Tax: Residents are taxed on worldwide income
Brazilian tax applies whatever the location or nationality of the income source (article 34). A resident who receives income from abroad that nobody has taxed at source pays tax monthly on it (article 118), and the foreign income is converted at the central bank's buying rate for the last working day of the first half of the previous month (article 119).
More detail
Foreign tax paid can be deducted only where a treaty provides for it or there is reciprocal treatment, and not above the extra Brazilian tax caused by that income (article 115). There is no New Zealand-Brazil income tax treaty: the Receita Federal's list of agreements, updated on 28 August 2026, does not include New Zealand, and Inland Revenue's lists do not include Brazil. We did not find how the Receita Federal applies reciprocity to New Zealand tax, so whether a credit is available is unknown. The Regulation is a 2018 consolidation, so later changes need an adviser's check.
Sources: Presidency of the Republic (planalto.gov.br), Receita Federal (Brazil), Inland Revenue (New Zealand). Checked 15 October 2026.
Tax: Rates are set each year, and leaving has its own filing
For 2026 the monthly bands run from 0% up to R$2,428.80 to 27.5% above R$4,664.68, with a reduction under Law 15.270 that brings tax to zero for taxable income of up to R$5,000 a month and fades out by R$7,350. The annual bands for the 2026 tax year top out at 27.5% above R$55,976.16, and the law adds a minimum tax for annual income above R$600,000.
More detail
When you leave for good, you file a Definitive Departure Declaration covering 1 January to the day before you leave (article 14). If you leave without presenting it, you are treated as resident for the first 12 months of absence. This describes the mechanism, not your bill.
Sources: Receita Federal, Presidency of the Republic (planalto.gov.br), OECD. Checked 15 October 2026.
Tax: New Zealand does not stop taxing you the day you go
You become a New Zealand tax resident after more than 183 days in the country in any 12-month period or when you have a permanent place of abode there, and you stop only if you have no permanent place of abode in New Zealand and are away more than 325 days in a 12-month period. Until then New Zealand taxes your worldwide income, including income not brought into New Zealand; you file an IR3 with the IR1261 overseas income summary (due 7 July unless you have a tax agent), and you might be able to claim a credit for tax paid to another country.
More detail
Brazil counts residence from more than 183 days on a temporary visa, so you could be a tax resident of both countries at once, and with no treaty there is no tie-breaker between them. If you leave permanently, file an IR3 or ask for an assessment, and tell your bank so the right non-resident withholding tax is deducted. This describes the mechanism, not your bill.
Sources: Inland Revenue (New Zealand), Presidency of the Republic (planalto.gov.br). Checked 15 October 2026.
Tax: No social security agreement, and what happens to KiwiSaver, student loans and NZ Super
Brazil's list of countries with social security agreements does not include New Zealand, and neither does Work and Income's list of eleven agreements, so no agreement links the two pension and contribution systems. Which Brazilian contributions apply to a remote worker with a foreign employer, we did not find; that is unknown.
More detail
The KiwiSaver government contribution needs you to live mainly in New Zealand; after living overseas (outside Australia) for a year you can withdraw most savings, but not government contributions. A student loan stops being interest-free from the day after you leave if you become overseas-based, which means spending 31 days or fewer in New Zealand in a 184-day period. If you already get NZ Super, you cannot keep it overseas unless you apply and meet the criteria, at a rate based on the months you lived in New Zealand between ages 20 and 65 out of 540; Work and Income asks you to call at least 6 weeks before you leave.
Sources: Ministry of Social Security (Brazil), Work and Income (Ministry of Social Development, New Zealand), Inland Revenue (New Zealand). Checked 15 October 2026.
Setting up: Healthcare through the transition
New Zealand's reciprocal health agreements cover only Australia and the UK, and publicly funded care is for people in New Zealand, so nothing covers you in Brazil by default. The digital nomad visa requires health insurance valid in Brazil, and the Wellington embassy asks for an international travel insurance certificate that covers your whole planned stay, so you buy cover before you apply.
More detail
SafeTravel advises comprehensive insurance that includes medical evacuation by air. Brazil's public health system, the SUS, is open to migrants: the Migration Law guarantees access to public health services without discrimination for nationality or migration status, and a Minas Gerais health note says care should not be refused for lack of documents, although practice varies by municipality. We found no figure for private health insurance, so that cost is unknown.
Sources: Health New Zealand (Te Whatu Ora), New Zealand Government (govt.nz), Embassy of Brazil in Wellington, SafeTravel (Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, New Zealand), Presidency of the Republic (planalto.gov.br), Minas Gerais State Health Secretariat (Secretaria de Estado de Saúde). Checked 16 October 2026.
New Zealand
Brazil