Exclusive-Brazil eyes taxing crypto for cross-border payments, sources say

By Marcela Ayres and Bernardo Caram

BRASILIA (Reuters) -Brazil is looking astatine taxing the usage of cryptocurrencies for planetary payments, 2 officials with nonstop cognition of the discussions told Reuters, closing a loophole successful the country's accustomed ​levy connected foreign-exchange transactions.

One of the sources, who spoke connected information of anonymity astir the confidential talks, said the ‌Finance Ministry is looking astatine expanding its fiscal transaction taxation (IOF) to immoderate cross-border transfers utilizing virtual assets and stablecoins that the cardinal slope classified this period arsenic ‌forex operations.

Crypto transactions are not presently taxable to the IOF tax. Investors indispensable wage income taxation connected superior gains from crypto assets successful excess of a monthly exemption.

The Finance Ministry declined to remark connected the matter.

MOVE COULD BOOST REVENUE

Although some sources stressed the determination was designed to adjacent a regulatory loophole, the effect could beryllium a boost successful nationalist revenue, which is nether scrutiny arsenic Brazil struggles to deed its fiscal targets.

Brazil's crypto marketplace has surged ⁠in caller years, driven mostly by the usage ‌of stablecoins, which are backed by assets specified arsenic the U.S. dollar and are little volatile than different cryptocurrencies.

Federal taxation authorization information amusement crypto transactions successful Latin America's largest system deed 227 cardinal reais (‍$42.8 billion) successful the archetypal fractional of 2025, up 20% from a twelvemonth earlier.

Two-thirds of that measurement was trading of USDT, the dollar-backed stablecoin issued by Tether. By contrast, bitcoin - a decentralized integer plus with freely fluctuating prices - accounted for conscionable 11% ​of transactions.

The cardinal slope has paved the mode for a taxation alteration with its caller regulatory framework, 1 root said, based connected the ‌assessment that stablecoins successful Brazil are utilized mostly arsenic a inexpensive mode to clasp dollar balances.

The root said the caller rules should "ensure that the usage of stablecoins does not make regulatory arbitrage vis-a-vis the accepted foreign-exchange market."

Brazilian officials person agelong warned that stablecoins were being utilized chiefly for payments alternatively than investment, creating a caller transmission for wealth laundering amid a regulatory vacuum.

RULES TAKE EFFECT IN FEBRUARY

Under the cardinal slope rules taking effect successful February, immoderate purchase, merchantability oregon speech of stablecoins volition beryllium treated arsenic a foreign-exchange transaction.

The classification besides ⁠covers planetary payments oregon transfers utilizing virtual assets, settling obligations from paper transactions oregon ​other physics methods, and moving assets to oregon from self-custody wallets.