Buying property in Brazil as a foreigner.

• Living abroad: apply in person at a Brazilian consulate, booked through the e-Consular system. The service is free.
• In Brazil: Banco do Brasil, Caixa, the Post Office (Correios) and notary offices register you for a R$ 7 fee.
• There is no card. Your proof is the registration certificate (Comprovante de Inscrição).
• Someone you appoint can apply for you. A power of attorney signed abroad then needs an apostille or consular legalization.
• If your address is abroad and you are 16 or older, you must update your CPF details once a year in the Federal Revenue app. Missing it can suspend the CPF.

• Brazilian consulates draw up a public power of attorney for a foreigner only if they hold an RNE, the Brazilian ID for foreigners.
• Otherwise, you sign it before a notary in your country and get an apostille there. Brazil joined the Hague Apostille Convention in 2016.
• In Brazil, the document gets a sworn translation and is registered at a Registro de Títulos e Documentos office.
• Before you sign abroad, have the Brazilian notary who will draw up the deed approve the draft. Whether a foreign notarial document is accepted is their call.

Finished or resale home

1. 01Check the matrícula, the property's record at the registry office, and the required certificates.
2. 02Pay the ITBI, the city's property transfer tax.
3. 03Sign the public deed (escritura pública) at a notary office. The notary records the tax payment and the certificates.
4. 04Register the deed at the Registro de Imóveis. Ownership passes only on registration.

Off-plan, from a developer

• The developer can only sell after registering the project (memorial de incorporação) at the property registry.
• The contract opens with a summary box: price, payment plan, the price-adjustment index and the cancellation terms.
• Payments usually run through the construction period, adjusted by the index stated in the contract, often the INCC, a construction-cost index.
• A delivery delay of up to 180 days is allowed only if the contract says so.
• If you cancel, the developer may keep a penalty of up to 25% of what you paid (up to 50% in ring-fenced projects, under 'patrimônio de afetação'), among other deductions set by law.
• A contract signed at a sales stand or away from the developer's office can be cancelled within 7 days.

• ITBI: 2.7% of the price in the deed, or of the city's assessed value if that is higher.
• Notary and registry fees follow the Paraná state table, by value bracket, plus a state judiciary-fund charge (FUNREJUS).

After the purchase

• IPTU, the annual municipal property tax, and the monthly condominium fee.
• Renting it out: rent paid to a non-resident is taxed at source at 15%, paid by your representative in Brazil, unless a tax treaty says otherwise.
• Selling: the gain is taxed at progressive rates from 15% to 22.5%, withheld at the sale. The exemptions available to residents do not apply.