Single-property exemption from capital gains tax

What the law says

Article 23 of Lei 9.250/1995, in the consolidated text of the Câmara dos Deputados, reads in substance: the capital gain earned on the sale of the único imóvel (only property) that the holder owns is exempt from income tax, if the sale value is up to R$ 440,000, provided that no other sale was made in the last five years. The figure of R$ 440,000 is unchanged in the consolidated text read on 15 October 2026.

The Receita Q&A 2026 (question 575, item 3) adds how it reads the rule: it covers a plot, bare land, a house or an apartment, residential, commercial, industrial or leisure, urban or rural, owned alone, in co-ownership or in marital community. The five-year condition looks at any other sale of real estate “by any title”, taxed or not.

The conditions, one by one

1. One property only. The Receita checks ownership in the month of the sale. For this test, each matrícula (property record) counts as one property (Q&A 684). Two registered plots count as two properties unless they were legally merged and the merger was recorded at the registry before the sale; in that case, a sale as a single property in a single instrument can qualify (Q&A 688).

2. Value of R$ 440,000 or less. The limit applies to the sale value. In co-ownership, it applies to each co-owner’s share. For a married or cohabiting couple, it applies to the total value of the property they hold in community (Q&A 683).

3. No other sale in five years. A sale that was itself exempt still counts. The Receita also counts a transfer by dação em pagamento (transfer of property in settlement of a debt) made in a division of assets between ex-spouses as a sale (Q&A 685).

Cases that surprise sellers

• Buying another home under construction. If you sign a private contract with a builder or lender to buy a property that is built or under construction, you own two properties from that contract, even if you have paid nothing, and cannot use the single-property exemption on the first one (Q&A 665).
• Property held with a spouse. In a partial community of property regime or a stable union without a written contract, a property acquired during the relationship belongs to both. If either partner owns another property or sold one in the last five years, the couple cannot treat the common property as the single property (Q&A 672). Under separation of property, the conditions are checked per spouse (Q&A 683).
• Co-ownership plus another property. If you co-own one property and also own another in your own name, neither is the “only” property (Q&A 686).
• Judicial sale of a shared property. A court-ordered sale of an indivisible co-owned property is a taxable sale (Q&A 687).
• A property received through a debt settlement. A sale of the only property acquired by dação em pagamento the previous year does not qualify, because the settlement counts as a sale within five years (Q&A 685).

Worked reading (not an official example)

Calculation, not an official figure: a resident who owns one apartment, registered under one matrícula, has made no sale in the past five years and sells it for R$ 440,000 meets both conditions: no tax is due. If the same sale value were R$ 440,001, the exemption would not apply and the tax would be computed on the full gain with the usual chain (see capital gains tax on property). The limit is a ceiling on value, not on the amount of the gain.

What is not covered

The exemption is separate from the reinvestment exemption (180 days), which applies to residential properties regardless of their value, subject to its own conditions: see the 180-day reinvestment exemption. Both can be examined by the Receita’s GCAP program, which calculates exemptions and reductions and generates the payment slip. It is the program to use when the case is close to the limits above.

Which professional to consult

An accountant can check the five-year history and prepare the declaration, and a lawyer registered with the OAB can advise when the family situation is complex: a divorce, an inherited share, or a merger of plots. Checking the registration of any professional is done by the reader on the official register.