| Competition: | Campeonato Paulista – Série A1 |
| Season: | 1976 |
| Winners: | Palmeiras (18th title) |
| Continentalcup1: | Copa Brasil |
| Continentalcup1 Qualifiers: | Corinthians Santos Ponte Preta XV de Piracicaba Guarani Palmeiras São Paulo Botafogo Portuguesa |
| League Topscorer: | Sócrates (Botafogo) – 15 goals |
| Biggest Home Win: | Ferroviária 5-0 Portuguesa Santista (April 21, 1976) São Paulo 5-0 Noroeste (August 21, 1976) |
| Biggest Away Win: | Marília 0-4 Corinthians (February 22, 1976) São Bento 0-4 Portuguesa (April 17, 1976) Portuguesa Santista 2-6 Portuguesa (May 16, 1976) |
| Highest Scoring: | Portuguesa Santista 2-6 Portuguesa (May 16, 1976) |
| Matches: | 219 |
| Total Goals: | 442 |
| Prevseason: | 1975 |
| Nextseason: | 1977 |
The 1976 Campeonato Paulista da Divisão Especial de Futebol Profissional[1] was the 75th season of São Paulo's top professional football league. Palmeiras won the championship for the 18th time. No teams were relegated. Botafogo's Sócrates
The championship was divided into two rounds; in the first, the eighteen teams of the championship were divided into three groups of six teams,[3] with each team playing once against all other teams, and the four best teams of each group passing to the Second round. The team with the most points in the first phase regardless of group would gain a bonus point for the Second round. In the second round, the remaining twelve teams would all play against each other once, and the team with the most points would be champion.[4] Although no teams were relegated from last year's championship, Saad, which had been invited into the last two championships, wasn't invited back into the championship for 1976.[5]