Limitations on money transfers

While reading though these posts have gained valuable information. Have also read how important it is to have a "personal" relationship with your Brazilian bank. Have also read that there is a limitation of $2000 /transaction when sending money from abroad. Doesn't make sense that you have to prove you have over $2000 /month to live in Brazil. Also the importance for sending money to yourself to avoid tax issues. My thought was could my wife and I just send money every month to ourselves from our own accounts. Let's say $2000 each to ourselves for a total of $4000? Or...if needed just communicate a larger amount with the bank for purchases especially when money may be needed for renovation/furniture etc when first moving? I guess what they are looking at is consistency.

- @56tbourne

07/24/22 Thanks...Although there are a few hoops, this can be done. In the meantime, having fun checking out AirBNB rates in Fortaleza which seem extremely reasonable. Will have 2 years to filter stuff, but we feel that under our circumstances the decision will be a good one to retire in Brazil.

- @56tbourne

@56tbourne The 2,000 dollars per month is a bit mad if you look at the living wage here but it is probably an imovable object.. I come very close to that amount. Pray the euro rises above the US dollar.

i have a question on this topic. when you transfer money from US to brazil account, does the recipient have to pay taxes due to cumulating interest? I am told conflicting information. We were told by caixa banker that, if its transferred to a savings account, you don't have to but if you transfer to checking out, then you do have to pay taxes when the person who received it. I don't understand this at all. Also, is there a certain amount you can send in a calendar year to avoid paying taxes? Any advise or information is much appreciated as lot of the tax account seem to be conflicted about this topic.

05/08/23  @Kris Kim.  A legal resident of Brazil who has more than R$28.559,70/year in income (in 2023; the amount rises every year by about the official rate of inflation), is subject to Brazilian income tax.  The source and location of the income, and how the funds get to Brazil (as long as it's legal, of course) don't matter much.

Once you're a legal resident, you and your wife should talk to a Brazilian accountant to walk you through how your taxes will work; everybody's case is different. 

@56tbourne I believe the limit is $10,000 for 365 days. I have also had lots of trouble with transfer services (Wise, Remitly etc.) so have a plan B, they will not  always be there for you and will cancel etc. when you most need them.

Roddie in Retirement

@abthree thank you for the post. to clarify, my brazilian wife who is a citizen of brazil made over that in the US and we did the tax return here in 2023..are you saying that she also has to report taxes in brazil as well for 2023? I think all she did was just show what we had in our brazilian bank accounts. and was also told, if the money was in the savings and not in checking, she would not get taxed on it. idk. also, if we transferred money from xoom or wise, do you have to pay taxes on them as well when the recipient receives it? if so, what is the limit before you get taxed on it? we are getting so many different information about taxes. haha. again, much appreciated with your information.

05/08/23 @Kris Kim.  The only tax that I'm aware of that has to be paid on bank transfers at the actual time of transfer is the IOF, the tax on financial operations, which is minimal.  When I used Wise, I always assumed (hoped?) that they were covering it, because it never showed up as a charge in my account.  With SWIFT transfers, it does show up as a small deduction from the transfer.

Your other questions are things that you two should ask your Brazilian tax advisor, when you find one.  2023 taxes aren't due until next April, so you have time to straighten out your immigration status without needing to worry about taxes right now. 

i have a question on this topic. when you transfer money from US to brazil account, does the recipient have to pay taxes due to cumulating interest? I am told conflicting information. We were told by caixa banker that, if its transferred to a savings account, you don't have to but if you transfer to checking out, then you do have to pay taxes when the person who received it. I don't understand this at all. Also, is there a certain amount you can send in a calendar year to avoid paying taxes? Any advise or information is much appreciated as lot of the tax account seem to be conflicted about this topic.
-@Kris Kim

I have bought two apartments and two cars with Wise transfers, and recently, one major remodel, all of which were well over US $10,000. Wise asked for additional ID once, which i had anticipated. That caused a slight and expected delay. Like Abthree I have never faced a tax issue on money transfers. All great Mario questions.

@56tbourne I believe the limit is $10,000 for 365 days. I have also had lots of trouble with transfer services (Wise, Remitly etc.) so have a plan B, they will not always be there for you and will cancel etc. when you most need them.
Roddie in Retirement
-@roddiesho

May I ask? What do you have for your "Plan B"?

@rraypo A "Violetta Queen Mattress". Seriously my wife was away from home and called me at my house to say that one of the young ladies that come in each day (we have two for my elderly mother and the brother in law) had someone at our gate to collect the monthly payment for the mattress we purchased from a door to door vendor. Luckily I had the 300 reals on hand since he was right there. The money is actually in a locked cabinet not under the mattress, but advance warning, someone who takes your credit card or a convenient atm is not always around, so we have a few reals locked up on site. This is my emergency money. Otherwise I would advice having American money (I use PayPal) and Brazilian Money (in a Brazilian Bank).  Get all the transferring done now and move on. Don´t trust the transfer companies will be there when you really need them.

Roddie in Retirement

05/09/23 @rraypo A "Violetta Queen Mattress".
Roddie in Retirement
-@roddiesho

We always keep some cash put away in a safe place for emergencies, too.  Cash is still king, although not as much as it used to be.

05/09/23 @56tbourne I believe the limit is $10,000 for 365 days.
Roddie in Retirement
-@roddiesho

The limit with Wise when I was using them was $10,000 for 365 days, and then they needed to have my Social Security Number.  With that, the limit was off. 

The problem arose with their Brazilian partner, Banco Rendimento, at the end of the pandemic.  Probably not completely their fault; I imagine that the Banco Central began pulling all the banks back under normal controls after the emergency eased.  They began demanding more and more documentation, and finally all the documents that would be required to open an account with them.  I thought that was excessive for a middleman, so that's where I drew the line.

Everyone here uses Pix... no risk to hold cash, free to use, immediate delivery and everyone accepts it...

@abthree I believe I mentioned in a earlier post, I have not been asked for documentation once since moving to Brazil.  That continues to be the case, oddly enough. Back in the States, I was asked every other, or maybe every 3rd transfer.

Somewhat related is that an interesting and (likely) recent development with Wise is they must have integrated PIX.  The past few transfers have arrived in under a minute, via PIX transfers.  It's been the case with small and large transfers for me. Last transfer arrived in 22 seconds.