Crypto-asset taxation and declaration

Crypto-assets (criptoativos) have their own dedicated set of rules in Brazil, covering both taxation of gains and mandatory reporting of operations — and the two are separate. Everything here is as of the time of writing — verify, as crypto rules are evolving quickly.

Taxing the gains

Selling crypto at a profit is a capital gain. At the time of writing, for crypto held on Brazilian exchanges and for direct holdings, the key features are:

A monthly sales exemption: if your total crypto sales in a month stay at or below R$35,000, the gain is exempt (note this is a different threshold from the R$20,000 share exemption — verify it).
Above that, the gain is taxed on the ganho de capital progressive schedule, which starts at 15% and rises in bands for very large gains (e.g. 17.5%, 20%, 22.5% above high thresholds — confirm the bands).
Tax is paid by DARF by the last business day of the following month.

The reporting layer (separate from tax)

Brazil requires operation-level reporting of crypto independent of whether tax is due:

Transactions on Brazilian exchanges are reported by the exchange to the Receita.
If you transact on foreign exchanges or peer-to-peer / self-custody above a monthly threshold, you must file a monthly accessory declaration (historically the IN 1888 / "Coin" obligation — verify the current instrument and threshold).
Your crypto balances must also be listed in Bens e Direitos on the annual IRPF, by acquisition cost.

A worked example

Month A: total crypto sales R$30,000, gain R$8,000
         → sales ≤ R$35,000 → EXEMPT, no DARF (but still report)
Month B: total crypto sales R$50,000, gain R$8,000
         → sales > R$35,000 → R$8,000 taxed at 15% = R$1,200 DARF

Common pitfalls

Crypto-to-crypto swaps (e.g. BTC → ETH) can be a taxable event even without converting to reais — verify.
The exemption is on sales volume, not profit, and it does not apply if you exceed R$35,000 across the month.
Reporting and taxing are two different duties — you can owe a filing even with zero tax.

Crypto sits at the frontier of Brazilian tax law and changes often. Treat these numbers as illustrative, keep complete transaction records, and consult an accountant familiar with criptoativos. Educational only.