International ATM Withdrawal Cost with IOF

IOF on international withdrawals and card purchases

Any transaction in foreign currency in Brazil gets hit with IOF (Imposto sobre Operações Financeiras). For purchases and withdrawals on an international credit or debit card the rate sits at 3.38% today, well below the 6.38% that held through 2022. The cut came from Decree 10.997/2022, which laid out a step-down: 4.38% in 2023, 3.88% in 2024, then 3.38% across 2025-2026, with further reductions each year toward 0% in 2028. And IOF is only part of the bill. Banks tack on a card spread over the PTAX rate, usually 4% to 6%, and that markup is frequently the biggest cost nobody tells you about.

Example: say you withdraw US$ 500 abroad on a credit card. At PTAX 5.00, a 5% spread and IOF 3.38%, the final cost in BRL works out to 500 × 5.00 × 1.05 × 1.0338 = R$ 2.713,73, roughly 8.6% over the spot rate. Multi-currency cards like Wise, Western Union or Nomad usually charge IOF of just 1.1%, the lower tariff that applies to prepaid currency.

Applications

Travel hacking is the obvious one: weighing credit card against debit, ATM withdrawal or a prepaid multi-currency card. Load a prepaid card before you leave and you pay IOF 1.1% rather than 3.38%, and you lock in the exchange rate while you're at it. Run the real cost across each method and you stop bleeding 3-5% extra on every dollar you spend. Companies that reimburse travel also need the IOF-inclusive figure to file their accounts properly.

FAQ

Is IOF the same for credit and debit? Yes. Under the current schedule it's 3.38% for any international card spending, whether that's credit, debit or a withdrawal.

Does prepaid foreign currency pay less? It does. Buying cash or loading a prepaid card carries IOF of 1.1%, far below the 3.38% you'd pay spending directly on a card abroad.

When will IOF reach zero? Decree 10.997 sets the rate at 0% on 2028-01-02. That assumes nobody reverses course, and fiscal pressure has already pushed the schedule back once.

How does the bank spread work? The conversion happens at PTAX plus a 4-6% markup. Since the spread isn't regulated it moves around from bank to bank, so compare the "câmbio turismo" rate against the "comercial" PTAX before you commit.