Brazil customs allowance: what you can bring in duty-free

You can bring US$1,000 of goods into Brazil duty-free when you arrive by air or sea, and US$500 by land, river or lake. You can also spend up to US$1,000 at the duty-free shop of your first arrival airport. Above your quota, Receita Federal charges a 50% import tax on the excess.

This page covers any traveler arriving in Brazil, resident or not. It explains the quotas, what counts toward them, quantity limits, how to declare and how the tax works.

The quotas

Your quota depends on how you enter Brazil. Receita Federal, the federal tax and customs authority, sets these quotas per person, for accompanied baggage:

The air and sea quota rose from US$500 to US$1,000 on January 1, 2022, under Portaria ME nº 15.224 of December 31, 2021. The same act raised the land-border shop limit from US$300 to US$500 a month.

Three rules apply to every quota:

• Once every 30 days. You get the quota once in each 30-day period.
• One per person. The quota is individual and non-transferable. Family members cannot combine theirs.
• Duty-free shopping abroad counts. Purchases at duty-free shops when you leave Brazil, or abroad, count toward your baggage quota.

What does not count

Books, brochures, periodicals and goods for personal use are exempt and stay outside the quota. Personal-use goods include clothing, toiletries, make-up and books, plus one used camera, one used wristwatch and one used cell phone.

Some items never count as personal goods, even for your own use:

• Laptops, tablets and camcorders
• Equipment that needs installation, such as a desktop computer or projector

New goods should travel with a receipt, or a reason why you have none.

Visitors bringing their own laptop or camera

A non-resident can bring goods for personal use under temporary admission, called TECAT. The e-DBV is mandatory only when the total value of those goods exceeds US$3,000. Above that, you register it in person on arrival.

The TECAT lasts as long as your permitted stay. You must show the goods to Receita Federal before you leave. If you do not, the fine is 10% of their customs value.

When the total is US$3,000 or less, temporary admission is usually granted and closed automatically, with no e-DBV. Customs can still inspect the goods. Keep purchase receipts or photos of serial numbers for expensive gear, in case an officer asks.

Quantity limits

Even inside your quota, some goods have caps. They apply per person, whatever the value of the goods.

Goods above these limits leave the traveler regime and are taxed under the common import rules.

Arrival duty-free shops in ports and airports have their own limits. You can buy 24 units of alcohol (up to 12 of one type) and 20 packs of cigarettes. Cigars stop at 25 and pipe tobacco at 250 g. At a land-border shop, the alcohol limit is 12 liters.

Travelers under 18 cannot buy alcohol or tobacco at duty-free shops, even with a parent.

When you must declare

Take the red “Goods to Declare” channel if you carry:

• Goods above your quota
• Banknotes worth more than US$10,000
• Food, plants, animals, medicines or weapons controlled by other agencies
• Goods above the quantity limits
• Non-resident goods above US$3,000 under temporary admission
• Items you want proof you brought in, or goods reported lost

Parents or guardians file the declaration for children under 16. Alcohol and tobacco cannot travel in a minor’s baggage.

How the e-DBV works

The e-DBV is Receita Federal’s electronic declaration of travelers’ goods. You fill it in online at www.edbv.receita.fazenda.gov.br. You can file it from abroad up to 30 days before you arrive, or at Receita Federal self-service computers at the point of entry. At a land border with no red and green channels, show the e-DBV receipt to customs before any inspection.

The system issues a DARF, the federal tax payment slip. You can pay it:

• By debit card at the customs desk
• Through home banking or self-service terminals
• By Pix, with the QR code on the DARF

The tax uses the exchange rate on the day you submit the e-DBV. If you delay payment, customs can hold the goods. Held goods can be collected within 45 days.

Since July 27, 2026, Receita Federal registers some air-arrival e-DBVs automatically. Lower-risk declarations are cleared without an in-person check, and you go straight to the exit. The rest still go through customs, as the app shows. The rules on who must declare did not change.

The tax and the fine

Receita Federal charges 50% import tax on the value above your quota.

An example. You fly in with US$1,400 of new goods. US$400 is above the quota, so the tax is US$200. That is about R$ 1,016 at R$ 5.08 per US$1 (checked Oct 2026), the rate used on money in Brazil. Customs uses the rate on the day you submit.

If you take the green “Nothing to declare” channel with goods you should have declared, Receita Federal treats it as misrepresentation. The fine is 50% of the amount over the quota.

Cash

Declare banknotes worth more than US$10,000 in total, in any currency, in the e-DBV. Only physical banknotes count. Checks and traveler’s checks do not. The same US$10,000 limit applies when you leave Brazil. Most visitors carry far less, since cards and Pix work almost everywhere.

Prohibited and restricted goods

Some goods cannot enter Brazil at all. These are banned:

• Brazilian cigarettes and drinks made only for export
• Replica firearms
• Counterfeit or pirated products
• Narcotics
• Pesticides and products with genetically modified organisms
• Wild animals without a license

Other goods need another agency’s consent, ideally before you reach customs:

Bringing a pet is a separate process. See bringing a dog or cat to Brazil.

Quick checklist

1. Add up the value of new goods you bought abroad, including duty-free.
2. Keep receipts for anything new.
3. Check alcohol and tobacco against the quantity limits.
4. File the e-DBV if you are over the quota, carry over US$10,000 in cash, or bring controlled goods.
5. Pay the DARF by debit card or Pix before you leave customs.
6. As a visitor, show TECAT goods to customs before you fly out.

Visa rules come first. See the Brazil e-Visa for US citizens or the Brazil visa for UK citizens.