Sell my property
in Rio

ITBI and the escritura: who pays what

ITBI (Imposto sobre Transmissão de Bens Imóveis) is the municipal property transfer tax. In the city of Rio the rate is a full 3% and the BUYER pays it — the registry office will not record the transfer without proof of payment. There is no first-purchase discount on ITBI itself: the 50% reduction people mention applies only to notary and registry fees, and only under the Brazilian SFH housing finance system.

The escritura is the deed drawn up at a notary office; the transfer is only complete once it is recorded at the property registry office (Registro de Imóveis) for that address.

Selling from abroad

You do not have to be in Brazil for the closing. You do need an active CPF and a power of attorney (procuração pública) naming someone here to sign the escritura for you — issued at a Brazilian consulate, or notarized in your country and apostilled. Notaries are strict about the wording, so have the draft reviewed before you sign it abroad; redoing it costs weeks.

A capital gain on the sale is taxable in Brazil. For non-residents the tax is charged on the gain — broadly, sale price less the acquisition cost on record — at rates starting at 15% and rising in bands for larger gains, and it is settled around the time of the sale rather than in an annual return. There are specific rules for property held before you left Brazil, and for currency conversion, so this is a question for a Brazilian accountant and not for us.

Sending the proceeds out of Brazil goes through a registered foreign exchange transaction at a Brazilian bank. The bank will want to see how the money originally came in and that the tax on the gain was dealt with. Find those documents before you list, not after you have a signed offer.