Taxes from money sent to Brazil?

[waverider 0]

I need to ask the forum if anyone has encountered this:

Before my wife came to the US I was sending her money for support and necessities. She has since arrived, we got married and she has received her conditional visa. We have sent money transfers to her account since then to help out out family members with medical emergencies and such. She is visiting Brazil this month and was informed by the branch manager that she owes taxes on the money she sent to her account as it is considered taxable income.

Has anyone encountered this before? This doesn't make much sense to me and I don't want us to get scammed. I've called the Brazilian embassy here in D.C. and they said that I would need to talk to the bank manager. Not very likely since I don't speak Portuguese. The manager told my wife that if she tries to leave the country without paying the taxes she will be arrested. She's due to return next week.

[mateo 0]

Any money that goes thru the Banco Central can be considered taxable. They have codes for every type of transfer. Some transfers are tax free and other get taxed. She needs to talk to a tax accountant (Contador) and bring the bank statements (extrato de conta) where you sent the money and have her taxes done. She can easily find out if she owes anything by checking with the Receita Federal and using her CPF. The taxes will be based off of what the Banco Central has reported.

I am not sure if she will be arrested or not, did she file her taxes (imposto de renda) for 2006?

M.

[waverider 0]

Any money that goes thru the Banco Central can be considered taxable. They have codes for every type of transfer. Some transfers are tax free and other get taxed. She needs to talk to a tax accountant (Contador) and bring the bank statements (extrato de conta) where you sent the money and have her taxes done. She can easily find out if she owes anything by checking with the Receita Federal and using her CPF. The taxes will be based off of what the Banco Central has reported.

I am not sure if she will be arrested or not, did she file her taxes (imposto de renda) for 2006?

M.

Mateo,

Yes, she had filed her 2006 taxes before coming here. Thank you for your reply - that was very helpful.