Does Brazil Have an Exit Tax? Taxes When a Business Owner Leaves

In the laws we checked, Brazil has no exit tax: leaving the country does not, by itself, trigger tax on the appreciation of the assets you keep. What exists is the Final Tax Return on Permanent Departure (DSDP), with tax on income earned during residence, and capital gains tax when you sell or transfer assets.

The DSDP is the Declaração de Saída Definitiva do País.

Does Brazil have an exit tax?

We did not find an exit tax in the official texts checked for this article: IN SRF 208/2002 (Normative Instruction SRF 208/2002), Law No. 7,713/1988 (Lei 7.713/1988), Law No. 9,250/1995 (Lei 9.250/1995) and Law No. 14,754/2023 (Lei 14.754/2023). None of them creates a tax on the unrealized gain of assets and holdings merely because a person ceases to be a resident. The answer may change if a new law is passed, so confirm the rule in force before deciding.

That does not mean leaving is free. What Brazil charges on departure comes from facts that already existed:

The step-by-step on departure (notice, deadlines and DSDP) is in the guide to permanent departure from Brazil and the DSDP. Here the focus is the question "what changes in taxes".

When does a business owner stop being a tax resident in Brazil?

When they leave the national territory and comply with the formalities of IN SRF 208/2002. Anyone leaving permanently must file the Notice of Permanent Departure from Brazil (Comunicação de Saída Definitiva do País), from the date of departure until the last day of February of the following year (art. 11-A). The notice does not replace the DSDP.

The point of attention is in art. 2, V: anyone who leaves without filing the notice continues to be considered a resident during the first 12 consecutive months of absence. Leaving the country without formalizing the departure does not end tax residence.

What does Brazil tax in the DSDP?

The DSDP closes the period in which the person was a resident in the year of departure. It reports the income for that period, and the tax assessed must be paid in a single installment (IN SRF 208/2002, art. 9, II). Returns for prior years that are still pending must also be filed (art. 9, I).

The individual income tax return includes the list of assets and rights. Law 9,250/1995, art. 25, requires a detailed list of the assets and rights that, in Brazil or abroad, make up the estate of the person and dependents on December 31, plus those acquired and disposed of during the year. Declaring an asset is not paying tax on it, but the list must be correct.

Filing the return late carries its own penalty (IN SRF 208/2002, art. 13). Check the current amount in the text of the normative instruction.

How does capital gains tax apply to company holdings?

Capital gain is the positive difference between the transfer value of the asset or right and the acquisition cost. Law 7,713/1988, art. 3, § 3, lists operations that enter this calculation: purchase and sale, exchange, payment in kind, gift and assignment of rights, among others. For company quotas and shares, the acquisition cost is the price or value paid (art. 16 of the same law).

For individuals, the capital gains rates are in art. 21 of Law 8,981/1995, as worded by Law 13,259/2016:

If the sale takes place after the person became a non-resident, the gain on assets located in Brazil is subject to final taxation, under the rules applicable to residents (IN SRF 208/2002, art. 26). The rate and any application of a treaty depend on the text in force, so confirm before closing the transaction.

Selling before or after departure is a planning decision, and there is no single answer. It depends on the acquisition cost, the current value and the destination country. The central point is that the sale, not the departure, generates the capital gain.

What about dividends from Brazilian companies after departure?

The general rule in Law 9,249/1995, art. 10, exempts dividends of legal entities taxed on actual, presumed or arbitrated profit for beneficiaries domiciled in the country. For those abroad, the wording given by Law 15,270/2025 provides that profits or dividends paid, credited, delivered, used or remitted abroad are subject to 10% income tax withholding (art. 10, § 4).

The law makes an exception for dividends from results determined through 2025, provided the distribution was approved by December 31, 2025 and is enforceable under civil or business law (art. 10, § 5). If your company has accumulated profits, read the text of the law and confirm your case before planning your departure.

What happens to investments and companies abroad?

Law 14,754/2023 covers the income of individuals resident in the country from financial investments, controlled entities and trusts abroad (art. 1). While you are a resident, the income is declared separately and taxed at 15% in the annual adjustment (art. 2, § 1). The profit of a passive controlled entity, with its own active income below 60% of total income, or of a controlled entity in a favored-taxation country, is taxed on December 31 (art. 5, § 5).

Profits of controlled entities determined through December 31, 2023 are taxed when actually made available (art. 6, I). If you have an entity abroad, ask a tax lawyer to map, before departure, which profits are still pending. For the holding structure, see the hybrid offshore asset holding.

What mistakes should you avoid when planning your departure?

1. •Thinking that leaving zeroes your taxes: income from Brazilian sources remains taxed, and dividends remitted abroad carry withholding tax.
2. •Leaving without the Notice of Permanent Departure: the person remains a resident in the first 12 months of absence (IN SRF 208/2002, art. 2, V).
3. •Selling holdings without determining the acquisition cost: the capital gain depends on this number, and the documentation must exist.
4. •Forgetting succession: the ITCMD is a state tax, and jurisdiction depends on domicile and the location of the assets (Federal Constitution, art. 155, § 1). See the guide to international succession planning.
5. •Choosing the destination only by tax rate: tax residence in the new country has its own rules and requirements. See also the guide to international tax residence.

To assess your case, see the international tax planning service.