee returns to work in person.

When the provision of services by home office is necessary for the company’s activity and the maintenance of the production source, the allowance may be considered deductible for the company in determining the actual profit, provided it is proven.

“It is necessary to prove why there was compensation, not from a labor point of view, but from a fiscal point of view. The Tax Authorities have other legislation and, as a rule, every payment made to an employee is a remuneration amount and therefore incurs IR and INSS”, says lawyer Priscila Arraes Kingdom.

If the payment is not documented and presented to the IRS, the employer may be fined.

“Probably, the Revenue will verify that although the payment was R$ 5,000, for example, the company only paid INSS and Withholding Income Tax on R$ 4,000 because the rest would be internet and energy. the Revenue will only accept this if the company has documentation proving this help”, says Priscila.

For Glauco Marchezin, labor consultant at IOB, this solution confirmed what came with the 2017 labor reform, which brought rules for the telework contract, such as the agreement between company and employee establishing the conditions for how these amounts will be reimbursed.

“This increased a lot during the pandemic, and some unions have even established criteria,” he says.

Proof of expenses with electricity and internet to work can be done by sending a copy of the invoices or paid slips. “The employee can scan the charge, and the company assumes a percentage of the total amount, as there are household expenses in these accounts”, says Marchezin.