Leaving Brazil tax residency in 2026: the definitive exit step by step

Who stops being a Brazilian tax resident and when, the Exit Notice and Exit Return deadlines, tax on rent, dividends and pensions that stay in Brazil, accounts, MEI and company, and the mistakes that keep you resident.

In detail

Moving abroad does not change your status with Brazil's Federal Revenue on its own. Until you report your departure, you stay a Brazilian tax resident and declare everything you earn worldwide in Brazil. The definitive exit, the saída definitiva, closes that door: from the departure date, Brazil taxes only Brazilian-source income, and only at source.

This guide covers who is a resident and who stops being one, the deadlines for the Exit Notice and the Exit Return, the tax on rent, dividends, pensions and investments that stay in Brazil, what to do with bank accounts, the CPF, an MEI and a company, and the mistakes that keep Brazilians resident without them noticing. The rules follow Normative Instruction SRF 208 of 2002 and Law 9.718 of 1998.

Who is a Brazilian tax resident and who stops being one

Tax residency turns on two things: the intention to leave for good and reporting that departure to the Federal Revenue.

• Left for good and reported it. Whoever files the Exit Notice or the Exit Return becomes a non-resident on the departure date itself.
• Left for good without reporting. Stays resident for the first 12 consecutive months abroad and only then becomes a non-resident.
• Left temporarily. Becomes a non-resident on the day after 12 consecutive months outside the country.
• Came back to stay. A Brazilian who returns with the intention to stay is resident again from the arrival date.

During the months of residency, worldwide income falls under Brazilian tax. That makes the departure date the most expensive decision of the whole move: one extra year of residency can mean tax on a full year of salary, dividends or sales abroad.

Exit Notice and Exit Return: deadlines

The exit has two filings, and one does not replace the other.

• Exit Notice (Comunicação de Saída Definitiva do País). Filed online on the federal government portal, from the departure date until the last day of February of the following year. It covers dependants with a CPF who left on the same date.
• Exit Return (Declaração de Saída Definitiva do País). Covers the months of residency in the year of departure and is filed by the last business day of April of the following year, in the same program as the annual return. The simplified deduction is not available in it.

The tax due on the Exit Return and any open debts are paid in a single instalment by the Exit Return deadline. After the Exit Notice, earlier obligations still apply: the Exit Return itself and any outstanding annual returns from past years.

If you missed the Exit Notice deadline, you regularise through the Exit Return within 5 years. The late-filing fine is 1% of the tax per month, capped at 20% of the tax, with a minimum of R$ 165.74. If more than 5 years have passed since departure, you only need to update the CPF as a resident abroad.

Step-by-step definitive exit

1. Residency in the new country. First comes the right to live there: a visa, temporary or permanent residency. Without it the exit has no footing, and the new country will not issue a tax residency certificate.
2. Departure date. Set the date together with asset sales, redemptions and profit distributions, because whatever happens before it is taxed as a resident.
3. Exit Notice. File it from the departure date, without waiting for February.
4. Notice to payers. Tell your employer, banks, brokers, funds and tenants in writing about your non-resident status and departure date. Without that notice they keep withholding tax as if you were resident.
5. Attorney in Brazil. If you keep a rented property, appoint an attorney who pays the tax on the rent by DARF under code 9478.
6. MEI and company. A non-resident cannot be an MEI, and a company with a partner domiciled abroad cannot stay in Simples Nacional. Sort out both before you leave.
7. Exit Return. File it by the last business day of April of the following year and pay the tax in a single instalment.
8. Tax residency in the new country. Apply for the tax residency certificate, which shows banks, brokers and tax authorities where you pay tax now.

Non-resident tax on Brazilian income

After the exit, Brazilian-source income is taxed only at source, as a final tax, with no annual return in Brazil.

The rates on royalties, interest on equity and other income rise to 25% when the recipient lives in a country with favoured taxation, where tax is below 17%. Paraguay is not on that list. The stock exchange exemption also applies only to those who do not live in a favoured-taxation country.

Dividends from 2025 profits with distribution approved by 31 December 2025 and paid by 2028 remain exempt. INSS and other retirement and survivor pensions paid to people living abroad follow the progressive table since the 2024 Supreme Court ruling (Theme 1.174), and the extra exempt portion for people over 65 does not apply to non-residents.

Foreign income and exit tax

After the exit, foreign income is no longer taxed or declared in Brazil. That covers salary from a foreign employer, interest on accounts abroad, dividends from foreign companies and sales of assets abroad. If you ever become resident again, money earned abroad while you were a non-resident comes into Brazil tax-free, and your assets go into the return.

Two recent rules that weigh on wealthy families stay behind with residency. The first is the 15% tax on income from financial investments and on profits of controlled companies abroad under Law 14.754 of 2023. The second is the minimum tax of up to 10% on income above R$ 600,000 a year, applying from 2026 income, under Law 15.270 of 2025. Both apply to Brazilian residents.

The Federal Revenue exit rules do not provide for an exit tax on unrealised gains: the Exit Return taxes only the income for the months of residency in the year of departure. People with a company abroad, large shareholdings or funds plan the departure date together with distributions and sales.

Accounts, CPF, company and MEI after the exit

• Accounts in Brazil. A non-resident keeps a real-denominated account, and a non-resident Brazilian may also hold a foreign-currency account in Brazil credited from abroad. Tell the bank about your new status.
• CPF. The CPF stays active, with resident-abroad status.
• MEI. Close it before leaving, because a non-resident cannot be an individual micro-entrepreneur.
• Company in Simples Nacional. With a partner domiciled abroad, the company leaves Simples. The partner's exit, a change of regime or a new company abroad are decided before the departure date.
• Property. You can keep it. Rent is taxed at 15% at source through the attorney, and a sale pays capital gains tax of 15% to 22.5%.

To receive income in the new country, see Personal accounts abroad and Company registration abroad.

Mistakes that keep you a Brazilian tax resident

1. Not filing the Exit Notice. Without it you stay resident for another 12 months and pay Brazilian tax on worldwide income for that period.
2. Coming and going without reporting the exit. For anyone who has not filed the Exit Notice, each new entry and exit restarts the 12-month count.
3. Forgetting the payers. A bank, broker or employer that does not know about the exit withholds tax as for a resident.
4. Selling assets abroad before the exit. A sale of shares, property or fund units abroad made while still resident is taxed in Brazil; after the exit it falls outside Brazilian tax.
5. Missing the Exit Return deadline. The fine is 1% of the tax per month, up to 20%, with a minimum of R$ 165.74.
6. Keeping an MEI or Simples. A non-resident cannot be an MEI, and a partner abroad takes the company out of Simples Nacional.
7. Leaving without residency in a new country. Without residency you have no tax residency certificate anywhere and no way to show banks and brokers where you pay tax.
8. Moving back without noticing. Whoever returns with the intention to stay is resident again from arrival, and worldwide income goes back under Brazilian tax.

Where to go: tax residency in the new country

Leaving Brazil works best when the new country is already chosen and the residency application is filed. The destinations Brazilians choose most often:

• Paraguay. Mercosur residency without investment and personal income tax only on Paraguayan-source income. Tax residents are holders of permanent residency, and the certificate is issued in 10 business days. See Living in Paraguay and Taxes in Paraguay.
• Uruguay. Mercosur residency and a well-trodden path for families and investors. See Argentina vs Uruguay.
• Other countries. Residence visas, residency by investment or a second citizenship. See Relocation.

Brazil and Paraguay have no double tax treaty, so the order of steps matters even more: residency, departure date, Exit Notice, notices to payers, and only then sales and distributions.

How Murblz helps with the definitive exit

The definitive exit is part of a bigger move, and Murblz specialists handle all of it:

• Exit plan and calendar. Date, sales, distributions and the Exit Notice and Exit Return deadlines, together with your accountant.
• Residency in the new country. Paraguay, Uruguay and other destinations: we choose the route and follow the application. See Residency in Paraguay.
• Tax residency certificate. We apply for the certificate in the new country as soon as residency allows.
• Letters and powers of attorney. Notices to your employer, banks, brokers and tenants and the power of attorney for your representative in Brazil.
• Account abroad. A personal account in the new country to receive rent, dividends and pension. See Personal accounts abroad.
• Company abroad. We register the company and open the business account in the new country. See Company registration abroad.
• Property abroad. We select property to live in or invest in the new country. See Investment property.
• Moving your money. We organise the transfer of funds from Brazil to the account abroad. See How to send money to Paraguay.

The first step is free: in the site chat a consultant reviews your situation and builds your exit plan. Details and costs are with the consultant. Book a free consultation.

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