Selling Property in Brazil as a Foreigner

What a foreign seller owes

You owe tax in Brazil on the gain, wherever you live and whichever passport you hold, because the asset is in Brazil. Article 18 of Law 9.249/1995, together with article 26 of the Receita's Normative Instruction 208 (2002), treats a non-resident's sale of Brazilian assets as a final capital gain, under the rules for resident individuals, minus the residents' reliefs.

The rates come from Law 8.981/1995, art. 21, in the wording of Law 13.259 from 2016: 15% on the first R$ 5,000,000 of gain, 17.5% on the next R$ 5,000,000, 20% up to R$ 30,000,000 and 22.5% above that. The Receita's 2025 manual on withholding (MAFON) shows those bands for residents abroad under code 0473. A seller in a jurisdiction on the Receita's low-tax list pays 25% (article 47 of Law 10.833/2003).

One conflict in the texts is worth knowing, because you may run into it. Article 27 of Normative Instruction 208 still says a single 15%, since it dates from 2002 and was written before the bands. The 2016 law and the 2025 manual show the bands, so read the old 15% as the first band. The bands only change the bill on gains above R$ 5,000,000.

Check that you are in fact a non-resident. Someone on a temporary visa turns resident after 184 days in Brazil inside 12 months, and a permanent-visa holder from arrival (art. 2 of the same instruction). If you have lived in Brazil and left, the exit paperwork matters. A resident sells under different rules, set out in the property tax guide, and those rules are often kinder.

Working out the gain

The gain is the positive difference between the sale price and the cost (art. 26, § 1). Three rules decide how large it comes out.

Cost isn't updated. For anything bought since 1996, the cost stays at its original figure in reais (art. 26, § 2). Ten years of Brazilian inflation count as gain. That can hit a long-term owner hard, and it also means a gain in reais can be a loss in your own currency.

The owner lost about US$ 8,400 in dollars and owes R$ 90,000 of Brazilian tax, 15% of a R$ 600,000 gain. Nothing in the rules consulted for this guide adjusts for that. Taxpayers have challenged these limits in the federal courts, and you would need your own lawyer to try.

Cost must be proved. The law asks for sound documents (§ 3). Without them, cost is zero (§ 4). The registered deed is the starting point, backed by the bank trail. The difference is stark.

That middle line shows what happens when the old practice of a low price on the deed comes home. The ITBI saved at purchase is a small fraction of the tax it costs at resale, and a different figure in the bank statements raises its own questions.

Works count if documented. Keep invoices, contracts and permits. Ordinary upkeep doesn't add to cost. Ask your accountant what the GCAP program will accept for your case, and whether sale costs you bore can reduce the value of the sale.

If you inherited or received the home as a gift, trace the cost through the person before you: see inheritance and property.

Reliefs a non-resident can't use

Normative Instruction 208 closes the door in art. 26, § 5: a non-resident's gain gets none of the reliefs written for residents. So a foreign owner has no sole-home exemption at R$ 440,000 or below, no 180-day reinvestment and no FR1 or FR2 reducers. The property tax guide lays out what each is worth to a resident.

The point is contested for the reducers, not the others. A Conjur column by Vitor Flores argues the reducers belong to the property and that the law requires equal treatment. The federal appeals court for the 3rd Region (TRF-3) has ruled in one case on it. The buyer has no reason to take that risk, since the buyer is the one liable, so a seller who wants to try usually pays first and asks for a refund. That's a long road, so get a lawyer's view of the cost and of how a court might rule, based on your country's treaty if you have one.

There's also an older table many people don't check. The 1988 income tax law (Law 7.713, art. 18) cuts the gain by a percentage for homes bought up to 1988, from 5% for a 1988 purchase to 100% for a purchase by 1969. It rarely matters to a foreign buyer. On the Receita's reading of § 5 it doesn't help a non-resident at all, though it can help a resident heir of a very old family home.

How the buyer's withholding works

Law 10.833/2003, art. 26 says the buyer, if resident or domiciled in Brazil, is responsible for withholding and paying the tax on a sale by someone abroad. If the buyer also lives abroad, that duty falls on the buyer's procurador. The Normative Instruction's older text puts payment on the seller or that seller's attorney (art. 27, II). Tax firms read the statute as controlling. One warns against shifting the task to the seller's attorney for convenience, and the buyer who follows that advice from a seller's lawyer takes a real risk.

In practice, that means your buyer's lawyer wants to see your numbers. The buyer's money is on the line, so expect someone to go over your purchase file. A careful buyer will hold back tax on any cost they can't verify. Sort this out in the contract. Don't leave it for the day of signing, or you might see more held back than you expect.

Timing is unforgiving. The tax is due on the date of sale (art. 27, II; MAFON), under DARF code 0473. A resident's month-end grace doesn't apply. For a cash sale, plan to pay on the day the deed is signed. The buyer's accountant also handles reporting through EFD-Reinf and DCTFWeb if the buyer is a company or the rules require it.

Because the seller's own money and status are at stake, get the DARF and bank receipt before you consider the sale finished. No DARF means no tax paid in your name, and you will have nothing to show the bank that sends your money out.

When the buyer pays over time

If you give the buyer time to pay, the gain is taxed in proportion to each installment as it arrives (Law 7.713/1988, art. 21). Using the R$ 600,000 gain above on a R$ 1,500,000 sale, 40% of every real you receive is gain.

That puts a monthly duty on someone for a year or more, each with a DARF on the day of payment. Sort out who issues them, and how you recover the tax if the buyer doesn't hold it back. Any interest the buyer pays you is income too, with its own tax treatment. If the buyer falls behind, your security matters: the financing guide covers how to take a fiduciary lien, and the usury limit on what you can charge.

What the procurador does

Most foreign sellers don't fly in. An attorney-in-fact, or procurador, signs the deed in your place, and many also collect the money, deal with the city and the condominium, and arrange the exchange. The document has to be specific. Article 661 of the Civil Code says a general mandate only covers administration, and selling needs special and express powers. A notary will look for your name, the home's registration number, the power to sell, to receive the price, to give receipt and to sign the deed. How to sign one abroad is in the guide to powers of attorney.

Spouses often get forgotten. Under article 1.647, a married person can't sell real estate or give it as security without the other spouse's authorization, unless the regime is absolute separation. If you married abroad, your matrimonial regime can raise a question for the notary, and a spouse who isn't on the deed may still have to sign. Ask early. A long-forgotten divorce that was never recorded in Brazil can also hold up a sale.

Choose the person with care. The power to receive money is the power to walk away with it. Common precautions: pay into your own account rather than the procurador's, name the buyer and price in the power, and put an end date on it. If your lawyer also acts as procurador, get a written fee. Don't sign blanket powers for a broker. Your procurador is also the person the tax office and the bank will call.

Clearing the home for sale

The buyer's lawyer will run the title check on you, so run it first. A sale above 30 minimum wages needs a public deed (Civil Code, art. 108). Law 7.433/1985 has the notary note the ITBI proof, the tax certificates and one certificate covering ownership and liens in the deed. Expect these points to come up:

• Condominium. The transfer depends on proof that your dues are paid (article 4 of Law 4.591/1964).
• IPTU. Debts travel with the home unless the deed shows payment (article 130 of the tax code), so the buyer will want a clean certificate. Clear these from abroad before you list.
• Marine land. On federal land, you as seller settle a 5% laudêmio, based on the land alone, before title can pass (Decree-Law 2.398/1987). That can affect homes in Corredor da Vitória, Jurerê Internacional and other coastal districts. See terreno de marinha.
• A tenant. The tenant has a right to buy on equal terms and 30 days to accept (Law 8.245/1991, the Tenancy Law, arts. 27 and 28). If you skip this, a tenant can claim damages, and one whose lease went on the registry 30 days or more ahead of the sale can take the home by paying the price within six months (art. 33). A buyer can end a lease after a sale with 90 days' notice, unless the lease has a fixed term, a clause to survive a sale and a note on the matrícula (art. 8). A seasonal let of up to 90 days is its own thing.
• Possession only. In places such as Trancoso or Jericoacoara, some homes have only posse rights. There is no registered title to transfer, and your sale is a transfer of rights. It's a harder sale, and the bank trail is all you have.
• Liens. A loan on the home must be released and the release registered at the closing.

You don't need a broker. Brazil Keys lets owners list for free, and the brokerage directory covers those who want one. The guide to direct sales shows the buyer's side of the same deal, and it's useful to read what your buyer has been told to check.

CBS and IBS on a private sale

An ordinary foreign owner selling one home pays no consumption tax. Complementary Law 214/2025 brings an individual into CBS and IBS on sales only in defined cases (art. 251): over three distinct properties sold in the prior calendar year, each owned for less than five years, or more than one home you built yourself and sold within five years of building. A sale in the current year that passes those limits counts at once (§ 2). The CBS regulation (Decree 12.955/2026) repeats those tests in article 382.

Where it can bite is the owner-builder. Foreigners who build two or three villas on a plot in places such as Búzios or Praia do Rosa and sell them within five years can fall into the second test, starting in 2027 when CBS is charged. If you are planning anything like that, get advice before you start building. Inherited property counts from the date the person before you acquired it (§ 4).

If you are caught, the rate is 50% off the standard rate (art. 261), with an adjustment reducer based on what the home cost you (arts. 257 and 258). New homes carry a further deduction of R$ 100,000, and lots R$ 30,000 (art. 259). The audit court's October 2026 estimate of 11.3% for CBS implies about 5.65% of the base in 2027, before IBS. These rules don't mention residents abroad, so a non-resident in this position has an open question on how to register and pay.

Getting the money out of Brazil

Sending proceeds home is an ordinary exchange through an authorized institution. The bank's compliance team will want to see how the money came to be yours and that the tax was paid. Expect to show the sale deed, the DARF and bank receipt, and your original purchase and exchange file. Law 4.131/1962 (art. 9, as amended) ties remittances of profits, interest and similar amounts to proof of the tax due. Each bank writes its own list, so ask for it before the closing.

A law firm that writes on this, Alves Jacob, says current rules let the original exchange contract and bank records stand in for the older Banco Central registration. If you bought before Law 14.286/2021 came into force, in December 2022, and you registered then, bring that too. If you brought money in through an informal route, talk to a lawyer before you try this. Don't try to fix the story at the bank's counter.

Then the cost. IOF on this exchange isn't obvious. Decree 6.306/2007, art. 15-B, as rewritten by Decree 12.499/2025, sets a zero rate on returning funds that a foreign investor applied in the financial and capital markets (XVII) and in stakes in Brazilian companies (XVII-A). Property isn't named. So the catch-all in item XXIV seems to apply: 3.5% on transfers abroad not covered by any other clause. Before the 2025 decrees that catch-all was 0.38%. Ask your institution in writing how it will classify the operation, and remember the decree is under challenge at the Supreme Court in ADI 7.827, with no final ruling as of early November 2026.

The amount is large enough to shop around. A 3.5% charge on R$ 1,335,000 is R$ 46,725. If your bank tells you a lower rate applies, have it show the clause. A large transfer is also a good reason to compare the Valor Efetivo Total from more than one institution, since a margin of even half a percent on this much money is real.

You can also take your time. Non-resident accounts let you hold the money in reais under Banco Central Resolution 277/2022. Whether reais rise or fall in the meantime is your risk.

A full worked example

A non-resident sells an apartment in Botafogo. Purchase price in 2016 was R$ 800,000, works of R$ 100,000 are documented, and the sale price in November 2026 is R$ 1,500,000. A broker takes 5%, a figure used here only for the example. IOF is at the 3.5% default rate. The dollar figure uses R$ 5.42 and no exchange margin.

At the old 0.38%, the IOF would be R$ 5,073, and the dollars about US$ 245,374, a difference of roughly US$ 7,700. Add your accountant, lawyer and any laudêmio. The calculation here assumes the broker's fee doesn't reduce the taxable gain; if the rules allow it for your sale, the tax falls by R$ 11,250.

Compare that to a resident selling after the same ten years, who could use FR2 to shrink the gain and might avoid the tax altogether by reinvesting. Non-residents' reliefs are limited by the rule above, so check where you stand before you pick a closing date.

Tax on the sale at home

Your country may tax the gain too, on its own calculation and in its own currency, which can mean a different number from Brazil's. In the dollar example earlier the owner had a loss in dollars and a tax bill in Brazil. Whether you can use that tax against anything at home depends on your country's rules.

The National Tax Code (art. 98) gives treaties priority over domestic rates, and the Receita Federal's list shows which countries have one. Neither the US nor the UK was on it when this guide was written. Keep the DARF, the deed and an exchange record of the date you were paid. Your adviser at home will want all three.

Questions

Sources

1. Planalto, Law 10.833/2003, arts. 26 and 47
2. Normas Legais, Normative Instruction SRF 208/2002, arts. 26 and 27
3. Planalto, Law 8.981/1995, art. 21, as amended by Law 13.259/2016
4. Receita Federal, MAFON 2025, code 0473
5. Brasil Tax, Sale of a home by a non-resident: tax and capital gains
6. IBET and Conjur, Flores, capital gains on property for non-residents, 2021
7. Planalto, Law 7.713/1988, arts. 16, 18 and 21
8. Planalto, Law 11.196/2005, arts. 39 and 40
9. Planalto, Civil Code, arts. 108, 661 and 1.647
10. Planalto, Law 8.245/1991 (Tenancy Law)
11. Planalto, Complementary Law 214/2025, compiled (art. 251)
12. Planalto, Decree 12.955/2026, art. 382
13. Barbieri Advogados, Individuals as IBS and CBS taxpayers
14. Vade Mécum Previdenciário, Decree 6.306/2007, art. 15-B as amended
15. Barbieri Advogados, IOF rates in 2026
16. Alves Jacob, Compra de imóvel por estrangeiro e registro no Banco Central
17. Planalto, Law 14.286/2021
18. Planalto, Decree-Law 2.398/1987 (laudêmio)
19. Receita Federal, double tax treaties in force