Before you start

CPF
A clear determination of when you became tax resident
Records of Brazilian and foreign income
A gov.br account at silver or gold level

Step-by-step

1
Establish your residency start date
Permanent visa or a Brazilian employment contract makes you resident from arrival. On a temporary visa you stay non-resident until you have completed 183 days of presence within a twelve-month period and become resident on day 184; the days need not be consecutive, and if you do not reach 184 days inside those twelve months the count restarts from your next entry.
OnlineWho: You
2
Start carnê-leão if you have foreign-source income
Residents receiving income from abroad or from individuals must compute and pay tax monthly, due by the last working day of the following month. Arrivals from withholding-tax countries assume the annual return is when money changes hands, and accrue a year of interest before finding out otherwise.
OnlineWho: YouMonthly
3
File the annual Declaração de Ajuste Anual
The DIRPF covers the previous calendar year and is filed March to end of May through Receita Federal's software or the Meu Imposto de Renda app. Late filing attracts an automatic minimum penalty whether or not you owe.
OnlineWho: YouMarch to end of May
4
Structure a property purchase to use the reduced ITBI band
Porto Alegre's general ITBI rate is 3%, but the amount effectively financed under a residential mortgage or property consórcio with a minimum five-year term, and the buyer's FGTS resources, are taxed at 0.5% up to a cap of 68,000 UFM. On a financed purchase that is a material saving, and it is applied by declaring the financed portion correctly rather than by claiming it afterwards. Model the split with the notary before completion.
OnlineWho: You
5
Pay the ITBI before the deed, not after
The tax is due before the public deed is executed, or before the transfer is transcribed at the Registro de Imóveis where there is no deed. The base is the assessed value determined by the tax administration, which may not equal the price you agreed. Both facts belong in the purchase timetable rather than in the completion scramble.
OnlineWho: You
6
File the Comunicação de Saída Definitiva when you leave
Residency does not end because you boarded a plane. The communication is filed from the date of departure up to the last day of February of the following calendar year, followed by the final Declaração de Saída Definitiva. Without both, Receita Federal keeps treating you as resident and taxable on worldwide income for the first twelve consecutive months of absence.
OnlineWho: YouBy the last day of February after the year you leave

Documents you’ll need

CPF
Informe de rendimentos from each Brazilian payer
Records of foreign income and foreign tax paid
Medical, education and dependant receipts with the provider's CPF/CNPJ
IPTU and ITBI notices, and the financing contract, where you buy property
Bank and investment positions as at 31 December

Things most newcomers don’t know

The 0.5% ITBI band on financed value is the most valuable municipal detail in this city, and almost nobody outside the trade knows it.

Porto Alegre taxes the effectively financed portion of a residential purchase — under a mortgage or a property consórcio with a minimum five-year term — plus the buyer's FGTS resources, at 0.5% rather than the general 3%, up to a cap of 68,000 UFM. On an ordinary financed flat that is thousands of reais, and it depends on the financed amount being declared correctly at the outset. Ask the notary and the bank to model it before completion, not after.

Source: Prefeitura de Porto Alegre — ITBI, alíquotas

The ITBI base is the administration's assessed value, not necessarily your price.

The tax is calculated on the valor venal determined by the tax administration at the moment of the fiscal estimate. If the assessment exceeds the agreed price, the tax follows the assessment unless you contest it — and the wider Brazilian case law on whether the transaction value should prevail is live. Budget from the assessment rather than from your contract, and take advice if the gap is large.

Source: Prefeitura de Porto Alegre — ITBI, base de cálculo

Completing 184 days of presence in a twelve-month period makes you taxable on worldwide income.

Everyone calls this the 183-day rule; the threshold is passing it, so residence attaches on day 184. The days need not be consecutive, so someone splitting a year between Brazil and Uruguay or Argentina can cross the line without any single long stay. From that date Brazil taxes global salary, capital gains and investment income, and it is routinely discovered a year late.

Source: Receita Federal — IN SRF 208/2002, art. 2

Foreign income is paid monthly through carnê-leão, not at filing time.

Anyone with an offshore employer, foreign clients or overseas rental income must calculate and pay Brazilian tax every month, due by the last working day of the following month. Interest and penalties accrue quietly from the first missed month. Setting up the monthly routine in your first weeks is far cheaper than reconstructing twelve months of it in April.

Source: Receita Federal — carnê-leão

Common mistakes to avoid

Paying the full 3% ITBI on a financed purchase that qualified for the 0.5% band.
Budgeting ITBI from the agreed price rather than the administration's assessed value.
Crossing the 184th day of presence unnoticed and becoming taxable on worldwide income from that date.
Not paying carnê-leão monthly on foreign income and accruing a year of interest.
Leaving Brazil without filing the Comunicação de Saída Definitiva.

Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.

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