Sending Money to Brazil for a Property Purchase: FX Contract & BCB

The purchase price is the part of a Brazilian property deal that foreign buyers think about least, because it looks like plumbing: money leaves one bank and arrives at another. It is the part that most often decides, years later, whether the money can leave Brazil again.

Brazil does not have a free-floating retail currency market in the way many buyers assume. Every conversion of foreign currency into reais is a regulated operation performed by an institution the Central Bank has authorized, recorded with the identity of the person the money belongs to and a code saying what it is for. Recorded correctly at entry, that is what a bank will look for at exit when the property is sold and the seller wants the proceeds remitted home. Recorded wrongly, or not at all, the same money becomes what practitioners call stuck reais — lawfully owned, spendable in Brazil, and very hard to send abroad.

This guide, prepared by the ZS Advogados Associados team for foreign nationals buying property in Brazil and their advisers, explains how the purchase price enters the country, what the exchange operation must record, how it connects to the deed and the registration, what the Central Bank does and does not register, what taxes touch the transfer, and how the same chain of documents supports repatriation on sale. Our broader guide on bringing money into and out of Brazil covers the general framework, including investment in companies; this one follows a single purchase from wire to matrícula and back out.

What is the legal framework for bringing money into Brazil?

Two layers govern the transfer.

The first is the foreign-exchange law, Lei nº 14.286, de 29 de dezembro de 2021, published in the Diário Oficial on 30 December 2021 and, under its art. 29, in force one year later — since the end of December 2022. It replaced a regime that had accumulated since 1962. It sets the principles: operations in the exchange market may be carried out only through institutions authorized by the Central Bank (art. 3º); the institution is responsible for identifying and qualifying its customer and for ensuring the operation is lawfully processed (art. 4º); and the customer is responsible for classifying the purpose of the operation (art. 4º, §2º), with the institution obliged to provide guidance and technical support (art. 4º, §3º).

The second is the Central Bank’s implementing regulation. Resolução BCB nº 277, de 31 de dezembro de 2022 regulates the exchange market itself — who may operate, what information forms part of an operation, how purposes are classified, and accounts in reais held by non-residents. It has been amended repeatedly, most recently by Resoluções BCB nº 337/2023, 401/2024, 521/2025 and 574/2026. Resolução BCB nº 278, de 31 de dezembro de 2022 (amended by Resoluções BCB nº 348/2023 and 410/2024) regulates the reporting of foreign capital — but only in two forms, external credit and foreign direct investment, which matters a great deal below.

For the buyer, three principles follow from that framework and shape everything else:

1. Conversion happens inside the system. Foreign currency becomes reais only through an authorized institution. There is no lawful conversion outside it.
2. There is no standard contract — there is a record. Resolução BCB nº 277/2022, art. 2º, states plainly that “the form of entering into a foreign exchange operation is free”. What the old contrato de câmbio form used to carry is now the set of minimum information in Annex I to the Resolution: the customer’s identity, the currency, the amount, the rate, the date, the purpose code, the payer abroad and their relationship to the customer.
3. The purpose code is your responsibility, and the record outlives the deal. The institution must keep the evidence and the documents it collected at the Central Bank’s disposal for at least ten years from the end of the year of the operation (art. 8º). That is the file a bank reads at exit.

Legal basis: Lei nº 14.286/2021, arts. 3º, 4º and 29 (authorized institutions, identification of the customer, classification of purpose as the customer’s responsibility, entry into force); Resolução BCB nº 277/2022, arts. 2º, 3º, 4º, 7º and 8º and Annexes I, III and IV; Resolução BCB nº 278/2022, arts. 1º and 2º.

How does the purchase price actually get from my bank to the seller?

The mechanics are simpler than the paperwork suggests. The buyer instructs their bank abroad to send foreign currency to the correspondent account of a Brazilian institution authorized to operate in the exchange market — a bank or an exchange broker. The Brazilian institution identifies the beneficiary, collects the documents that explain the operation, agrees a rate, closes the exchange contract and credits reais.

Where the reais go depends on the structure the bank and the buyer agree:

• To the buyer’s own Brazilian account. The cleanest route. A non-resident may hold an account in reais in Brazil: under Resolução BCB nº 277/2022, art. 67, authorized institutions may open, maintain and close deposit and payment accounts in reais held by non-residents “under the same conditions under which they may open and maintain such accounts held by residents”. The reais are credited there and paid to the seller by ordinary domestic transfer at the deed; the deed records the payment and the account statement corroborates it. Note that permission is not obligation — each institution still applies its own onboarding policy.
• Directly to the seller or the notary. Some institutions will, on the strength of the purchase documents, credit the reais to the seller’s account or to an account designated in the deed, so that the buyer never needs a Brazilian account. The exchange contract remains in the buyer’s name; only the destination of the reais changes. Whether a given bank offers this depends on its policy.
• In tranches. A deposit at the preliminary contract and the balance at the deed are common, and each tranche has its own contract with the same classification and the same property reference.

In every variant the contract is closed in the buyer’s name and CPF. If the reais are paid to the seller directly, the buyer is still the party to the exchange contract, and that is what makes the inflow the buyer’s investment rather than a payment by an unidentified third party.

There is no regulatory checklist of documents. Resolução BCB nº 277/2022, art. 7º, leaves it to the institution: it “may request or waive, according to its assessment, information and supporting documents, considering the customer’s evaluation and the characteristics of the operation”, within the money-laundering rules that apply to it. In practice that means the buyer’s identification and CPF, the preliminary contract or deed identifying the property and the price, and evidence that the funds abroad belong to the buyer — but the list is the institution’s, not the law’s, and it varies. Some institutions require the client, or a representative under a power of attorney, to appear in person; our guide on buying property in Brazil by power of attorney covers how that representation is set up.

Where the reais pass through a non-resident’s own account in Brazil and are then paid to someone else, a second layer applies: transactions in a non-resident account that are of interest to a third party carry their own purpose code and reporting requirements (Resolução BCB nº 277/2022, arts. 68 and 68-A and Annex II), with the longer code list required above R$250,000 and information sent to the Central Bank for transactions of R$1 million or more.

Legal basis: Lei nº 14.286/2021, arts. 3º to 6º; Resolução BCB nº 277/2022, arts. 7º, 67, 68 and 68-A and Annexes I and II.

What must the exchange operation record — and which code?

Since Resolução BCB nº 277/2022 there is no standard contrato de câmbio form to sign: “the form of entering into a foreign exchange operation is free” (art. 2º). What replaced it is a defined set of information that must form part of every operation, listed in Annex I to the Resolution. Four of those elements decide whether the money can come back out.

Element	What it records	Why it matters at exit
The customer	The buyer’s identity and CPF, plus the payer abroad and their relationship to the buyer (Annexes I and VI)	The outflow must be to the same person whose inflow is recorded; a mismatch breaks the chain
The purpose code	46215 — “purchase and sale of real estate”, Annex IV to Resolução BCB nº 277/2022	The institution at exit looks for an inflow carrying this code and matching the property sold
The amount, rate and date	Foreign currency, reais, rate, date of the event and expected settlement	Fixes the documented investment in both currencies
The supporting documents	Whatever the institution requires to satisfy itself the operation is lawful (art. 7º)	Ties the inflow to the specific asset that will later be sold

The purpose code is the element buyers most often get wrong, usually by never asking about it — and it is legally theirs to get right. Lei nº 14.286/2021, art. 4º, §2º, puts the classification of the purpose of an exchange operation on the customer, not the bank; art. 4º, §3º obliges the institution only to provide guidance and technical support. The Central Bank makes the same point in its own guidance notes: the existence of a code “does not, by itself, ensure the regularity of the operation, nor does it remove the responsibility of the parties involved”. A transfer classified generically — as a personal transfer between accounts, or simply as “others” — converts the money just as effectively and leaves a record that says nothing about a property.

There is a threshold that catches smaller buyers. Two code lists exist. Annex IV, which contains 46215, applies to operations exceeding US$50,000. Annex III, the short list for operations up to US$50,000, has no real-estate code at all — its options are international travel, donation, transfer between the same person’s accounts, purchase or sale of goods, three service categories, external credit, and “others”. A buyer paying a US$40,000 deposit therefore has no correct code available by default. Art. 4º, §2º, I solves it: at the customer’s request, the Annex IV list may be used for operations of up to US$50,000, subject to the institution’s agreement. Ask for it. The same applies to third-party transactions in a non-resident’s reais account up to R$250,000 (art. 68-A, §2º, I).

The link to the property should be as concrete as the timing allows. If the operation is settled before the deed, the preliminary contract identifies the property and the price; once the deed is signed, its details should be added to the institution’s file so that the inflow, the deed and the matrícula tell one story. If the price is paid in tranches, or part of it is financed in Brazil, each inflow carries the same code, and the file should show how the pieces add up to the price in the deed.

And it can be fixed — while it is still fresh. Art. 4º, §2º, II obliges the institution, at the customer’s request, to adjust information the customer has already provided about an operation. That is not a licence to re-characterise a transfer years later, but it does mean a code caught in the same week is a phone call, not a crisis.

Legal basis: Lei nº 14.286/2021, art. 4º, §§2º and 3º; Resolução BCB nº 277/2022, arts. 2º, 3º, 4º, 7º, 8º and 68-A and Annexes I, III, IV and VI; Banco Central do Brasil, Notas auxiliares para classificação de operação de câmbio de mais de US$50 mil (code 46215: “compra ou venda de imóvel no Brasil ou no exterior”).

What does the Central Bank register — and what does it not?

This is where buyers coming from a corporate background sometimes look for the wrong thing.

Resolução BCB nº 278/2022 has a narrow scope, and reading art. 1º settles the question. It regulates the flows, stocks and reporting of foreign capital in Brazil in operations of external credit and foreign direct investment — and nothing else. Art. 2º, V then defines foreign direct investment as “direct participation of a non-resident in the share capital of a company in the country, or other economic rights of a non-resident in the country derived from an act or contract whenever the return on this investment depends on the business performance”. Art. 2º, XI defines the recipient of that investment as an entity constituted or organised in Brazil.

Foreign direct investment is reported by the recipient in the Central Bank’s SCE-IED module, with a code generated for each investor-recipient pair and reporting triggered by financial transfers of US$100,000 or more. That is what later supports the remittance of dividends and the repatriation of invested capital. If a foreign buyer acquires property through a Brazilian company they own, the money put into the company is foreign direct investment and follows that route; the property is then an asset of the company, and the investor’s exit is a corporate exit.

A property bought directly by a non-resident individual is neither of the two things Resolução 278 covers. There is no company, no share capital, and no return depending on the performance of a business — so there is no SCE-IED entry, and there is nothing for the buyer to file. The record of the investment is the exchange operation itself, with its purpose code, held by the institution for at least ten years, together with the deed and the matrícula. That is precisely why the code and the identification carry the weight they do: for a personally held property, they are the registration.

The two structures are compared in more detail in our guides on buying through a company versus as an individual and RDE-IED foreign capital registration. For a single home or a small number of properties held personally, the individual route is the common one, and this guide assumes it.

Legal basis: Resolução BCB nº 278/2022, arts. 1º, 2º (V, VII, IX and XI) and the SCE-IED reporting provisions; Lei nº 14.286/2021, arts. 8º and 10 (definition of foreign capital in Brazil; the Central Bank regulates and monitors its flows and stocks and may require information about them).

What taxes touch the transfer itself?

Bringing your own money into Brazil to buy an asset is not income, and it is not taxed as income. Three other charges can arise around the transfer.

IOF. The federal Imposto sobre Operações Financeiras applies to exchange operations at rates fixed by decree under Decreto nº 6.306/2007. The rate depends on the type of operation, and art. 15-B lists more than twenty of them. A property purchase falls into none of the listed categories, so it takes the residual inbound rate in art. 15-B, XXV — “other exchange operations for the inflow of funds from abroad, not exempt and not covered by items I to XXIV” — which is 0.38% in the wording given by Decreto nº 12.499/2025.

Treat that figure as dated, not permanent. The rate is set by decree, which means the executive can change it without Congress and, in 2025, did so several times: Decretos nº 12.466, 12.467 and 12.499 of 2025 all rewrote art. 15-B within months of each other, Congress moved to suspend some of those changes by Decreto Legislativo nº 176/2025, and the dispute reached the Supreme Court. The residual outbound rate under the same article is currently 3.5%, not 0.38% — which is a reminder that entry and exit are priced differently. The figure above is stated as at August 2026. Ask the institution to confirm the rate and the IOF amount that will apply on the day you settle, and check the current text of Decreto nº 6.306/2007 before relying on any number, including this one.

ITBI. The municipal transfer tax is paid on the transfer of the property, not on the money, and is due to the municipality before the deed can be signed (Lei nº 7.433/1985, art. 1º, §2º). It is assessed under the buyer’s CPF on the higher of the price and the municipal reference value. It is the largest closing cost in most purchases and is the reason the price stated in the deed should be the real one — a point returned to below.

ITCMD. If the funds are not the buyer’s own but a gift from someone else — a parent funding a child’s purchase is the classic case — the gift may be subject to the state tax on gifts and inheritances, which the Constitution assigns to the states (art. 155, I). Where the donor is resident abroad the position is genuinely unsettled: the taxation of gifts and estates with a foreign element has been the subject of constitutional litigation and of federal legislative change, and the answer turns on the state, on the date, and on the facts. We do not state a rate or a rule here for that reason. It should be analysed before the wire leaves, not after it has arrived.

Estimate the ITBI, notary and registry costs for the municipality where you are buying with our property closing cost calculator.

Legal basis: Decreto nº 6.306/2007, art. 15-B, XXIV and XXV, in the wording given by Decreto nº 12.499/2025 (residual IOF rates on outbound and inbound exchange operations), read against Decreto Legislativo nº 176/2025; Lei nº 7.433/1985, art. 1º, §2º (proof of the transfer tax and the certificates at the deed); Constituição Federal, art. 156, II, and CTN arts. 35–42 (ITBI); Constituição Federal, art. 155, I (ITCMD), and the applicable state law. Rates stated as at August 2026.

How does the same chain of documents get the money out on sale?

Repatriation is the mirror image of entry, examined by a bank that was not there when the money came in.

When a non-resident owner sells, the outbound exchange contract has its own classification — the return of an investment in real estate — and the bank closing it must satisfy itself that the outflow corresponds to a lawful, documented investment by the same person. The file it will expect to see:

Document	What it proves
The original inbound exchange contract(s)	That the investment entered through the system, in the seller’s name, classified as the acquisition of real estate
The purchase deed and the matrícula showing the acquisition	That the money bought this property and that the seller owned it
The sale deed and the updated matrícula	That the property has been sold and for what price
Proof of payment of the capital-gains tax	That the non-resident seller’s Brazilian tax on the gain has been paid before remittance
The seller’s account statement or the notary’s record	That the reais being remitted are the proceeds of that sale
The seller’s CPF in regular status and identification	That the same person is on both ends of the chain

The tax step matters, and two points about it are frequently got wrong.

Who withholds. Lei nº 10.833/2003, art. 26, makes the acquirer — the person buying the property from the non-resident — responsible for withholding and paying the income tax on the gain, if that acquirer is resident or domiciled in Brazil; where the acquirer is itself resident or domiciled abroad, the responsibility falls on the acquirer’s procurador. It is not, as is often assumed, the seller’s own representative who is legally on the hook, though in practice the seller’s representative usually calculates and arranges payment.

Which rates, and which reliefs. Lei nº 9.249/1995, art. 18, provides that a gain earned by a person resident or domiciled abroad “shall be calculated and taxed in accordance with the rules applicable to residents in the country”. That routes back to Lei nº 8.981/1995, art. 21, in the wording given by Lei nº 13.259/2016, which taxes an individual’s capital gains progressively: 15% on the portion up to R$5 million, 17.5% from R$5 million to R$10 million, 20% from R$10 million to R$30 million and 22.5% above that, payable by the last business day of the month following receipt. The reliefs, however, do not follow: both the reinvestment exemption in Lei nº 11.196/2005, art. 39, and the FR1/FR2 reduction factors in art. 40 of the same law are written, on their face, for a “pessoa física residente no País”. A non-resident seller does not get them. Our guide on capital gains for non-residents on Brazilian property covers the calculation in the inheritance context; the sale of a purchased property follows the same mechanics with the purchase price as the cost base — which is one more reason the price in the deed must be the real price. A seller who declared a lower price to reduce the ITBI at purchase has a lower cost base at sale, a larger taxable gain, and an inflow record that does not match the money actually invested.

Where the inflow was documented correctly, this examination is routine and the outbound contract is closed with the classification for return of investment. Where it was not — the money came in as a generic transfer, through a relative’s account, in cash, or through channels that produced no contract in the seller’s name — the bank has no inflow to match, and the seller may be left proving the origin of the reais with whatever evidence remains. Some of that can be reconstructed; some cannot; and there is no procedure for closing an exchange contract retroactively.

Legal basis: Lei nº 14.286/2021, arts. 3º and 4º, and Resolução BCB nº 277/2022, arts. 7º and 8º (outbound operations; the institution’s assessment of lawfulness and its ten-year retention of the file); capital gains of non-residents — Lei nº 9.249/1995, art. 18 (same rules as residents), Lei nº 8.981/1995, art. 21, as amended by Lei nº 13.259/2016 (15% / 17.5% / 20% / 22.5% brackets and the payment deadline), and Lei nº 10.833/2003, art. 26 (responsibility of the acquirer or, where the acquirer is abroad, of the acquirer’s procurador); reliefs restricted to residents — Lei nº 11.196/2005, arts. 39 and 40. Rates stated as at August 2026.

What is the buyer’s checklist before wiring?

Before the first wire leaves, the buyer and their attorney should be able to answer each of these:

• Whose account is the money leaving? The buyer’s own, in the buyer’s name. If not, what document explains the relationship, and has the tax consequence been checked?
• Which institution will settle the operation, and has it onboarded the buyer? Some institutions decline non-resident customers; find out before the seller’s deadline.
• Which purpose code will be applied — in writing? Code 46215, “purchase and sale of real estate”. If the tranche is under US$50,000, ask expressly for the Annex IV list under art. 4º, §2º, I; the default short list has no property code.
• Does the institution’s file identify the property? Matrícula, registry office, price.
• Where will the reais go? The buyer’s Brazilian account, the seller, the notary — and does the deed reflect that route?
• Is the CPF regular? A pending or suspended CPF stops the exchange operation as surely as it stops the deed; see CPF for foreigners buying property in Brazil and our CPF for a property purchase page.
• Does the price in the preliminary contract, the deed and the exchange file match? One number, in every document.
• Is the property urban, rural or in the border strip? The restrictions on the acquisition of rural land by foreigners (Lei nº 5.709/1971) and the special rules that apply near the border are not cured by a correct purpose code.
• Who keeps the file? Your copy of the inbound records, the deed and the matrícula should be kept together. The institution must keep its own for at least ten years from the end of the year of the operation — but a purchase can be held longer than that, and after ten years the only file guaranteed to exist is yours.

An illustrative scenario

Hypothetical illustration — not a real client.

Imagine a buyer resident in Germany purchasing a flat in Recife. Her attorney has cleared the due diligence and the preliminary contract identifies the property, the seller and the price. She has no Brazilian account. Her exchange broker onboards her on the strength of her passport, CPF and the preliminary contract, and settles two operations in her name — one for the deposit of about US$40,000, one for the balance. Because the deposit is under US$50,000, her attorney asks the broker in writing to apply the Annex IV list to it, so that both tranches carry code 46215 rather than a generic classification, and both reference the matrícula. The reais are paid to the seller at the deed, which records the payment. Her attorney adds the signed deed to the broker’s file and keeps a copy of everything.

Nine years later she sells. The acquirer’s procurador withholds and pays the non-resident capital-gains tax at the rates applicable to residents, without the reduction factors; and the broker, presented with the two inbound records, both deeds, the matrícula, the tax receipt and the account record, settles the outbound operation and remits the proceeds to her account in Germany.

Every distinguishing detail here is invented to show how the documents connect. Real transactions turn on their own facts and require individual analysis by a licensed professional. Nothing in this example predicts any outcome.

What are the most common mistakes?

• Sending the money as a generic personal transfer. The operation converts the currency but records no property; at exit there is nothing to match.
• Letting a sub-US$50,000 tranche default to the short code list. Annex III has no real-estate code. Ask for the Annex IV list, in writing, before the tranche settles.
• Assuming the bank owns the classification. It does not — Lei nº 14.286/2021, art. 4º, §2º puts it on the customer. The bank advises; you decide, and you carry it.
• Paying through someone else’s account. A relative’s or friend’s account in Brazil, or a payer abroad who is not the buyer, breaks the identification chain and can trigger gift-tax questions.
• Cash, informal exchange or “parallel” rates. No record, no exit — and legal exposure on top.
• Under-declaring the price in the deed. Saves ITBI now; produces a larger taxable gain, an inflow that does not match, and a weaker claim at exit.
• Assuming a company-style registration exists. There is no SCE-IED entry for a property held personally, and nothing for you to file. The exchange record is the registration.
• Ignoring the IOF until closing day. The rate is fixed by decree and has moved repeatedly; ask the institution for the rate and the amount that will apply on the day.
• Losing the file. The institution’s retention obligation runs ten years from the end of the year of the operation. Property is held longer than that. Keep your own copy with the deed.
• Wiring before the CPF is regular or the institution has onboarded you. The money sits in a correspondent account while the seller waits.

Bringing in the purchase price at a glance

Question	Short answer	Anchor
Can foreign currency be converted outside an authorized institution?	No	Lei 14.286/2021, art. 3º
In whose name is the operation recorded?	The buyer’s, by CPF	Res. BCB 277/2022, art. 3º and Annex I
Which purpose code?	46215 — purchase and sale of real estate	Res. BCB 277/2022, Annex IV
Who is responsible for choosing the code?	The customer, not the bank	Lei 14.286/2021, art. 4º, §2º
Is there a code for a purchase under US$50,000?	Not in the default list — ask for the Annex IV list	Res. BCB 277/2022, art. 4º, §2º, I; Annex III
May a non-resident hold an account in reais?	Yes, on the same conditions as a resident’s account	Res. BCB 277/2022, art. 67
Is there a Central Bank registration like SCE-IED?	Not for property held personally — Res. 278 covers only external credit and FDI in companies	Res. BCB 278/2022, arts. 1º and 2º, V and XI
How long is the record kept?	At least ten years from the end of the year of the operation	Res. BCB 277/2022, art. 8º
Is bringing the money in taxed?	Not as income; IOF at the residual inbound rate (0.38% as at Aug 2026); ITBI on the transfer; ITCMD if the funds are a gift	Decreto 6.306/2007, art. 15-B, XXV; CTN arts. 35–42; CF art. 155, I
What tax is paid before repatriating?	Non-resident capital gains, 15%–22.5%, withheld by the acquirer or the acquirer’s procurador	Lei 9.249/1995, art. 18; Lei 8.981/1995, art. 21; Lei 10.833/2003, art. 26

Key terms

• Operação de câmbio — the exchange operation performed by an authorized institution to convert foreign currency into reais (or the reverse). Since Resolução BCB nº 277/2022 there is no standard contract form; what exists is the set of minimum information in Annex I to that Resolution.
• Finalidade da operação — the purpose of an exchange operation, expressed as a code from Annex III or Annex IV. Older material calls this the natureza da operação.
• Código 46215 — the Annex IV purpose code for “compra e venda de imóveis”: the purchase or sale of a property in Brazil or abroad.
• Instituição autorizada — a bank or exchange broker authorized by the Central Bank to operate in the exchange market.
• SCE-IED — the Central Bank module for reporting foreign direct investment in Brazilian companies under Resolução BCB nº 278/2022; not used for property held directly by an individual.
• Conta de não residente — an account in reais held in Brazil by a person resident abroad, within the foreign-exchange framework.
• IOF — the federal tax on financial operations, charged on exchange operations at rates set by decree.
• ITBI — the municipal tax on the transfer of real estate, paid before the deed.
• Repatriação — the remittance abroad of the proceeds of a documented investment in Brazil.
• Ganho de capital de não residente — the taxable gain of a non-resident on the sale of Brazilian property, paid before remittance.

Key takeaways

• The purchase price enters Brazil only through an institution authorized by the Central Bank (Lei nº 14.286/2021, art. 3º). There is no lawful conversion outside that system.
• There is no standard exchange contract any more — Resolução BCB nº 277/2022, art. 2º, makes the form free. What matters is the record: the buyer’s identity and CPF, the amounts and the purpose code.
• The code is 46215, “purchase and sale of real estate” (Annex IV), and choosing it is the customer’s legal responsibility, not the bank’s (Lei nº 14.286/2021, art. 4º, §2º).
• Watch the US$50,000 line. The default list for smaller operations (Annex III) has no property code; ask for the Annex IV list under art. 4º, §2º, I.
• For property held personally there is no SCE-IED registration — Resolução BCB nº 278/2022 covers only external credit and foreign direct investment in companies. The exchange record, the deed and the matrícula are the registration.
• Bringing your own money in is not income. IOF applies on the exchange operation at the residual inbound rate — 0.38% as at August 2026, set by decree and changed several times in 2025. ITBI applies on the transfer; ITCMD may apply if the funds are a gift.
• At sale the non-resident capital-gains tax (15%–22.5%) is withheld by the acquirer, or the acquirer’s procurador if the acquirer is abroad; the resident-only reliefs in Lei nº 11.196/2005 do not apply.
• Money that arrived informally, through third parties or under a generic code has no clean exit — and the institution’s own file is only kept for ten years, so keep your own copy with the deed.

Related guides on this site

• Bringing money into and out of Brazil: Central Bank rules — the general framework, including investment in companies
• CPF for foreigners buying property in Brazil — the identifier the exchange contract runs on
• Buying property in Brazil by power of attorney — how a representative signs the contract, the deed and the registration for you
• How to transfer money from the USA to Brazil — the practical transfer options compared
• Brazil real estate due diligence: matrícula guide — what is cleared before the money moves
• Capital gains for non-residents on Brazilian property — the tax paid before repatriation

Related service pages: buying property in Brazil · closing by power of attorney · CPF for a property purchase · remittances and foreign-source income · RDE-IED foreign capital registration, if you are buying through a company.

Estimate the ITBI, notary and registry costs for your city with our property closing cost calculator, and see how we sequence the money, the power of attorney and the deed on our buying property in Brazil page.

How ZS Advogados can help

The exchange contract is closed in an afternoon and examined a decade later. Getting it right means choosing an institution that will onboard a non-resident, giving it the documents that tie the inflow to the property, insisting on the correct classification, keeping the price consistent across every document, and filing the contract with the deed where it will be found at sale. None of that is difficult when it is planned; all of it is difficult to repair afterwards.

Our team coordinates the exchange contract with the bank or broker, represents the buyer under power of attorney where the institution requires a signature in Brazil, aligns the contract with the preliminary contract, the deed and the registration, and handles the non-resident tax and remittance steps at sale. We work in English and Portuguese and coordinate with your advisers abroad. Every transaction is different, and no general guide replaces individual analysis of your funds, your bank and your property.

• International law — foreign-exchange and Central Bank compliance, remittances and repatriation
• Real estate law — contracts, deed and registration for foreign buyers
• Tax law — IOF, ITBI, gift-tax questions and non-resident capital gains

Book a consultation before the first wire leaves your account.

Technical review by the ZS Advogados Associados team, including co-founding partner Karina Peres Silvério (OAB/SP 331.050) and founding partner Zachariah Zagol (OAB/SP 351.356). Contact: zac@zsassociados.com — +55 (18) 3908-1653 — Presidente Prudente, SP.

Sources and legal basis

• Lei nº 14.286/2021 — foreign-exchange market, Brazilian capital abroad and foreign capital in Brazil (Planalto)
• Resolução BCB nº 277, de 31 de dezembro de 2022 — foreign-exchange market (Banco Central, English consolidated text)
• Resolução BCB nº 278, de 31 de dezembro de 2022 — foreign capital, external credit and foreign direct investment (Banco Central, English consolidated text)
• Banco Central do Brasil — Notas auxiliares para classificação de operação de câmbio de mais de US$50 mil (code 46215)
• Banco Central do Brasil — foreign capital and exchange market (capitais estrangeiros e câmbio)
• Decreto nº 6.306/2007 — IOF regulation (Planalto)
• Lei nº 7.433/1985 — requirements for public deeds of real estate (Planalto)
• Código Tributário Nacional — Lei nº 5.172/1966, arts. 35–42 (ITBI) (Planalto)
• Lei nº 8.981/1995, art. 21 — capital-gains rates (Planalto)
• Lei nº 10.833/2003, art. 26 — withholding on capital gains of non-residents (Planalto)
• Lei nº 9.249/1995, art. 18 — non-resident gains taxed under the rules applicable to residents (Planalto)
• Lei nº 13.259/2016 — progressive capital-gains rates (Planalto)
• Lei nº 11.196/2005, arts. 39 and 40 — reinvestment exemption and reduction factors, restricted to residents (Planalto)
• Lei nº 10.406/2002 — Código Civil, arts. 1.245–1.247 (Planalto)
• Lei nº 6.015/1973 — Public Registries Law (Planalto)
• Lei nº 5.709/1971 — acquisition of rural land by foreigners (Planalto)

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This guide is for informational and educational purposes only, in line with Provimento No. 205/2021 of the Brazilian Bar Association (OAB). It is not legal advice, an opinion, or an offer of services, does not refer to any specific case, and does not guarantee any result. It describes Brazilian law and practice. Foreign-exchange regulation, Central Bank classification tables, IOF rates and bank onboarding policies change and vary by institution; always confirm against official and current sources and with the institution that will settle the operation. References to tax rules of other countries, where any appear, are factual context only and are not tax advice for those countries. Rules and provisions are cited as of August 2026; changes after that date are not reflected. Each situation requires individual analysis by a licensed attorney. Last updated August 2026.