Brazil's Supreme Federal Court (STF) approved on Monday a new allowance that can increase the salaries of ministers’ chiefs of staff and other trusted advisers by as much as 22.5 percent. The measure creates the Gratificação pelo Exercício de Atividades de Alta Complexidade, Técnica e Administrativa, known by its acronym Gaacta.
The allowance is classified as remuneratory, meaning it counts toward the constitutional ceiling for public‑sector salaries, which is currently set at R$ 46,400 per month. However, unlike regular remuneration, Gaacta is exempt from income tax and social‑security contributions, allowing recipients to receive the full amount net of those deductions.
According to the STF, the benefit follows a model already used by other higher courts and supervisory bodies. The Superior Tribunal de Justiça (STJ) introduced a similar allowance in May, offering a maximum increase of 15 percent for commissioned employees performing tasks deemed of "high complexity".
The STF estimates that 276 servants will be eligible for Gaacta, with an average monthly payment of approximately R$ 5,300 per person. The cost will be covered by the court’s own budget allocations, and the resolution specifies that there will be no retroactive payments.
For employees who hold a commissioned position without a permanent civil‑service contract, the benefit is calculated on the value of the commission. In such cases, the court notes that the monthly salary for a chief of staff may reach up to R$ 18,000, which would yield a Gaacta payment of up to R$ 4,323.
The allowance can be paid even during periods of leave or absence and will be included in the calculation of the annual Christmas bonus (the thirteenth salary). The STF resolution also states that Gaacta cannot be used to offset, replace, or reconstitute amounts that were removed from remuneration to comply with the constitutional ceiling, and it prohibits changes to the benefit’s base, functional classification, or payment method aimed at neutralizing the ceiling’s effect.
The decision contrasts with a previous STF ruling that limited indenizatory allowances for judges, prosecutors, and attorneys to curb rising expenses in the Judiciary and the Public Prosecutor’s Office. That earlier measure applied to magistrates and members of the ministerial bodies, but not to the broader servant workforce, leaving a loophole for additional payments to staff such as chiefs of staff.