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Foreigners can now issue Brazilian tax-payer identification abroad on the spot

The document known as CPF is mandatory for any financial transaction
Daniel Lima reports from Agência Brasil
Published on 26/02/2014 - 17:55
Brasília

Foreign investors can now have their individual Natural Person’s Number, or “CPF” (Portuguese: Cadastro de Pessoa Física) issued on the spot at a Brazilian diplomatic office abroad. The registration process used to take at least 20 days, and is now completed instantly. To make the process even quicker, foreigners can fill out a form available in English, Spanish and Portuguese on the Federal Revenue website, and look for the nearest office connected to Brazil’s Foreign Relations Ministry, in possession of all the personal documents required.

Formerly, the Brazilian diplomatic offices had to send the documents and forms to Brazil by express mail. After they were delivered, the papers would be submitted to the Police Station at the Federal Revenue Agency, in Brasília, where the CPF registration would be completed. After that, the opposite process had to take place.

“We’ve developed, in cooperation with the Foreign Relations Ministry, applications that enable [our] officials to register Brazilian citizens as well as foreigners abroad through the Internet,” explains Carlos Roberto Occaso, Subsecretary for Consultation and Tax Collection at the Federal Revenue. He added that solving other problems, like revalidating the CPF, is still not possible online.

This does not concern only foreign investors or Brazilian citizens living abroad. A Spanish woman who is married to a Brazilian citizen, for instance, may need a CPF even if she has never been to Brazil. The process of stocktaking, when it happens in Brazil, also requires a CPF. “There are a number of situations here in which a person is required to hold a CPF. Even if they have never laid a foot in the country. It’s a 24-7 service,” Occaso said.

“If a [foreigner] wants to make an investment here – any sort of investment: fixed income, stock exchange, capital market – he must hold a CPF. This change makes the process much quicker. And, of course, raising capital and resources for Brazil will become easier, since the paperwork is reduced,” says Flávio Vilela Campos, Coordinator-General at the Federal Revenue’s Registration Management.

Occaso mentioned that investors dealing with the financial market like to make decisions on possible investments immediately after they see an opportunity, especially in a globalized and connected world as ours. “If an investor is forced to wait, the moment is gone and so is the investment possibility. Thus, we overcome another barrier. We expect to make this inflow of resources to Brazil even larger. Everything is on the spot now,” he said.

Today, over 1.5 million foreigners are CPF-holders – 672,000 in Europe, 513,000 in America, 202,000 in Asia, 54,000 in Africa, and 4,000 in Oceania. Portugal is the country with the largest number of registrations (304,452), followed by Italy (105,822) and Bolivia (91,367).

The steps for requesting a CPF number can be thoroughly seen at www.receita.fazenda.gov.br .

Translated by Fabrício Ferreira


Fonte: Foreigners can now issue Brazilian tax-payer identification abroad on the spot