Brazil Inheritance Tax: 8% ITCMD, Zero Treaties
Why your family may pay twice on one asset
Por Lucas Ribeiro Cavalcante — OAB/CE 44.673
Brazil Inheritance Tax: 8% ITCMD, Zero Treaties
Why your family may pay twice on one asset
Por Lucas Ribeiro Cavalcante — OAB/CE 44.673
Your father left a beach apartment in Rio. The Brazilian process drags on for months. Meanwhile, the estate tax return back home is already filed and closed.
✘ Mito
Myth: Brazil's treaties with Portugal, Spain and Italy cover inheritance
✓ Verdade
Truth: those treaties cover income tax only. ITCMD sits outside all of them
ITCMD is a state tax, charged by each of the 26 states plus the Federal District. States are not parties to federal treaties, so no treaty can protect you.
8% + 40%
8% ITCMD in Rio, then 40% UK estate tax on the same apartment
The costliest mistake: paying ITCMD in Brazil first, then telling the foreign tax authority. Credit systems have a fixed filing window. Miss it and you pay both in full.
8-24
Months heirs spend on legalized documents, sworn translations and the ITCMD assessment
Dica
Do not file the estate tax return at home before the Brazilian ITCMD assessment exists. Request an extension abroad so both proceedings run in parallel.
Tell both advisors about every asset
Request an extension abroad
Claim the credit with Brazilian proof
Your heirs should inherit the apartment, not a double tax bill. Plan it now.