Cryptocurrency in Brazil: regulation, taxes and reporting
In short. Brazil taxes your crypto differently depending on where you keep it. Sell through a Brazilian platform and the first 35,000 reais of sales each month escape tax, with rates from 15% climbing to 22.5% above that. Keep coins on a foreign exchange or in your own wallet and a flat 15% applies with no exemption at all. Platforms have needed authorisation from the central bank since February 2026.
- MONTHLY EXEMPTION
- R$ 35,000of sales, on Brazilian platforms
- BRAZILIAN PLATFORM
- 15% to 22.5%rate climbs with the size of the gain
- ABROAD OR SELF-CUSTODY
- 15% flatand no monthly exemption
- PLATFORM AUTHORISATION
- Requiredcentral bank, since 2 February 2026
- REPORTING
- Monthlyexpanded system in force since July 2026
- LEGAL TENDER
- Nothe real stays the only legal money
Where you keep the coins decides the tax
Brazil drew a line in 2023 that few countries bother with: it runs through your wallet, not your income.
Law 14.754 of that year split crypto into two regimes. Coins on a Brazilian platform fall under ordinary capital gains rules: sales up to 35,000 reais in a calendar month owe nothing, and above that the rate starts at 15% and climbs to 22.5% as the gain grows. You calculate monthly and pay by the last working day of the following month.
Coins on a foreign exchange, or in a wallet only you control, fall under the offshore regime instead. There the rate is a flat 15% and the monthly exemption does not exist. Someone selling 20,000 reais a month pays nothing at home and 15% abroad, on the same trade.
The tax rise that never arrived
Headlines through 2025 announced a flat rate replacing all of this, and anyone planning around them should check the source.
The government issued a provisional measure in June 2025 proposing to unify taxation on financial investments, crypto among them, at a single rate. A provisional measure in Brazil takes effect on publication but dies unless Congress converts it into law within a set window.
Congress let it die. On 8 October 2025 the Chamber of Deputies voted 251 to 193 to pull the measure from the agenda, and it lost validity at midnight. The earlier rates stayed in place, and the 35,000-real exemption survived with them. Foreign coverage still describes the flat rate as though it applies today.
Reporting got heavier in July 2026
The tax authority replaced its 2019 reporting rules with a new system that took effect in July 2026.
Rates did not move and the exemption did not move. What changed is how much the authority sees: reporting obligations widened, and holdings on foreign platforms and in self-custody now sit inside the same disclosure net as domestic accounts.
The central bank took over the platforms
Law 14.478 of December 2022 named the central bank as supervisor. The rules it wrote came into force on 2 February 2026.
A company wanting to provide virtual asset services now applies for authorisation before it starts. Firms already operating may continue while they prove they meet the requirements, which cover anti-money-laundering controls, information security and capital, and file their application. The bank also folded virtual asset services into the foreign exchange regime, which matters for anyone moving value across the border, and issued separate rules on transfers aimed at fraud.
What this means if you are moving there
Sell in moderate amounts at home and the exemption covers you; move the coins abroad and it disappears.
Two consequences follow. Keeping a position on an offshore exchange costs you the 35,000-real allowance every month, which for a regular seller adds up faster than the rate difference does. And since July 2026 the reporting system reaches self-custody, so a private wallet no longer sits outside what the tax authority sees.
Allowed
- Sell up to 35,000 reais a month through a Brazilian platform with no tax
- Hold crypto in self-custody, declaring it under the offshore rules
- Offset capital losses against gains under the ordinary rules
- Use platforms authorised by the central bank
Restricted
- Claiming the monthly exemption on coins held abroad or in self-custody
- Providing virtual asset services without central bank authorisation
- Treating a private wallet as outside the reporting system
- Paying in crypto as of right, since the real remains the only legal money
How the rules took shape
Law 14.478 makes the central bank the supervisor of virtual asset services.
Law 14.754 splits the tax treatment: domestic platforms keep the monthly exemption, foreign holdings take a flat 15%.
The Chamber pulls the provisional measure on a flat rate, 251 votes to 193. It lapses and the old rates stay.
Central bank rules take effect. Providers need authorisation before operating.
The expanded reporting system replaces the 2019 rules.
Worth knowing
On 23 June 2021 QBTC11 began trading on the B3 exchange — Latin America's first bitcoin ETF, three years before spot funds appeared in the United States.
Common questions
How much tax will I pay on crypto profit?
On a Brazilian platform, nothing on the first 35,000 reais of sales each month, then 15% rising to 22.5% as the gain grows. On a foreign platform or in self-custody, a flat 15% with no exemption.
Is the flat 17.5% rate real?
No. The government proposed a single rate in a provisional measure, and the Chamber of Deputies pulled it on 8 October 2025. It lapsed without becoming law, and the earlier rates remain. Foreign coverage still repeats it as current.
Does the exemption apply to my hardware wallet?
No. The monthly exemption belongs to the domestic regime. Coins in self-custody follow the offshore rules, which tax the gain at a flat 15% from the first real.
Can my exchange operate legally?
Only with authorisation from the central bank. The requirement started on 2 February 2026, and firms already in the market may keep going while they prove compliance and apply.
Do I have to report a private wallet?
Yes. The reporting system that took effect in July 2026 covers foreign platforms and self-custody alongside domestic accounts.
Sources
Related reading
Other countries
Updated 20.08.2026 · this is reference material, not investment or tax advice