Day Trade Income Tax BR Stocks

Income tax on day trade in Brazil

In Brazil, when you buy and sell the same asset within a single trading session, that day trade profit on stocks gets hit with 20% on the net gain. There is no monthly exemption here. Swing trade gives you a break on sales up to R$ 20,000 a month; day trade does not. Your broker withholds 1% IRRF on the day's net gain (losses for the day are already discounted), and you can later offset that withholding against what you actually owe. Take R$ 350 of profit in a day. The tax is R$ 70 (20%), and after subtracting the R$ 3.50 of IRRF the broker already held back, you're left with R$ 66.50 to pay through DARF code 6015, due by the last business day of the following month. As for loss compensation, you can only use it against future day-trade gains. It won't touch swing-trade profits.

Applications and context

This is what home broker traders on XP, Clear, BTG or Rico need, along with users of platforms like Profit Pro and Nelogica, and really anyone running intraday operations on stocks, mini-index or mini-dollar. Miss the DARF deadline and you'll owe a 0.33%/day fine on top of Selic interest.

FAQ

Does the R$ 20,000/month exemption apply? No. That one belongs to swing trade only.

Can day-trade losses offset swing-trade gains? No. You can only carry the losses forward and net them against future day-trade profits.

What is "dedo-duro" IRRF? It's the 1% your broker withholds on day-trade net gains. Its main job is flagging the operation to the Receita Federal.