CDB Gross vs Net (Regressive Tax)

CDB Gross vs Net Yield (Income Tax)

A CDB (Certificado de Depósito Bancário) is a fixed-income security that Brazilian banks issue. The IR (income tax) hits only what it earns, never the principal, and the rate drops the longer you hold: 22.5% up to 180 days, 20% from 181 to 360 days, 17.5% from 361 to 720 days, then 15% beyond 720 days. To find what you keep, take gross_yield × (1 - IR_rate).

The issuing bank withholds the tax at source when you redeem, so there's no monthly come-cotas like the open-ended funds charge. IOF kicks in only if you cash out inside 30 days, sliding down day by day from 96% to 0%. And if the bank goes under, the FGC (Fundo Garantidor de Créditos) has your back: it covers up to R$ 250,000 per CPF per institution, capped globally at R$ 1,000,000 and reset every 4 years.

Applications

Run a few offers through this calculator to see which bank's CDB actually pays more, weigh a short maturity against a long one (the longer you wait, the lighter the tax), and stack CDBs up against LCI/LCA, which dodge IR entirely, or against Treasury bonds and the savings account. It's how you line up your investment horizon with the right tax bracket and squeeze out the most net return.

FAQ

Is IR charged on the principal? No. The tax falls only on the yield (the interest you earned), and the bank withholds it at source the moment you redeem.

How does the FGC work? Should the issuing bank fail, the FGC pays you back up to R$ 250,000 per CPF per institution. There's a R$ 1 million ceiling across every FGC-insured institution combined, and that allowance refills on a 4-year clock.

Is a 120% CDI CDB always better than savings? For anything above roughly R$ 5k that you leave in past 30 days, it almost always wins. Just compare the yields after tax, because savings pays no IR and a CDB does.