Definitive Departure from Brazil: Deadlines, Effects and Common Mistakes

Moving to Portugal does not end your relationship with the Brazilian Federal Revenue Service (Receita Federal). Until the departure is formalized, a Brazilian may continue to be treated as a resident of Brazil, taxed on worldwide income and required to file returns. Formalization requires two separate acts, each with its own deadline: the Notice of Definitive Departure from the Country (Comunicação de Saída Definitiva do País) and the Definitive Departure Tax Return (Declaração de Saída Definitiva do País). This article explains what each one is, the deadlines for those who left in 2026, what changes in taxation, the CPF, bank accounts and rental income in Brazil, and what happens if nothing is done.

Notice and return: two acts, neither replaces the other

The rules are set out in SRF Normative Instruction 208/2002 (Instrução Normativa SRF), amended several times, most recently by RFB Normative Instruction 2,312/2026.

• Notice of Definitive Departure from the Country (CSDP): this informs the Receita Federal that the person has left the country or has become a nonresident. It is filed online, free of charge, and must include dependents registered with a CPF who left on the same date (Article 11-A, § 2).
• Definitive Departure Tax Return (DSDP): this is the income tax return for the part of the year during which the person was still a resident. It is completed in the same software as the annual return (Receita Federal — DSDP).

The notice does not replace the return (Article 11-A, § 1). They are two separate obligations.

When a person ceases to be a resident

• Permanent departure, with notice: the person is a nonresident from the date of departure (Article 3, II).
• Departure without notice: anyone who leaves temporarily, or permanently without filing the notice, remains a resident during the first 12 consecutive months of absence (Article 2, V).
• Temporary departure that is extended: the person becomes a nonresident from the day after completing 12 consecutive months of absence (Article 3, V).
• Return: a Brazilian who returns with the intention of staying permanently regains resident status on the date of arrival (Article 2, IV).

Once resident or nonresident status has been acquired, a person only reverts to the previous status when one of the events set out in the normative instruction itself occurs (Article 4). Tax residence in Portugal follows its own criteria, explained on our page on tax residence between Brazil and Portugal.

Deadlines for those who left in 2026

Notice of Definitive Departure

It may be filed from the date of departure (or the date on which the person became a nonresident, in the case of a temporary departure) until the last day of February of the following year (Article 11-A). For permanent departures in 2026, the deadline runs until February 28, 2027.

Definitive Departure Tax Return

The normative instruction sets the filing deadline as the last business day of April of the year following the departure (Article 9, I), which, for departures in 2026, corresponds to April 30, 2027. In recent years, however, the Receita Federal has extended this deadline every year, together with the deadline for the annual return: in 2026, the DSDP for departures in 2025 could be filed until May 29, 2026 (Article 9, § 17, added by RFB Normative Instruction 2,312/2026). As of September 2026, SRF Normative Instruction 208/2002 did not set a specific deadline for 2027. It is advisable to work with April 30 and confirm the date when the Receita Federal publishes the 2027 income tax rules.

The tax assessed in the DSDP, and any other unpaid tax debts, must be paid in a single installment by the filing date (Article 9, II). The tax is calculated using the monthly progressive table multiplied by the number of months during which the person was a resident in the year of departure (Article 9, § 3).

Temporary departure that became definitive

Someone who left temporarily in March 2026 and remains in Portugal becomes a nonresident in March 2027, on the day after completing 12 months of absence. In that case, the notice and the return refer to 2027 and follow the 2028 deadlines (Articles 11 and 11-A, II).

Step by step

1. Establish the date of departure and whether it was permanent or temporary. That date determines everything else.
2. File the notice through the Notify Definitive Departure from the Country service, including dependents who left on the same date.
3. File the DSDP the following year, using the income tax software, and pay the assessed tax in a single installment.
4. Notify the paying sources (banks, brokerages, INSS, companies, tenants) of the date of departure, in writing, so that they start withholding tax as for nonresidents (Articles 3, § 2, and 10, § 1).
5. Keep your CPF in good standing and update your address abroad.
6. Take care of residence in Portugal: notify your address to the Tax Authority (Finanças) and check your status under Article 16 of the IRS Code (Código do IRS).

If you are already in Portugal and are unsure which date to treat as your departure, or if the move involves assets, rental income or a pension in Brazil, Sene & Araújo can review your case before anything is filed. Talk to our team.

What changes in taxation

From the date of departure, Brazilian-source income is subject to exclusive or final withholding taxation (Article 10). The nonresident no longer files the annual adjustment return in Brazil on this income. Some examples, according to the Receita Federal and the legislation:

• Rent from properties in Brazil: withholding tax at a rate of 15% (Article 763 of the Income Tax Regulations (Regulamento do Imposto de Renda)). Under the Brazil–Portugal Tax Treaty, Brazil may tax this income (Article 6), and Portugal, as the country of residence, also takes it into account and credits the tax paid in Brazil (Article 23).
• Employment and services paid to nonresidents: as a rule, 25% withheld at source.
• Retirement pensions and other pensions: since RFB Normative Instruction 2,299/2025, the progressive table applies, together with the reduction table. See our page on INSS retirees in Portugal.
• Profits and dividends: since January 1, 2026, 10% withholding tax on amounts remitted abroad, with a transition rule (Law 15,270/2025 (Lei)).
• Financial investments: follow specific rules for nonresident investors, indicated by the Receita Federal in RFB Normative Instruction 1,585/2015.
• Sale of assets in Brazil: capital gains are calculated under the rules for residents, but without the exemptions and reductions available to them (Articles 26 and 27 of SRF Normative Instruction 208/2002).

CPF, bank accounts and investments in Brazil

Definitive departure does not cancel the CPF. On the contrary: a nonresident who has real estate, vehicles, equity interests, checking accounts or financial investments in Brazil is required to keep the registration (Article 5). The CPF is still needed to sell a property, receive an inheritance, operate an account or sign a power of attorney.

Accounts and investments can be kept. What changes is the taxation of the income, which becomes subject to the rules for nonresidents, and that depends on the bank or brokerage knowing about the move. If the institution continues to treat the person as a resident, the withholdings will be incorrect. For real estate, inheritances and sales in Brazil, see our page on assets in Brazil for those living in Portugal.

Rental income and the role of a representative in Brazil

Anyone who continues to receive rent usually needs someone in Brazil to follow up on the lease, payments, condominium fees and obligations toward the tenant and the property management company. A well-drafted power of attorney, with appropriate powers, allows a family member, a property management company or a lawyer to carry out these acts. The tenant and the property management company must be informed of the nonresident status, because the 15% withholding depends on it.

What happens if you do not declare your departure

• Twelve months as a resident of Brazil. Without the notice and the return, Brazilian-source income is taxed like that of any resident, and income earned abroad, including in Portugal, is subject to Brazilian taxation during that period (Articles 10, § 2, and 11, § 1).
• Dual residence. During the same period, the person may already be a resident of Portugal. The tax treaty resolves the conflict using the criteria in Article 4, but this usually requires proof of a permanent home, center of vital interests and presence.
• Incorrect withholding. Banks, INSS and tenants continue withholding as if the recipient were a resident.
• Penalties. Failure to file, or late filing of, the DSDP results in a penalty of 1% per month on the tax due, with a minimum of R$165.74 and a maximum of 20%, or a penalty of R$165.74 if no tax is due (Article 13).
• Future difficulties. Years later, a property sale, an inheritance or a refund claim may run into the lack of proof of the date of departure.

Anyone who became a nonresident more than six years ago and never filed the notice can regularize their situation by sending the documents to the email address indicated by the Receita Federal on the departure notice service page.

Practical scenarios

A family that moved in January 2026

A couple with two children left Brazil permanently in January 2026. The notice, including the children, can be filed now and until February 28, 2027. The DSDP, covering the days of January 2026 during which they were residents, is filed in 2027, within the deadline the Receita Federal confirms. In parallel, they notify their bank, their brokerage and the tenant of their apartment in São Paulo.

Moved in 2019, never notified

A Brazilian woman has lived in Portugal since 2019 and has continued filing the annual return in Brazil as a resident. Before regularizing, she needs to gather evidence of the actual date of the move and assess the effects on the returns already filed. Regularization should be planned, not improvised.

Checklist

• Date of departure and proof of it (ticket, lease agreement in Portugal, residence card);
• CPF in good standing for the taxpayer and dependents;
• Receipt for the departure notice;
• Last income tax return filed as a resident;
• List of paying sources in Brazil (banks, brokerages, INSS, tenants, companies);
• List of assets in Brazil (real estate, vehicles, equity interests, accounts and investments);
• Power of attorney for whoever will represent you in Brazil.

Common mistakes

• Filing only the notice and forgetting the return. These are separate obligations, and failure to file the DSDP results in a penalty.
• Assuming definitive departure cancels the CPF. It does not, and anyone with assets in Brazil must keep it.
• Not notifying the paying sources. Otherwise, withholding continues as if nothing had changed.
• Continuing to file the annual return as a resident years after moving abroad.
• Forgetting about Portugal. Leaving Brazil does not, by itself, determine residence in Portugal, which depends on Article 16 of the IRS Code.

When to consult a lawyer

Legal assistance often makes a difference when the date of the move is debatable, when the departure has gone unnotified for years, when there is rental income, companies, a pension or investments in Brazil, or when there may be dual residence. Sene & Araújo, with lawyers in São Paulo and Albufeira, provides legal advice on the departure and on residence in both countries; the returns are filed by the client's accountant, with whom we coordinate on the legal issues.

• SRF Normative Instruction 208/2002, updated through RFB Normative Instruction 2,312/2026 (Arts. 2 to 5, 9 to 11-A, 13, 26 and 27)
• Gov.br — Notify definitive departure from the country
• Receita Federal — Definitive Departure Tax Return (Declaração de Saída Definitiva do País)
• Receita Federal — Taxation of nonresidents
• Decree 9,580/2018 — Income Tax Regulations (Regulamento do Imposto de Renda) (Art. 763)
• Law 15,270/2025 (amends Art. 10 of Law 9,249/1995)
• RFB Normative Instruction 2,299/2025 (Instrução Normativa RFB)
• Decree 4,012/2001 — Brazil–Portugal Tax Treaty (Arts. 4, 6 and 23)
• IRS Code (Código do IRS), Art. 16 (residence)

Sene & Araújo Sociedade de Advogados team. Content prepared and reviewed by the firm's lawyers, admitted to the Brazilian Bar Association (OAB) and the Portuguese Bar Association (Ordem dos Advogados), with offices in São Paulo and Albufeira. The provisions cited were checked against the official sources listed above. Meet the team.