Will amnesty be a reality by the end of this year?

[debzor]

Originally Posted by jeduardo

Yes. I am quite sure as I am also Gringo. Before 2008 you had to declare your income or declare exempt

which you can do via the Internet. The new law no longer requires you to declare exempt under R$15k.

DAI 2008 - Declaração Anual de Isento
Declaração Anual de Isento 2008
A DAI, a partir do exercício de 2008, não mais será exigida para o contribuinte desobrigado de apresentar a DIRPF.

I did forget to mention one caveat in that property owners have to declare income tax if property value is over R$ 80.000,00.
6 - teve a posse ou a propriedade de bens ou direitos, em 31/12/2007, inclusive terra nua, de valor total superior a R$ 80.000,00;
OBRIGATORIEDADE DE ENTREGA

In the case of real property, you should be able to use the value as stated on your IPTU which is usually quite low and does not reflect the actual market vaue.

Yes, I agree, but for those overseas based foreigners who have property valued at over R$ 80.000,00, I believe there is a declaration to be done by an accountant by 30th April each year? I imagine most foreign owned property will exceed this figure by a mile.

Is this correct, and what happens if, like most, they ignore it?

What about all the foreigner CPF cards that are 'pendente' or even 'suspensa'?

I think it might be possible for them to ignore or restart the CPF process?

What do you advise, Jeduardo? Thanks for your help.

[jeduardo]

Originally Posted by debzor

Yes, I agree, but for those overseas based foreigners who have property valued at over R$ 80.000,00, I believe there is a declaration to be done by an accountant by 30th April each year? I imagine most foreign owned property will exceed this figure by a mile.

Is this correct, and what happens if, like most, they ignore it?

What about all the foreigner CPF cards that are 'pendente' or even 'suspensa'?

I think it might be possible for them to ignore or restart the CPF process?

What do you advise, Jeduardo? Thanks for your help.

If you ignore your CPF it eventually falls into pendente/suspensa status unless you declare with Receita Federal (exempt or otherwise) every year. You can get your CPF back to "REGULAR"status by filling out a form and paying R$6.50 at Bank or Post Office and declaring exempt. Those with real property valued at over R$ 80.000,00 should be declaring income tax every year even though you will not owe anything (capital gains) until you sell the asset. You can also declare late but you should check with an accountant to do this. I woud check with an accountant but I have never heard of them coming after you for not filing every year unless you owe them something. The real problem is when the property is sold at some time in the future. The Deeds office (Cartório) is supposed to report sales to Receita Federal and they will be looking for their share of the capital gains. The tax laws in Brazil don't appear to be anywhere near as complex as other countries. Download IRPF2008 at Download do Programa IRPF2008 Windows. After completing first page, scroll down do "Bens e Direitos" and you can list your properties and their values. The program allows you to submit the completed form via Internet. For capital gains, download "Programa de Apuração dos Ganhos de Capital - GCAP2008" at Programa de Apurao dos Ganhos de Capital - GCAP2008. If you are not fluent in Portuguese or think it is too complex then you should have this done by a certified accountant in Brazil.

If you are currently living in Brazil you will want to have your CPF "REGULAR", otherwise you cannot open a Bank Account. Depending on what you are doing, other agencies may check your CPF status. In fact anyone can check your status via the Internet if they have your CPF number at Comprovante de Inscrição e de Situação Cadastral no CPF.

BTW. Even though the base rate of Capital Gains Tax is 15%, by the time you crank the numbers through on the Form it works out to between 5% and 6%. Capital gains is paid via form DARF with Receita code 4600 (IN SRF nº 84/2001, art.30, § 3º) and must be paid on the date of sale if the seller is resident abroad or until the last working day of the month following the date of sale, if the seller is resident in Brazil.

[debzor]

Originally Posted by jeduardo

If you ignore your CPF it eventually falls into pendente/suspensa status unless you declare with Receita Federal (exempt or otherwise) every year. You can get your CPF back to "REGULAR"status by filling out a form and paying R$6.50 at Bank or Post Office and declaring exempt. Those with real property valued at over R$ 80.000,00 should be declaring income tax every year even though you will not owe anything (capital gains) until you sell the asset. You can also declare late but you should check with an accountant to do this. I woud check with an accountant but I have never heard of them coming after you for not filing every year unless you owe them something. The real problem is when the property is sold at some time in the future. The Deeds office (Cartório) is supposed to report sales to Receita Federal and they will be looking for their share of the capital gains. The tax laws in Brazil don't appear to be anywhere near as complex as other countries. Download IRPF2008 at Download do Programa IRPF2008 Windows. After completing first page, scroll down do "Bens e Direitos" and you can list your properties and their values. The program allows you to submit the completed form via Internet. For capital gains, download "Programa de Apuração dos Ganhos de Capital - GCAP2008" at Programa de Apurao dos Ganhos de Capital - GCAP2008. If you are not fluent in Portuguese or think it is too complex then you should have this done by a certified accountant in Brazil.

If you are currently living in Brazil you will want to have your CPF "REGULAR", otherwise you cannot open a Bank Account. Depending on what you are doing, other agencies may check your CPF status. In fact anyone can check your status via the Internet if they have your CPF number at Comprovante de Inscrição e de Situação Cadastral no CPF.

BTW. Even though the base rate of Capital Gains Tax is 15%, by the time you crank the numbers through on the Form it works out to between 5% and 6%. Capital gains is paid via form DARF with Receita code 4600 (IN SRF nº 84/2001, art.30, § 3º) and must be paid on the date of sale if the seller is resident abroad or until the last working day of the month following the date of sale, if the seller is resident in Brazil.

Thanks, Jeduardo, very helpful.

Naturally I think all Brazilian residents will want to keep their CPFs 'regular', but after purchasing and furnishing their property, etc I can see a lot of overseas owners letting their CPFs go 'pendente' or 'suspensa' by lack of action. They can always use someone else's for a phone SIM or fridge, when only here for a few weeks a year, and can regularise it later!

Here we actually only pay R$5.50 at the bank for CPF...?

[jeduardo]

10/01/2009 - 04h52
Brazil and U.S. close agreement that extends visa for 10 years

The governments of Brazil and the U.S. closed the agreement to extend the validity of visas for tourists from five to ten years, the report shows Vinícius Queiroz Galvão published in Folha (fully available to subscribers of the newspaper and UOL).

The change covers only the validity of visas. The U.S. maintained the requirements for proof of ties with Brazil by means of fixed income, good job and housing. In the package has been the exemption of visa fees for extra business and student, but the administrative fee (U.S. $ 297) levied on the issuance of any visa fee and to schedule interviews (U.S. $ 38) were maintained.

Signed at the end of last year, according to the Foreign Ministry is ready and should be sent to the Civil House next week. From there, follow the Congress for approval and sanction of the President. The Foreign Ministry's expectation is that the visa of ten years will be in enforce this semester.

"Everyone has great interest that this comes out: the Brazilian people want it, the congressmen want it, employers want it, the Americans want it," says Mitzi Gurgel da Costa, head of the department of immigration and legal affairs of the Foreign Ministry.

Read the full story in Folha this Saturday, which is already in the news stands.

[jeduardo]

Ordinance No 2524
http://www.mj.gov.br/Estrangeiros/se...-A7C7A8A65D8A}
Foreigners (CIE) greater than 51 years if age and the disabled of any age with an indefinite period of validity. The fee of issue of the document is limited to 25% of the value set in the first expedition route.

Those who now live in Brazil on condition of permanent, with a document with a fixed expiration date and whose age exceeds 60 years, may require, without charge, the replacement of its CIE at the unit of the Federal Police closest to where you live.

Ordinance No 2525:
http://www.mj.gov.br/Estrangeiros/se...-A7C7A8A65D8A}
The channel reserved for Brazilians to enter or leave the national territory may be used by foreign residents in the country, provided that they are registered as permanent, without prejudice to the procedures of immigration control.

[debzor]

Originally Posted by jeduardo

Ordinance No 2524
http://www.mj.gov.br/Estrangeiros/se...-A7C7A8A65D8A}
Foreigners (CIE) greater than 51 years if age and the disabled of any age with an indefinite period of validity. The fee of issue of the document is limited to 25% of the value set in the first expedition route.

Those who now live in Brazil on condition of permanent, with a document with a fixed expiration date and whose age exceeds 60 years, may require, without charge, the replacement of its CIE at the unit of the Federal Police closest to where you live.

Ordinance No 2525:
http://www.mj.gov.br/Estrangeiros/se...-A7C7A8A65D8A}
The channel reserved for Brazilians to enter or leave the national territory may be used by foreign residents in the country, provided that they are registered as permanent, without prejudice to the procedures of immigration control.

Interesting, Jeduardo - is this not just a tidy up - legislation catching up with reality?

All the retirement and investor visas I have seen have all been for an indefinite period (ie no expiration date), and I have permanent status and have always been ushered through the Brazilian channel...!

[Mineiro]

Originally Posted by debzor

Interesting, Jeduardo - is this not just a tidy up - legislation catching up with reality?

All the retirement and investor visas I have seen have all been for an indefinite period (ie no expiration date), and I have permanent status and have always been ushered through the Brazilian channel...!

You can't have seen that many because mine expires in 2011. All the visas given in the last amnesty were all temporary at first and had to be renewed every 3 years, if I remember correctly. Only after renewing a couple of times were you given permanent status.
I have travelled frequently and despite being with my family , I have only been ushered through the Brazilian channel once- you must be very lucky.

[jeduardo]

Ordinance Nº 2.524 and Nº 2.525 are both dated 17-Dec-2008.

[debzor]

Originally Posted by Mineiro

You can't have seen that many because mine expires in 2011. All the visas given in the last amnesty were all temporary at first and had to be renewed every 3 years, if I remember correctly. Only after renewing a couple of times were you given permanent status.
I have travelled frequently and despite being with my family , I have only been ushered through the Brazilian channel once- you must be very lucky.

Actually I have seen several - but they have all been investor visas (like mine) or retirement visas.

None have an expiry date, maybe this is the difference between what you get in the amnesty and other permanent visas?

And we have always been through the Brazilian channel...

[Kusamba]

First, I have an investment ´Permanent Visa´. The validade date on it is 02/09/2011. I am assuming that date can be extended to 2016 from reading above.

Secondly, I am wondering if amnesty could be used to obtain real Permanent Residence status. The financial burden of operating a Brasilian company is significant. Maybe I should shut down the company and apply for amnesty. Could this work?

And finally, did this amnesty thing ever happen. Reads like it was supposed to happen by the end of 2008 - no?