Loose ends in Brazil: voter card, tax authority and accounts

Moving country does not automatically close the administrative ties with Brazil. Four areas tend to stay open: the electoral situation, the tax situation with the Receita Federal, social security (INSS) and bank accounts. This guide sets out what the official pages say about each. It is not tax advice: for decisions about assets or income, the Receita Federal and a qualified professional are the reference.

Voter card (título de eleitor)

The voter card stays linked to an electoral zone. There are two routes for people abroad.

1. Keep the registration in Brazil and justify the absence. According to the TSE, a voter with a card in a Brazilian electoral zone who is abroad on election day can justify:

• on the day itself, through the e-Título app or at polling stations abroad that use electronic voting machines;
• after the election, up to 60 days after each round, through e-Título, the Autoatendimento Eleitoral – Título Net, or the post-election Electoral Justification Request (Requerimento de Justificativa Eleitoral pós-eleição), sent with supporting documents to the judicial authority of the electoral zone of the card;
• also up to 30 days from the date of return to Brazil.

2. Move the electoral domicile abroad. The TSE gives these conditions for transfer to the Foreign Electoral Zone (ZZ):

• living in a country with a Brazilian diplomatic mission;
• at least one year since the initial registration or the last transfer;
• a link with the new domicile for at least three months.

The TSE points to the online system Autoatendimento Eleitoral – Título Net to request the transfer. According to the TSE, a voter registered in the ZZ is obliged to vote only in elections for President and Vice-President of the Republic. In election years, the TSE says requests for registration, transfer and review can only be made up to 151 days before the election date, because the register is then closed.

Not voting and not justifying

According to the TSE, a voter who does not vote and does not justify incurs a fine under the Electoral Code of 3% to 10% of the regional minimum wage, which, under article 367(2) of the Electoral Code, can be increased up to ten times if the judge considers the fine ineffective because of the offender’s economic situation. For a voter who did not vote, justify or pay the fine, the TSE says a passport or identity card cannot be obtained, nor can the person register for a public-post competition or take up a public post.

According to the TSE, three consecutive unjustified absences lead to the voter card being cancelled, and each round counts as an election. To regularise, the fines must be paid or waived and a data review or a transfer of domicile made through Título Net. A voter who lives abroad and cannot pay the fine can request a waiver, sending the request through Título Net for the electoral zone to assess.

Receita Federal: definitive exit from the country

The Receita deals with the exit in two stages, and the dates differ.

Definitive Exit Notice (CSDP)

• Who: according to gov.br, the taxpayer who leaves Brazil definitively or becomes a non-resident.
• Deadline: “from the date of departure” until “the last day of February of the following year”. Where the exit is temporary and the person later becomes a non-resident, the period runs from the date that happens.
• How: online, in the CSDP system. The service is free and immediate, according to gov.br.
• Details asked for: CPF number, the receipt number of the last income tax return, the voter card number and, where relevant, dependants’ documents. For people who have been abroad for more than six years without notifying, the Receita also asks for photo ID, a selfie holding the document and a declaration stating the departure date; according to gov.br, this case is handled by e-mail, sent to cpf.residente.exterior@rfb.gov.br.

Definitive Exit Declaration (DSDP)

The DSDP is the income tax declaration for the exit. According to the Receita Federal, it is filed in the year after the exit, within the regulatory deadline for the annual return, and the tax assessed is paid in a single instalment by the date set for filing. The notice (CSDP) does not replace the DSDP or the payment of the tax assessed, nor any returns for earlier years that remain unfiled.

On the Portuguese side, tax residence and the double taxation convention are covered in Taxes and IRS.

INSS and the social security agreement

Brazil and Portugal have a social security agreement, in force since 25 March 1995, which INSS presents on its page on international agreements. The INSS page lists application forms (for pension and retirement and for cash benefits for incapacity) and the liaison bodies: on the Brazilian side, the social security agency for international agreements in São Paulo; on the Portuguese side, the Centro Nacional de Pensões. Under article 9 of the agreement, as worded by Decree 7,999/2013, a person who has completed insurance periods under the laws of both States has those periods totalised for invalidity, old-age and death benefits, except where the conditions of the applicable law are already met without totalisation.

What counts in each case is decided by the institutions of both countries. The agreement from the Portuguese side is covered in NISS and Social Security.

Bank accounts in Brazil

Law 14,286/2021 defines a non-resident as an individual or legal entity resident, domiciled or headquartered abroad. In article 5, the law gives the Banco Central do Brasil the task of regulating non-residents’ accounts in reais and provides that those accounts receive the same treatment as residents’ accounts, except for the requirements and procedures the Banco Central may set. In practice, the conditions for opening and operating an account while living abroad depend on those rules and on the bank. What a given bank requires from a customer who becomes resident in Portugal should be confirmed with the bank itself.

Driving licence

For the CNH, exchange for a Portuguese licence is optional for licences that meet IMT’s requirements. The conditions are in Driving licence.

Documents for other processes

Portuguese processes that need Brazilian documents, such as citizenship, say which certificates are asked for. That list should be confirmed with the competent Portuguese body before requesting any certificate in Brazil. For the rest of the move, see the Path assistant.