December 31, 2015, was the last day in which the Withholding Income Tax ("WHT") exemption for cross-border payments for travel purposes was in effect. In accordance with Article 60 of Law 12,249/2011 and Article 5th of Normative Instruction RFB 1,214/2011, the exemption used to be applicable to payments to cover the expenses of Brazilian resident individuals abroad, whether for leisure, business, services, training, or official missions. The limits of the exemption used to be:
- A global limit of BRL 20,000 (twenty thousand Brazilian reais) per month for remittances made by individuals or legal entities in general; and
- A specific limit of BRL 10,000 (ten thousand Brazilian reais) per month for remittances made by tourism and travel agencies and operators.
With the end of the exemption, WHT is once more applicable at a rate of 25% on cross-border remittances for travel expenses of Brazilian resident individuals (the rate is applicable to cross-border payments for general services).
(*) With collaboration of the associate lawyer Lucas de Lima Carvalho (lcarvalho@tozzinifreire.com.br)
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