Brazil has a totalization agreement and no income tax treaty — the reverse of the usual arrangement.
There is no US–Brazil income tax treaty. There is a totalization agreement, in force since October 2018, so US self-employment tax can be relieved with a certificate of coverage. That is the opposite of the more common pattern, and it means the social security question has a clean answer while the income tax question does not.
Tax snapshot — Brazil
Scroll the table sideways
Sources: IRS Publication 54; IRS Publication 514; IRS Publication 901 (no US–Brazil income tax treaty listed); US–Brazil totalization agreement (signed 2015, in force 1 October 2018); Rev. Proc. 2025-32. Brazilian reciprocity of treatment is an administrative position of the Brazilian authorities and should be confirmed for the year concerned. Checked 1 September 2026.
What that means on your return
Get the inversion straight, because it is counter-intuitive. Most countries on this site have a treaty and no totalization agreement. Brazil has a totalization agreement and no treaty. So SECA is addressable; double income tax has no treaty mechanism.
Brazilian income tax is still creditable on Form 1116 under the ordinary statutory rules. What is missing is everything a treaty adds — a residency tie-breaker, a pension article, reduced withholding, and a mutual agreement procedure if the two systems disagree.
Brazil applies reciprocity of treatment to US tax as a matter of its own administrative position rather than under a treaty, which can allow relief on the Brazilian side. It is a Brazilian rule, it can change without a treaty negotiation, and it should be confirmed for the year in question rather than assumed.
Brazil taxes residents on worldwide income and residency can begin on arrival with a permanent visa, not after a day-count. That timing catches people who assume a first partial year is outside the Brazilian system.
Brazilian investment funds and a PGBL or VGBL retirement plan raise the same reporting and PFIC questions as their Canadian and Indian equivalents. Local tax favour does not carry across.
Questions I get about Brazil
Is there a US–Brazil tax treaty?
No income tax treaty. There is a totalization agreement, in force since October 2018, which addresses social security rather than income tax — so self-employment tax can be relieved with a certificate of coverage while double income tax has no treaty mechanism.
Can I still credit Brazilian tax without a treaty?
Yes. The foreign tax credit comes from the Internal Revenue Code, so Brazilian income tax paid is creditable on Form 1116. What you lose is the treaty machinery — residency tie-breakers, pension articles and a way to resolve disagreement between the two systems.
Do I pay US self-employment tax in Brazil?
Usually not, because the totalization agreement is in force. With a certificate of coverage, self-employment is subject to one country's system rather than both.
When do I become a Brazilian tax resident?
It can be on arrival if you enter on a permanent visa, rather than after a period of presence. Brazil then taxes worldwide income, so the start date matters to both returns.
When is my return due?
15 June, under the automatic extension for filers living abroad. Form 4868 moves it to 15 October, and I file the extension free.
Do I have to file an FBAR for my Brazilian bank account?
If your foreign accounts together passed $10,000 at any point in the year, yes. You can file it free through FinCEN's own system. The non-willful penalty for not filing is $16,536.
I have not filed for several years. What now?
The Streamlined Foreign Offshore Procedures: three returns, six FBARs and Form 14653 certifying non-willfulness. Penalties are waived. Note that the IRS terminated the separate Delinquent FBAR Submission Procedures around 1 July 2026.
Filing from Brazil this year?
Twenty minutes with the Enrolled Agent who will prepare and sign it. Complete return, $599.
An IRS Enrolled Agent working only on US tax for Americans living abroad. I prepare and sign every return myself — 17 years in practice, 12 of them as an Enrolled Agent.