Five-Year Declaration of Foreign Capital: Mandatory Filing in 2026

Does your company have partners who are not resident in Brazil? If so, it may be required to submit a declaration to the Central Bank of Brazil by March 31, 2026.

If your company has, as a shareholder, a non-resident individual or a legal entity headquartered abroad, this means it is the recipient of Foreign Direct Investment (“Investimento Estrangeiro Direto – IED”). As such, it is required to provide certain information and/or declarations to the Central Bank of Brazil, pursuant to BCB Resolution No. 278/2022.

The new resolutions issued by the Central Bank of Brazil on this matter have reduced several of the obligations that previously applied. However, certain obligations remain in force, and others have been introduced.

This is the case with periodic declarations.

Depending on the total value of the Brazilian company’s assets, it may be required to submit declarations to the Central Bank of Brazil through the SCE-IED system on a quarterly, annual, or five-year basis.

Companies required to submit quarterly declarations are those with assets equal to or exceeding BRL 300,000,000.00 (three hundred million reais). Companies required to submit annual declarations are those with assets equal to or exceeding BRL 100,000,000.00 (one hundred million reais). In turn, all companies that are the object of foreign direct investment and have assets equal to or exceeding BRL 100,000.00 (one hundred thousand reais) are required to submit five-year declarations.

Five-year declarations must be submitted in all years ending in “1” or “6” and must refer to the immediately preceding five-year period.

Therefore, in the year 2026, any Brazilian company that, as of the base date of December 31, 2025, had a non-resident partner and assets exceeding BRL 100,000.00 (one hundred thousand reais) must submit, through the SCE-IED system, a foreign capital declaration covering the period from 2021 to 2025.

This declaration consists of corporate, accounting, and foreign exchange information and is mandatory for companies that meet the above requirements. Failure to comply may result in penalties ranging from the cancellation of the FDI registration (making foreign exchange transactions unfeasible until the issue is resolved) to the imposition of fines.

The deadline for submitting the five-year declaration opened on January 1 and closes on March 31. Therefore, companies have until March 31 of this year to submit to the Central Bank of Brazil their five-year declaration referring to the previous period.

Does your company fall within the situation described in this article? Contact RUCR Law to understand your obligations, comply with the necessary requirements, and avoid future complications.