US citizen, living in Brazil, work as an indepent contractor - taxes

You don't have a US accountant and you haven't been paying taxes?

@alan279 I’ve been employed full time in the US up to now. I’m in the process of relocating to Brazil and also changing career paths from W2 to 1099.

I worked for many years as a contractor. I was paid through my S-Corp and my accountant did my taxes. All I did was sign the forms and write the checks.

Sorry I'm not more knowledgeable.

01/11/25 @kellermanjm.  Welcome back -- it's good to see you again.  I gather that everything ended up going well at the cartório, so belated congratulations on your marriage.

I always file my US taxes first, in part because the US filing date is April 15 and the traditional Brazilian filing date is April 30.  I say "traditional" because since the Covid Pandemic the Receita Federal (RF), Brazil's equivalent of the IRS,  has been extending the filing date every year.  There's no telling when it will return to normal, though.  Having my US taxes done and filed let's me give my Brazilian accountant my final US return for reference in preparing my Brazilian return.

I file my US taxes as "Married -- Filing Separately".  This costs us some extra money at present, but we expect it to save us possible hassles in the future.  My Brazilian husband has never been a US resident and never intends to be, and we want to avoid even a question about his future Brazilian income from the IRS.  If your spouse is in a similar situation, filing status is something to discuss with your US tax advisor.

If you have Brazil-sourced earned income, you'll probably want to claim the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion for it on your US return, which will allow you to exclude some or all of it from your US taxes.  Talk to your US tax advisor about it, because it has to be claimed every year and is not automatic. I don't have any Brazilian income, so it's never been an issue for me.   If you don't, it won't be for you, either.

The book that I've recommended in the past for basic general information on US tax law for expats is US Taxes for Americans Abroad by Vincenzo Villamena, CPA and John Hamilton, CPA.  I still like it, but I see that it hasn't been updated since 2021.  There's another book, US Taxes for Worldly Americans by Oliver Wagner,  that is updated annually and has a 2025 edition available.  I'm not personally familiar with it, but it has high ratings on Amazon.

Before coming to Brazil, I was working as an independent consultant, and with my income varying widely every year, I never bothered to pay estimated taxes:  I just paid my taxes in full plus the penalty (if any) when I filed (always by April 15) and never found it too onerous or had any problems with the IRS.  If I took distributions from retirement accounts, I had taxes withheld from those. If you can estimate your annual income reasonably well, paying estimated taxes may make your life a little simpler.  Talk it over with your US tax advisor.  You're also going to need a Brazilian tax advisor.  I'd suggest asking your spouse's friends and family members, or your own Brazilian friends, about someone local whom you can trust.

When I got to Brazil I was still considering doing some consulting, so my Brazilian accountant recorded me a a "Profissional Liberal", a self-employed professional with an income difficult to estimate year to year, so I didn't have to file a monthly Carnê Leão.  I still don't:  I file my Brazilian taxes on the due date (actually my accountant files them electronically for me) and I pay them in full and simultaneously with the RF's DARF,  equivalent to a boleto for payments to the government.  I've never had a question from the RF.  I have to give a copy of my Brazilian return every year to Banco do Brasil where we have our accounts, and sometimes I have to explain it to them if there's a new manager because it does look a little unusual, but a brief conversation always settles any questions.

Brazil has a policy against double taxation but Brazil and the United States -- unlike Brazil and Canada -- do not have a tax treaty that deals with income tax, so how it's applied depends on interpretation of the current regulations.  I can't explain what my accountant does to get to the numbers, but she has all the same information that my US advisor does, plus my US return in front of her, and I end up paying the RF about 40% as much as I pay the IRS. 

That should give you some informal perspective, but as always, I recommend collecting your records as you do to file your US return, and working with a professional in March and April to file without any trouble.

01/11/25 I worked for many years as a contractor. I was paid through my S-Corp and my accountant did my taxes. All I did was sign the forms and write the checks.
Sorry I'm not more knowledgeable. - @alan279

I did the same.  The lawyer/accountant who handled the affairs of my S-Corp still does my US taxes. 

@kellermanjm

It might be worth your while to investigate if you can enroll in Simples Nacional. If you can there are significant tax benefits and lower rates.

However not all businesses nor individuals can enroll, and there are restrictions of activity types and turnover. However, if set up correctly, you can pay taxes on income at rates as low as 6%, and then pay yourself shareholder's dividends which are tax free.

The rate you which you pay tax varies according to your turnover in the previous 12 months, so by careful business management you could save considerably....

Worth investigating...