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
Ask for the nota fiscal with your CPF on it
The Nota Curitibana scheme (Lei Complementar 102/2017) credits you 15% of the ISS paid on services you buy — gyms, schools, garages, dentists, parking — provided the invoice carries your CPF. Credits are totalled on 31 October and you nominate the property and the amount between 1 and 30 November, for up to 50% off the following year's IPTU. It costs nothing beyond asking, and almost no newcomer knows it exists.
OnlineWho: You
5
Budget the municipal property taxes properly
IPTU is billed annually with a discount for lump-sum payment early in the year and can be passed to a tenant by contract. ITBI on a purchase is 2.7% in Curitiba — lower than Rio de Janeiro's 3% but well above Florianópolis's 2%. Check the Prefeitura's own table rather than assuming a national average.
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, and only from the thirteenth month as a non-resident.
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, where you own property
Bank and investment positions as at 31 December

Things most newcomers don’t know

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 elsewhere can cross the line without any single long stay. From that date Brazil taxes global salary, capital gains and investment income. This is the most consequential rule for anyone arriving without a local employment contract, 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

Municipal taxes are set city by city, and ITBI is where a buyer feels it.

IPTU, ITBI and ISS are municipal, so the rate follows the city rather than the country. Curitiba charges 2.7%, Rio de Janeiro 3% and Florianópolis 2%, and on an ordinary flat that spread is worth thousands of reais. The point is not that one city is dear and another cheap — it is that a friend's figure from another capital is simply the wrong number. Check the Prefeitura's own table before you sign anything.

Source: Prefeitura de Curitiba and Prefeitura do Rio de Janeiro ITBI tables

Asking for a nota fiscal with your CPF converts into a property tax discount here.

Nota Curitibana, created by Lei Complementar 102/2017, credits residents 15% of the ISS paid on services they buy, redeemable for up to half of the following year's IPTU. Credits close on 31 October and you nominate the property during November. The whole mechanism runs on remembering to give your CPF when you pay a plumber, a dentist or a garage. It is entirely legitimate, widely used by locals, and almost unknown among foreign residents.

Source: Prefeitura de Curitiba — Nota Curitibana, Lei Complementar 102/2017

Common mistakes to avoid

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.
Budgeting ITBI from another city's rate rather than Curitiba's 2.7%.
Missing the end-of-May filing deadline, which carries an automatic minimum penalty.
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.