Selling Property in Brazil While Living in Portugal

Selling an apartment in Brazil after moving to Portugal seems simple: find a buyer, sign the deed and transfer the money. In practice, non-resident status changes three things: how you sign, the capital gains tax, which loses the exemptions available to residents, and what happens afterwards in Portugal, where the gain is also subject to IRS. This guide explains the process from start to finish, with the most common mistakes and a document checklist.

First of all: are you a non-resident for the Receita Federal?

The rules in this article apply to those who are non-residents for tax purposes in Brazil. Under Normative Instruction SRF 208/2002 (Instrução Normativa), a person who leaves the country permanently becomes a non-resident on the date of departure; a person who leaves temporarily becomes a non-resident from the day after completing twelve months of absence (Art. 3). The departure is formalized through the Notice of Definitive Departure and the Definitive Departure Tax Return (Arts. 9, 11 and 11-A).

Those who are still resident in Brazil follow the rules for residents, with their own exemptions and reductions. Those who are already resident in Portugal and have not yet formalized their departure may end up with obligations in both countries. Before selling, it is advisable to clarify this point; the page on tax residence between Brazil and Portugal helps you place your case.

How to sign the sale without traveling to Brazil

For real estate worth more than thirty minimum wages, a public deed is essential to the validity of the sale (Art. 108 of the Civil Code). There are two ways to sign remotely.

Through an attorney-in-fact

The power of attorney must be in public form, because the sale requires a deed, and must grant special and express powers to sell (Arts. 657 and 661, § 1, of the Civil Code). It should describe the property by its registration number (matrícula) and authorize, among other acts, selling, setting or accepting the price, receiving payment, granting a release, signing the deed and paying taxes. It can be executed at the Brazilian consulate, without the need for legalization (Decree 8,742/2016 (Decreto), Art. 1, § 1), or before a Portuguese notary with an apostille (Decree 8,660/2016). The page on powers of attorney between Brazil and Portugal compares the options.

By videoconference

e-Notariado (Brazil's electronic notarial platform) allows the deed to be executed remotely, by videoconference and with digital signatures. Jurisdiction lies with the notary of the district where the property is located or where the buyer is domiciled (Art. 302 of CNJ Provision 149/2023 (Provimento)). All notaries must provide this service (Art. 284, sole paragraph).

If the seller is married, the sale requires the spouse's authorization, except under the regime of absolute separation of property (Art. 1,647, I, of the Civil Code). Marriages celebrated in Portugal or with a prenuptial agreement call for attention to the property regime before the deed.

Tax in Brazil: capital gains of non-residents

How it is calculated

The capital gain of a resident abroad is determined and taxed under the rules applicable to residents (Art. 18 of Law 9,249/1995 (Lei)). The rates are progressive, under Art. 21 of Law 8,981/1995:

• 15% on the portion of the gain up to R$5 million;
• 17.5% on the portion between R$5 million and R$10 million;
• 20% on the portion between R$10 million and R$30 million;
• 22.5% on the portion above R$30 million.

Normative Instruction SRF 208/2002 still refers to 15% (Art. 27, I), but the Brazilian Federal Revenue Service (Receita Federal) applies the progressive table to non-residents (IRPF 2026 Questions and Answers, questions 129 and 655).

The gain is the difference between the sale price and the acquisition cost. The cost of assets acquired up to 1995 may be adjusted using the Receita Federal table; the cost of assets acquired from 1996 onward may not. The cost must be proven with suitable documentation and, without proof, is deemed to be zero (Art. 26, §§ 2 to 4, of Normative Instruction SRF 208/2002).

What non-residents lose

The exemptions and reductions provided for residents do not apply when determining a non-resident's capital gain (Art. 26, § 5). Well-known benefits, such as the exemption for a sole property or for a sale followed by the purchase of another residential property, are excluded. That is why the same property can give rise to very different tax depending on the seller's residence.

Inherited property

If the property was inherited, the cost is the value attributed in the partition of the estate (partilha), and the acquisition date is the date of death (IRPF 2026 Q&A, question 609). A partition based on the historical value in the deceased's tax return means a low cost and, on sale, a larger gain. See our step-by-step guide on property in Brazil inherited by someone living in Portugal.

Who withholds and when

Under Art. 26 of Law 10,833/2003, a buyer resident in Brazil is responsible for withholding and paying the tax on the non-resident seller's gain. If the buyer also lives abroad, the responsibility lies with the buyer's attorney-in-fact. The tax is due on the date of the sale, under revenue code 0473 (question 655). In practice, it is advisable to set out in the deed who calculates, who withholds and how payment will be proven, so that the seller receives the correct net amount and the buyer is not exposed.

This is the point where many deals stall: the buyer does not know how to calculate the withholding, the notary's office asks for receipts and the seller, in Portugal, does not have the cost documents at hand. If you are preparing a sale, our team can organize the calculation and the documentation before the deed. See the page on assets in Brazil for those living in Portugal.

Moving the money to Portugal

Foreign exchange transactions can be carried out with no limit on amount, through institutions authorized by the Central Bank, which are responsible for identifying the client and verifying the lawfulness of the transaction (Arts. 2 to 4 of Law 14,286/2021). The transfer itself is not a new taxable event for income tax purposes; what is taxed is the gain on the sale, which must have been paid (question 314). Keep the registered deed, the gain calculation and the proof of payment: the bank in Brazil and the bank in Portugal may ask for the source of funds.

And in Portugal: IRS on capital gains

A resident of Portugal is taxed under Portuguese personal income tax (IRS) on their worldwide income, including income obtained outside the country (Art. 15 of the IRS Code (CIRS)). The sale of real estate for consideration gives rise to capital gains (Art. 10(1)(a)), and the net balance of those gains is, as a rule, taken into account at 50% of its value (Art. 43(2)).

The Brazil–Portugal Tax Convention allows Brazil to tax the gain on the sale of real estate located in Brazil (Art. 13(1)) and requires the country of residence to deduct the tax paid in the other State, up to the amount of Portuguese tax attributable to that income (Art. 23(1)). The IRS Code provides for this international double taxation credit (Art. 81). In practice, the tax paid in Brazil is deducted from the IRS due on the same capital gain, and only any difference is paid in Portugal.

The calculation in Portugal follows its own rules: acquisition value, inflation adjustment and deductible expenses. The reinvestment exemption under Art. 10(5) of the IRS Code concerns the taxpayer's or household's own permanent home in the months before the sale, a requirement that a property in Brazil owned by someone already living in Portugal, as a rule, does not meet. The tax return is handled with the client's accountant; the firm provides legal advice on how the transaction is treated.

Common mistakes

• Counting on the sole-property or reinvestment exemption, which do not apply to non-residents in Brazil;
• Not having the purchase deed, the renovation receipts or the partition that prove the cost, and seeing the cost treated as zero;
• Signing a power of attorney without powers to receive the price, grant a release or pay the tax;
• Leaving the withholding undefined in the deed;
• Forgetting the tax return in Portugal and losing the credit for the tax paid in Brazil;
• Selling with an irregular CPF or without having formalized the definitive departure.

Document checklist

• Up-to-date certificate of the property's registration (matrícula);
• Deed or formal partition document (formal de partilha) through which the property was acquired;
• Proof of cost: price paid, ITBI (municipal property transfer tax), improvements with invoices;
• Income tax returns in which the property was listed, if any;
• Receipts for the Notice of Definitive Departure and the Definitive Departure Tax Return;
• Regular CPF and identity document;
• Marriage certificate and prenuptial agreement, if any;
• Public power of attorney, if the sale is made through an attorney-in-fact;
• After the sale: gain calculation, paid DARF (federal tax payment slip) and foreign exchange receipts, for the accountant in Portugal.

When it makes sense to consult a lawyer

Legal support tends to make a difference when the property is inherited or co-owned with siblings, when the acquisition cost is hard to prove, when the buyer also lives abroad, when there is doubt about tax residence or when the amount is significant and the tax in both countries needs to be coordinated.

• Normative Instruction SRF 208/2002 (Arts. 3, 9, 11, 11-A, 26 and 27)
• Law 9,249/1995 (Art. 18 — capital gains of residents abroad)
• Law 8,981/1995 (Art. 21 — progressive rates, as worded by Law 13,259/2016)
• Law 10,833/2003 (Art. 26 — responsibility of the buyer or the attorney-in-fact)
• Receita Federal — IRPF 2026 Questions and Answers (questions 129, 314, 609 and 655)
• Law 10,406/2002 — Civil Code (Arts. 108, 657, 661 and 1,647)
• CNJ Provision 149/2023 — CNJ National Code of Rules (Arts. 284 and 302)
• Decree 8,742/2016 (Decreto) (Article 1, § 1)
• Decree 8,660/2016 (Decreto) — Apostille Convention
• Law 14,286/2021 (foreign exchange market, Arts. 2 to 4)
• Decree 4,012/2001 — Brazil–Portugal Tax Convention (Arts. 13 and 23)
• IRS Code, Arts. 10, 15, 43 and 81

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.