The interpretation that cryptoassets will be taxed at source, following the publication of COSIT 184, is mistaken, as Federal Revenue consultation solutions do not have a normative nature.
On Wednesday, June 26, the Federal Revenue of Brazil published the COSIT Consultation Solution 184/2025, in official response to a formal consultation sent by taxpayers or interested entities.
Although it was published to clarify doubts about a specific concrete case, the document generated interpretations that the Federal Revenue Service was instituting a new rule to tax cryptoassets at source.
However, Rafael Steinfeld, lawyer and founder of Steinfeld Advocacia, clarified that COSIT 184 "does not establish new forms of tax collection."
In a statement to Cointelegraph Brasil, Steinfeld stated that any interpretation in this sense is incorrect, as the Federal Revenue's consultation solutions do not have a normative character. Therefore, COSIT 184 does not change the way crypto assets are taxed, said the lawyer:
"Investors can rest assured to operate on national exchanges, as they will not be taxed at source."
Immediately after the publication of COSIT 184 on Wednesday, there was an understanding that monthly income received from the temporary assignment of cryptoassets to exchanges would be taxed directly at source, with rates varying from 15% to 22.5%.
Validity of COSIT 184
Although it can serve as a reference for other companies and taxpayers in similar situations, the consultation solution is only valid for that specific case, said Steinfeld:
"It is incorrect to state that national exchanges must withhold income tax on operations with crypto assets, as the Consultation Solution refers to a single type of operation, which is not even offered by Brazilian brokers."
According to the lawyer, the specific case analyzed in COSIT 184 deals exclusively with a company that receives crypto assets from customers through temporary assignment and, as compensation, offers monthly returns of 3%. These income would be taxed by IRRF (Income Tax Withheld at Source).
It is a mistake to interpret the consultation solution as a standard to be applied in similar operations, such as staking services, passive income or any other service that offers financial compensation to investors through the temporary assignment of cryptoassets, said the lawyer:
"There is absolutely no mention of other types of investments in cryptoactives, and looking for analogies outside the specific case is creating assumptions that cause misinformation and hinder Brazilian players."
MB confirms that exchange customers will not be affected by COSIT 184
In a statement to Cointelegraph Brasil, Fabrício Tota, director of new business at Mercado Bitcoin (MB), stated that, regardless of the nature of the IRS resolution, the staking services offered by the exchange are not under the jurisdiction of COSIT 184:
"In staking services, cryptoassets do not leave the customer's ownership; there is no transfer of ownership. Cryptoassets remain under the investor's ownership, which differs from the concept of temporary assignment addressed in COSIT 184."
Tota added that the fixed-income and variable-income RWA tokens offered by the exchange "also do not fall within the scope of the resolution, as customers buy and sell these assets in a similar way to trading Bitcoin and other cryptoassets, without involving temporary assignment."
As Steinfeld and Tota stated, for now, the taxation of cryptoassets in Brazil remains unchanged. As reported by Cointelegraph Brasil, the IRS's focus is increasingly on users of cryptocurrency exchanges that are not legally established in Brazil, but provide services to residents in the country.
On May 19, the municipality created a Working Group focused on cryptoassets with the aim of obtaining information about the financial movements of these companies' customers.
Source: https://br.cointelegraph.com/news/cosit-184-not-normative-brazils-federal-revenue-service-will-not-tax-crypto-assets-at-source