Sending money to Brazil

Use Transfer Wise... The rebranded name WISE.
Advice: Have the money transferred into the account of the property owner or agency. If you transfer into your foreign account into your Brazilian account you "will" have to pay taxes on that account in Brazil. Better they pay the taxes. I own 2 properties in Brazil. Once my deposit went to the agency that sold me the apartment the remaining went to the property owner... buttttt before it did they were aware of the taxes so I made it seem like a direct deposit into their bank account was the only option.

I sent in increments of less than $10k to avoid reporting to the IRS. Make sure if you are using Caixa, Bradesco, Santander (any Brazilian Bank) that they properly code it in their system as a real estate purchase. I have seem many nightmares throughout the years from griongos.com of expensive issues with improper coding "AT YOUR COST". Feel free to contact me directly if you need help. my first & last name at ***

Regards,
Zac Arceneaux

It takes 2 - 5 days for the transfer to be completed!

Thank you, I will definitely read more about Wise, and about transferring the money straight to the seller's banking account.

Be very careful of anything that has the appearance of tax evasion, including dodges suggested by Brazilian sellers.  The penalties if caught are usually disproportionate to the modest savings.

When we bought our apartment,  we transferred the entire purchase price, plus the estimated cost of our planned renovations, directly to my account in Banco do Brasil as a normal wire transfer.   The limits on transfer amount are loosened with prior approval.  We discussed our plans beforehand with the manager of our BB branch, and there were absolutely no problems:   the money was there on the day we specified, all proper reports filed (by BB) with the Federal Police and the Central Bank, and the costs were minimal.  There's no Brazilian income tax on funds you transfer from your after-tax holdings abroad.

We transferred the purchase price from my account to the seller's account at the bank manager's desk, for a good paper trail and a witness, and proceeded directly to the cartório with the seller to complete the paperwork.

How long did it take to be available in your brazilian bank account?

Two days:  my US bank initiated the transfer on May 14, 2018, and the funds were available in my BB account on May 16.  We prepared the way with the manager at BB the week before.

I too sent directly to my attorney's holding account on real property. Then at closing transferred to the seller. This was to be sure taxes were handled
Other bigger purchases I just spoke with my bank as to what I would like and they agreed.
As to timing, I had the funds the next day (when HSBC was here. Could do bank to bank transfers)
Now normal transfers are 2 working days to Bradesco

Mine is on Itau. Hopefully they will be fast too. I'll be in touch with them to make sure.

movingtobrazil wrote:

Mine is on Itau. Hopefully they will be fast too. I'll be in touch with them to make sure.

FYI, BB charged us $75 to process the transfer; my US bank waives transfer fees.  The Brazilian tax on financial operations, the IOF on the transfer, 0.38%, or $3.80 per $1000.  That was 2018, so the charges have probably gone up some, but are still chicken feed compared to the charges and taxes on the real estate purchase.

My situation was not tax evasion. Simply, the central bank impose a tax if funds above a thresh hold from abroad.... They are not coded properly in their system. They MUST code the foreign transaction as a purchase of property. As mentioned previously I have seen many non native Brazilians get screwed by these same banks due to input errors on behalf of the agency's manager. It is best if it is transferred to the property owner as advised by my legal team.

Once central bank receives the funds they release to your bank agency in 2 - 5 days...

Having worked in banking, my suggestion would be to just use a wire transfer at your bank/one of the major banks that do wire transfers. It will probably cost more than Xoom, but there won't be the limits on transfers that you'd encounter with Xoom.