Visa holders · From Brazil
A Social Security agreement covers workers moving to the US from Brazil. Taxes on your income follow each country’s own law, since no income tax treaty exists.
Since October 1, 2018, a US-Brazil Social Security agreement has let a worker posted to the US for 5 years or less stay in INSS. Without an income tax treaty, the US withholds its full 30% on US dividends paid to a nonresident alien in Brazil.
Updated · Sources
Timing your move from Brazil
- Feb. 28, 2027
- is the last day to file Brazil’s departure communication after a permanent move in 2026. Filing it makes you a nonresident as of the day you left.
- 10%
- of each dividend a Brazilian company pays you is generally withheld from 2026 on, once Brazil treats you as a nonresident.
- $0
- of US tax generally falls on Brazilian shares or funds you sell before your US residency starts.
For a move in another year, the deadline is the last day of the following February.
Which dates end your tax residence in Brazil and start it in the US?
Brazil’s date depends mostly on what you file. The US date depends on your days here or on a green card.
You leave Brazil for good
Send Receita Federal the Comunicação de Saída Definitiva do País after you leave. The agency says this filing is mandatory. It does not replace the departure return, the Declaração de Saída Definitiva do País.
You leave without filing, or only for a while
After a temporary move, or a permanent one you never reported, Brazil keeps you resident for your first 12 consecutive months abroad. The US may count you as resident in those months as well. With no treaty, no tie-breaker picks one country over the other.
You were resident for part of the departure year
File the departure return the year after your residence ends, by the regular annual deadline. Any tax it shows is due in a single installment by that date. Brazil’s new minimum tax applies once your total 2026 income tops R$600,000, and its rate rises to 10% at R$1,200,000. It may also reach your months as a resident.
Your US residency begins
Once you pass the substantial presence test, your US residency generally counts from your first day here that year. A green card starts your residency on the first day you are here holding one, unless the substantial presence test gives an earlier date. From your start date, the US also taxes the Brazilian income you receive.
Becoming a US resident changes how the US treats what you keep in Brazil.
The switch comes on your residency starting date, which often falls partway through the year you arrive.
| Nonresident alien | Resident alien | |
|---|---|---|
| Interest, dividends and rent from Brazil | Not taxed by the US | Taxed With a credit for Brazil’s tax |
| Brazilian funds, FIIs included | Not taxed by the US | PFIC rules apply Generally a Form 8621 for each |
| Accounts abroad over $10,000 in total | No FBAR | FBAR each year Form 8938 as well, at higher totals |
| Gifts from family over $100,000 a year | Nothing to report | Form 3520 The gift is not income |
Under US rules, Brazilian investment funds, including real estate funds (FIIs), are normally PFICs, or passive foreign investment companies. A single filer must file Form 8938 when foreign assets pass $50,000 on December 31 or $75,000 at their highest point. Married couples filing jointly use twice those amounts.
INSS benefits, private pensions, FIIs and student relief each hold a US tax trap for people from Brazil.
Treating INSS benefits as tax-free
IRS Publication 915 says foreign social security benefits are taxable as annuities when no treaty exempts them. With no US-Brazil treaty, the US generally taxes the INSS benefits paid to its residents.
Treating a PGBL or VGBL like a US retirement account
A PGBL or VGBL may not get the tax deferral of a US retirement account. No treaty puts off the US tax on its growth, and we know of no IRS guidance on these plans. The US may treat one as a foreign trust or as a foreign insurance or annuity contract. Depending on how it is built, a plan may instead count as a holder of PFICs.
Selling FIIs only after your start date
Selling an FII after your US residency starts generally brings in the PFIC rules, which tax a gain harshly without an election. Its payouts also miss the lower rates for qualified dividends.
Looking for a treaty student exemption
Students from Brazil get no treaty exemption for grants or US pay, unlike students from some treaty countries. The Internal Revenue Code’s own rules still apply: F-1 and J-1 days can stay out of the residency count for a limited time. Work tied to the visa is generally free of Social Security and Medicare while the student is a nonresident alien.
Our licensed CPAs handle the US returns that follow a move from Brazil.
We work alongside your accountant in Brazil, who keeps the Brazilian side, including the departure return.
- We prepare your US federal and state returns, beginning with an arrival year that is often dual-status. We claim Brazil’s withholding on your dividends as a foreign tax credit on Form 1116.
- We prepare the FBAR for your Brazilian accounts, and Form 8938 too if your foreign assets are large enough. We also file the Form 8621 each FII or other Brazilian fund needs. The accounts and funds you list in the instant quote set your fixed fee.
- We review your PGBL, VGBL and FIIs before your US start date, and weigh selling each against keeping it.
- We compute estimated payments on rent and dividends from Brazil.
- If the IRS or a state sends a notice on a return we prepared, perhaps about INSS benefits, your fee already covers our reply.
- Individual return
- from $195
- Business return
- from $495
We quote a flat fee before work starts. We do not bill hourly.
How far does Brazil’s tax reach once you live in the US?
Is there an income tax treaty between Brazil and the US?
No, the US and Brazil have no income tax treaty in force as of September 2026. Each country withholds at its own rate on dividends paid to residents of the other: 30% in the US and generally 10% in Brazil. Relief for tax paid twice comes from each country’s own rules instead, chiefly the US foreign tax credit on Form 1116. A Social Security agreement between them took effect on October 1, 2018, and it coordinates contributions and benefits.
How much does Brazil withhold on dividends paid to me in the US?
Brazil generally takes 10% at source from dividends paid to shareholders abroad, under a rule in force since January 1, 2026. Before then, Brazil did not tax dividends paid abroad. By contrast, a Brazilian resident has the 10% withheld only when one company pays them more than R$50,000 of dividends in a month. Once you are a US resident, the US taxes the same dividends, and Brazil’s 10% can count toward your foreign tax credit.
Does ITCMD apply when my parents in Brazil send me money?
Yes, ITCMD can apply: it is the tax Brazil’s states charge on gifts and inheritances. For money and securities, it belongs to the state where the parent giving them is domiciled. Each state sets its own rate, under a ceiling the Federal Senate fixes, and its own rule on who pays. In the US, the gift is not income, and Form 3520 reports it once your family’s gifts top $100,000 in a year.
Sources
- IRS, United States income tax treaties, A to Z
- Social Security Administration, totalization agreements overview
- Receita Federal (Brazil), Residente e Não Residente (updated October 21, 2025)
- Gov.br (Brazil), Comunicar saída definitiva do país
- Câmara dos Deputados (Brazil), Lei nº 15.270, de 26 de novembro de 2025
- Constituição da República Federativa do Brasil, Article 155 (Planalto)
- 26 U.S.C. § 871, Tax on nonresident alien individuals
- 26 U.S.C. § 3101, Rate of tax (Social Security and Medicare)
- IRS, Rev. Proc. 2025-32 (2026 inflation adjustments)
- IRS, Publication 519 (2025), U.S. Tax Guide for Aliens
- IRS, Publication 915, Social Security and Equivalent Railroad Retirement Benefits
- 26 U.S.C. § 1, Tax imposed (qualified dividends, section 1(h)(11))
- 26 U.S.C. § 1297, Passive foreign investment company
- IRS, Instructions for Form 8621 (Rev. December 2025)
- 31 C.F.R. § 1010.350, Reports of foreign financial accounts
- IRS, Instructions for Form 8938 (Rev. November 2021)
- IRS, Instructions for Form 3520 (Rev. December 2025)
Reviewed and updated September 2026. General information, not advice for your situation.
On $100,000 of US pay in 2026, a certificate of coverage removes your $7,650 of payroll tax, but $13,170 of income tax remains.
Under the agreement, only one system covers your pay: US Social Security or Brazil’s INSS. A certificate of coverage from Brazil’s social security agency, given to your employer, keeps you in INSS.
Your Social Security and Medicare
$7,650
Without a certificate, 7.65% is withheld from your wages.
Your employer’s matching share
$7,650
Your employer owes the same amount again.
Both, with a certificate of coverage
$0
You keep paying into INSS, so neither you nor your employer owes US Social Security or Medicare.
Your federal income tax, either way
$13,170
The agreement leaves income tax alone.
The payroll figures use the 2026 rates of 6.2% for Social Security and 1.45% for Medicare, each matched by the employer. The income tax takes the $16,100 standard deduction for a single filer. That leaves $83,900, taxed at $5,800 plus 22% of the $33,500 above $50,400. State tax is extra. A dual-status arrival year gets no standard deduction.