Starting January 1, 2026, sending money from the United States to another country carries a new cost: a 1% federal tax on international remittances, created by the law known as the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" and formalized in Section 4475 of the American tax code. The tax affects millions of Latin American immigrants—but there's a detail that changes everything: not every transfer is taxed.

1%

Federal tax on cash remittances from the U.S.

$10B

Projected tax revenue over 10 years

$0

Tax on digital transfers from U.S. accounts

$161B

Sent to Latin America in 2024 (IDB)

What Is the 1% Remittance Tax?

The tax is a federal charge on the value of transfers sent from the U.S. to other countries. It's collected by the remittance service itself at the time of transfer and passed quarterly to the IRS. In other words: it's not something the recipient pays in Brazil—it's deducted from whoever sends it in the United States.

Who Pays—and What's Exempt

The rule targets physical money: cash transfers, money orders, and cashier's checks. Exempt transfers include those:

  • Funded from a U.S. bank account
  • Paid with a debit or credit card issued in the U.S.

In practice: if you send via digital, pulling from an account or card, you're not charged. If you use the old method—taking bills to a money exchange counter—you pay.

What It Costs in Practice

The calculation is simple. On a US$1,000 transfer:

  • Cash: 1% = US$10 in tax
  • Via U.S. account or card: US$0 (exempt)

For someone sending US$500 monthly over a year, the difference is up to US$60 versus zero—simply based on how you pay.

Why the Rule Was Created

The final rate is the result of a compromise. The original proposal reached 5%, and a House-approved version mentioned 3.5% restricted to non-citizens. The signed text landed at 1% for all remitters. According to the Joint Committee on Taxation, the tax should generate around US$10 billion over ten years.

How Much Immigrants Send

The topic matters because of the flow's scale. According to the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), immigrants sent roughly US$161 billion to Latin America and the Caribbean in 2024. For Brazil specifically, Central Bank data shows that U.S. residents remitted US$2.252 billion to the country in 2025—a 3.21% increase and the highest amount in five years, even during a record deportation year (3,294 Brazilians, nearly double 2024).

How to Avoid Paying Extra

Avoiding the 1% requires no magic—it requires a digital pathway funded the right way. The solution is PTX Exchange, a new remittance platform from the PTX Group aimed at Latin American immigrants. Because the company operates through digital channels (app and WhatsApp) without a cash counter step, it keeps transfers outside the new tax.

"Traditional platforms still treat immigrants as transaction numbers, hiding exchange rate margins and offering no real support when problems arise," says Darley Tomaz, group founder.

With PTX Exchange, you can:

  • Send to Brazil, Mexico, Guatemala, Colombia, and the Dominican Republic
  • Operate via app or directly through WhatsApp in Portuguese, Spanish, and English
  • Get real human support—not a chatbot

The 1% tax doesn't have to cost you anything. Switch to digital transfers from a U.S. account and keep every dollar working for your family.