The Banco Central do Brasil is the Government body that oversees and regulates all international money transfers in and out of Brazil. The rules and legislation which must be followed with regard to international transfers are initially complex, but provide real security for investors and purchasers.

Funds sent to Brazil for the purpose of buying property or land must be sent from your own bank account directly to the account of the person selling the property.

Although technically you are sending directly to the sellers account, all international transfers are via the Banco Central do Brasil and the funds that you have sent will be held in a holding exchange account.

In order to release the funds from the holding exchange account, the seller is required to show a copy of the sales contract signed by both parties. Only once he has done so can the money be exchanged from its source currency into Brazilian Reais.

This is the reason that your bank will not be able to offer an exchange rate at the time of transfer as the exchange rate will only be confirmed when the seller presents the sales contract to their bank.

This means that in many cases there will be a shortfall or overpayment due to the exchange rate, and is the reason that most well drafted Brazilian purchase contracts allow a margin of +/-10% with regard to the amount sent.

The Central Bank in Brazil registers all international transfers into the country and certifies your investment. This register proves that the funds came from outside of Brazil and are therefore exempt from the Brazilian tax authorities and the funds can be repatriated free of any tax implications.

In general there are no limitations to returning your funds from Brazil provided they were originally registered with the ‘Banco Central do Brasil’ at the time of your investment.

There are other types of transfer to Brazil via companies such as Western Union and others. By Law, these transfers cannot exceed R$10,000 per wire transfer.

On balance, transferring funds to Brazil is a straightforward process as long as you follow the procedures and regulations laid down by the Banco Central do Brasil. As these measures provide a central registration of your transfer and since the vendor must provide a valid sales contract in order to release the funds, the system provides excellent security for any funds you send for your Brazilian property purchase.