Robo-Advisor Abroad: How to Invest as a Brazil Resident

A Brazil resident can invest abroad through a robo-advisor if the platform accepts Brazilian clients. The income goes on the Annual Adjustment Return (DAA) at 15%, separate from other income (Law No. 14,754/2023, or Lei 14.754/2023, art. 2). With US$ 1 million in assets abroad on December 31, the CBE report to the Central Bank also applies.

What is a robo-advisor, and what changes for people who live in Brazil?

A robo-advisor is a platform that builds and rebalances portfolios by algorithm, based on the risk profile the client reports. For Brazil residents, automation does not change the legal analysis. Taxation and reporting depend on residence in the country, not on whether the management is done by software.

Three questions organize the topic:

1. •Does the platform accept clients who live in Brazil? That depends on the platform's own terms. Confirm it on the platform's official page.
2. •How is the income taxed here? The rule is in Law 14,754/2023.
3. •What reports does money abroad trigger? The income tax DAA and, above a floor, the CBE.

This article does not recommend any platform, fee or return. No portfolio has a guaranteed return, and the amount invested can fall.

How does Law 14,754 tax the income of a robo-advisor abroad?

Individuals who live in Brazil report income from financial investments abroad separately on the DAA. The tax is 15% on the annual portion of the income, with no deduction from the calculation base (Law 14,754, art. 2, caput and § 1).

The law gives examples of what counts as a financial investment abroad: interest-bearing deposits, investment fund shares, financial instruments, fixed-income and variable-income securities, and derivatives (art. 3, § 1, I). Income includes interest, dividends, gains on sales in the secondary market, and exchange-rate variation on the principal (art. 3, § 1, II).

Amounts in foreign currency are converted at the closing selling rate published by the Central Bank of Brazil (BCB) on the date of the taxable event (art. 15).

What about tax withheld in the platform's country?

Withholding may apply there. The IRS, the U.S. tax authority, states that most U.S.-source income received by a foreign person is taxed at 30%, with a lower rate or exemption possible when a treaty applies (IRS, Publication 515).

In Brazil, tax paid abroad is deducted only if there is a treaty providing for the offset or reciprocity of treatment. The deduction cannot exceed the difference the income causes in the IRPF, and it does not apply to tax that can be reimbursed or refunded there (Law 14,754, art. 4, I, II, § 1 and § 3). Any excess is not deducted in other years (§ 4). Ask your accountant to analyze the specific case.

How do you offset losses from an automated portfolio on the tax return?

A realized loss on a financial investment abroad can be offset against income from the same DAA section, in the same period, as long as there is proper and valid documentation (Law 14,754, art. 9).

What the law provides for the loss balance:

1. •The part that exceeds the year's gains can be offset against profits and dividends of controlled entities abroad computed on the DAA for the same period (art. 9, § 1).
2. •A loss not yet offset can reduce income in that section in later periods (§ 2).
3. •Each loss can be offset only once (§ 3).

Many platforms advertise automatic sales of assets at a loss, known as tax-loss harvesting. For Brazil residents, art. 9 applies: the loss must be realized, documented and offset on the DAA. This is not a guaranteed tax reduction. Keep the platform's statements and annual reports to prove each loss.

When is the CBE mandatory for people who invest through a robo-advisor?

The CBE (Brazilian Capital Abroad report) is mandatory when Brazilian capital abroad totals US$ 1,000,000.00 or more, or the equivalent in other currencies, on the reference date of December 31 (BCB Resolution 279, art. 10 and sole paragraph).

Brazilian capital abroad means the amounts, goods, rights and assets of any nature held outside the country by residents (Law 14,286, art. 8, I). The calculation is the sum of everything: the robo-advisor portfolio, bank accounts and other assets. The annual filing runs from February 15 to April 5 of the following year (BCB Resolution 279, art. 13).

Violating the reporting rules exposes the person responsible to Central Bank penalties (Law 14,286, art. 10, sole paragraph). The CBE is a separate obligation from income tax: being below the CBE floor does not exempt you from reporting the income on the DAA.

The DAA step by step is in how to report offshore assets on your income tax return.

How do you send money abroad legally?

Foreign exchange is free and has no value limit, but it can only be done through institutions authorized by the Central Bank (Law 14,286, arts. 2 and 3). The institution identifies the client, and the client classifies the purpose of the transaction (art. 4, I and § 2).

The informal route carries criminal risk. Law 7,492/1986 punishes with imprisonment of 2 to 6 years and a fine anyone who carries out an unauthorized foreign exchange transaction to promote evasion of foreign currency (evasão de divisas). The same penalty applies to anyone who, without legal authorization, promotes the outflow of currency abroad or keeps deposits abroad that were not declared to the competent federal agency (art. 22 and sole paragraph).

Sending money through an authorized channel and reporting go hand in hand. If you already have assets abroad and never reported them, read regularizing undeclared offshore assets. To open an account and organize the transfer, see the offshore banking service.

Does Brazil's Federal Revenue Service find out about the account abroad?

It can. Brazil signed the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement on automatic exchange of financial account information (CRS) on October 6, 2016, with the first exchange planned for September 2018, according to the OECD list of signatories (status as of March 13, 2025). The agreement provides that each competent authority exchanges information on reportable accounts annually.

In practice, do not plan your portfolio counting on invisibility. Report it. How the cross-checking of data works is explained in how Brazil's Federal Revenue Service (Receita Federal) monitors assets abroad and in CRS and automatic exchange of tax information.

Is it worth using a company abroad to invest through the robo-advisor?

As a rule, the company does not defer the tax. Profits of entities controlled abroad by an individual who lives in Brazil are taxed on December 31 of each year, when the controlled entity falls under the cases in art. 5, § 5, of Law 14,754 (art. 5, caput).

Control exists when the individual has the upper hand in decisions or the power to elect most of the managers, or holds more than 50% of the capital or of the rights to profits (art. 5, § 1). The controlled entity is subject to the rule if it is in a country or regime with favored taxation (Law 9,430, arts. 24 and 24-A) or if its own active income is below 60% of total income (§ 5).

Under the legal definition, own active income excludes revenue arising exclusively from interest, dividends, capital gains as a rule, and financial investments (§ 6, I). A company whose revenue comes only from the investment portfolio therefore has no own active income under this concept.

A structure can make sense for other reasons, such as asset organization and succession. The decision depends on the goal and on the costs of maintaining the entity and meeting its obligations. Compare corporate structures, tax planning and the jurisdiction comparison tool. To understand where the law allows you to reduce tax without breaking the rules, read how to legally reduce taxes with offshore.

What should you check before opening a robo-advisor account?

Use this list with the platform's official documentation at hand:

1. •Does the platform accept clients who live in Brazil, according to its terms?
2. •Which agency regulates the platform and the custody of assets? Check that agency's public registry.
3. •Where is the official table of fees, minimums and exchange costs? Read it on the platform's own page. This article gives no figures.
4. •Does the platform issue a statement and an annual report with interest, dividends, sales and losses, in a format useful for the DAA?
5. •Is tax withheld at source in the platform's country?
6. •Which assets make up the portfolio, and in which currency?

To review the reporting obligation and your document history, see the compliance service.