Selling Inherited Property in Brazil

Hello all. I am a dual US/BR citizen currently living in NY. I inherited a apartment after my mother passed many years ago. For a long time, the apartment has been rented. It will now be vacant and we are going to try and sell it.

The real estate agency that manages the apartment will handle most things, I assume. I am just not clear on:

a) how do I navigate taxes in BR, as I have never lived there as an adult and have not worked or needed to pay taxes before. I am not even sure I have my CPF. I have an ID card and passport.

b) Do I need a lawyer to help me? How do I even go about finding one from so far away?

c) Lastly, once the apartment is sold, how does the money enter the US? Is it as simple as a bank transfer, or more complicated than that?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

I am on the same boat - did you ever figure out how to do this?

Nope! We've just been renting it ever since.

If you manage to sell, please let me know how it went!

Are you able to rent it and bring the income to the US?  Do you have to pay taxes over rent in US and Brazil or one or the other?

That might be an option too... boy sure seems impossible to sell and bring money here without being robbed all the way!!!!

Thanks!

Income from BR will be BR income tax. You then would pay income tax in Brazil and should not have to pay income tax which was paid in BR. may have a US tax form to complete, but not a tax expert.
You will need to wire funds to US and there will be foreign transfer fee and exchange fees.
If in BR you can take funds back to US, but must declare anything $10,000.00 or more.

I just posted a very similar post and then saw yours. Wondering if you managed to sell in the end?

@Texanbrazil Hi, you seem to be quite familiar with this topic and I was just thinking, if I find a foreign buyer (investor) who doesn't live in BR, can he pay me from his country directly to me, thereby bypassing the Brazil bank network, or does the transaction have to go thru local banks? Thanks

03/31/23 @Texanbrazil Hi, you seem to be quite familiar with this topic and I was just thinking, if I find a foreign buyer (investor) who doesn't live in BR, can he pay me from his country directly to me, thereby bypassing the Brazil bank network, or does the transaction have to go thru local banks? Thanks
-@USAJeff


Tex is taking some time away to concentrate on personal business.  He plans on coming back and I hope it will be soon, but he's not currently monitoring the site, and probably won't be back before you complete your transaction.


We do have people here who may be able to offer advice.  What you're suggesting above will probably require personalized legal advice from a qualified Brazilian professional, to help you and the buyer steer clear of Brazil's anti-money laundering laws, and to get the transfer of the apartment properly registered.

@abthree Thanks for taking the time to reply and for providing good pointers.

@abthree since you seem to know your way around this site, do you happen to know how to fix this glitch: the site always appears in the Italian version, even the emails I received when I created an account are in Italian. I always have to change the language selector at the bottom of the page… I don't use a VON so unsure where this Italian thing comes from. Thanks

This is a topic I have really tried to avoid, but since i ran across this post I thought I should ask. My wife and I are at least 30 years older than our 21-year-old only child. My wife has a lot of property here (We even have separate houses on the inhabitable side of our property) not to mention a whole back side with nothing but trees etc.


At some point this will all be our daughters who is here for a visit now, but lives in Maryland. Uniquely we live in a small village where houses are not sold only land (where a house etc. is then built on). This is going to be a challenge since no one is expecting to buy or sell a house in our village.


Needless to say, we hope this will not be an issue for many years, however I am bringing it up now for any advice.


Possible Opportunity: We live about 30 minutes from Jericoacoara, which was named by The Washington Post as one of the Top 10 Most Beautiful Beaches in the World.


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04/11/23 @abthree since you seem to know your way around this site, do you happen to know how to fix this glitch: the site always appears in the Italian version, even the emails I received when I created an account are in Italian. I always have to change the language selector at the bottom of the page… I don't use a VON so unsure where this Italian thing comes from. Thanks
-@USAJeff

Sorry, @USAJeff, I just saw this. Try this:




  1. Click on your avatar, between the bell and magnifying glass icons in the upper right of this page.
  2. Click on "Account Settings" in the "Privacy & Settings" menu.
  3. Click on the gray box next to your name.
  4. Click on "English" in the drop down menu.


If that doesn't help, send a Direct Message to any of the Moderators, the people with a red badge with a monkey wrench on their avatars, and they should be able to help you. You can often find them in the "Welcome New Members" thread.