Interview for Estadão. Read the full text
Anyone planning to sell a property should pay attention to the tax reform, which is still under discussion in Congress. The text, approved in the Senate on September 30 of this year and now back in the Chamber of Deputies for a new vote, defines rules that should begin to take effect in 2026. Constitutional Amendment No. 132/2023 and Supplementary Law No. 214/2025 bring important changes in the way these transactions will be taxed, and experts already recommend planning the sale of properties by assessing costs, tax credits, and structuring alternatives to reduce the tax and avoid financial surprises.
Newsletter
Don’t miss our newsletters!
Select the news item(s) you wish to receive:
Mercado no Prato
Direto da Faria Lima
E-mail
Subscribe
I agree with Estadão’s Privacy Policy, with Ágora’s Privacy Policy, and with the Terms of Use.
CONTINUES AFTER THE ADVERTISEMENT
The reform introduces two new taxes: the Tax on Goods and Services (IBS) and the Contribution on Goods and Services (CBS), which will replace five current taxes: the Social Integration Program (PIS), the Contribution for the Financing of Social Security (Cofins), the Tax on Industrialized Products (IPI), the Tax on the Circulation of Goods and Services (ICMS), and the Tax on Services (ISS).
The idea is to simplify the system and reduce disputes among the Union, states, and municipalities. In the real-estate sector, the novelty is that the sale of properties by companies, such as construction companies, developers, and land subdividers, comes to fall within the scope of incidence of these new taxes.
In practice, according to the text, the transaction will be treated as a taxable economic activity. The tax will be levied on the added value, that is, on the difference between the sale price and the acquisition or construction cost. This format follows the logic of the Value Added Tax (VAT) adopted in other countries, allowing companies to use tax credits on inputs, services, and materials used in the production chain. Although the estimated rate is around 14%, experts say that property sales will have a 50% reduction of the IBS and the CBS, which tends to soften the final cost.
Will construction companies be impacted by the tax reform? How does this affect your wallet?
For Juliana Assolari, partner at Lassori Advogados, developers and construction companies will be directly affected by the tax reform, which changes the form of taxation on the sale of new properties. According to the text, the tax will come to be levied on the difference between the sale cost and the value of the land, with a social reducer of R$ 100,000 to make the charge progressive and ease the cost of low-income housing. The rate on this reduced value will be diminished by 50%, and from the tax due the amount already paid on the purchase of materials and services by the developers will be deducted.
In Assolari’s assessment, based on the government’s estimate, the cost of a low-income property of R$ 200,000 should fall about 5.5%, while that of a high-end property, valued at R$ 2 million, may rise 2.3%. Despite the optimistic projection, she observes that there are still doubts about the practical application of the credit system, especially in relation to the calculation and the use of these amounts.
← Back to blog