Brazil’s Ministry of Tourism quietly signed off on the final ordinance that will reshape how millions of leisure and business travellers enter—and spend money in—the country from 1 January 2026.
The headline change is the definitive return of mandatory electronic visas (e-Visas) for nationals of the United States, Canada, Australia, Mexico, France, Argentina and a long list of other countries that were previously visa-exempt. The government argues the move restores the principle of reciprocity—these same nations still require Brazilians to obtain visas—and will generate an estimated R$480 million in consular fees over the first 12 months. Tourists will apply on a revamped VFSeVisa portal, pay US$ 80.90 and receive a 10-year, multiple-entry visa (five years for Canadians and Australians). Airlines have been warned they will face stiff fines if they board passengers who cannot present the e-Visa barcode at check-in.
For travellers and corporate mobility teams who want to simplify that visa process, VisaHQ can handle the entire application online—from document upload to final approval—while providing real-time status updates and expert support; see https://www.visahq.com/brazil/ for details.
![Brazil confirms 2026 e-Visa, VAT and tourist-tax shake-up for U.S., Canada, Mexico and 20+ other markets]()
A second pillar of the overhaul is Brazil’s sweeping tax reform, also scheduled to begin on 1 January 2026. A dual-VAT regime (CBS and IBS) will replace a patchwork of cascading taxes on services. Hotels, car-hire firms and tour operators say they will have no choice but to pass the higher effective tax rate—calculated by KPMG at 3-5 percentage points—straight on to consumers. Early modelling by the Brazilian Hotel Industry Association (ABIH) suggests a mid-range business-hotel room in São Paulo will rise from R$550 to roughly R$585 per night.
Municipalities are piling extra levies on top. Angra dos Reis and Ilha Grande have approved a “sustainable tourism fee” of up to R$95 per visit; Rio de Janeiro is considering re-activating a dormant hotel-bed tax in time for Carnival 2026. Together, the federal VAT and local surcharges could lift the average visitor’s daily spend by 8-10 %.
For global-mobility and corporate-travel managers the implications are clear. Budgets for short-term assignments, project kick-offs and client meetings in Brazil will have to expand, while employees from the newly affected countries must now add visa-lead-time checks to their pre-trip workflows. Multinationals are already renegotiating blanket-agreement airfares to soften the blow and updating travel-policy per-diems to reflect higher in-country costs. Failure to adjust could leave travellers non-compliant with internal reimbursement rules—and companies out of pocket.
The headline change is the definitive return of mandatory electronic visas (e-Visas) for nationals of the United States, Canada, Australia, Mexico, France, Argentina and a long list of other countries that were previously visa-exempt. The government argues the move restores the principle of reciprocity—these same nations still require Brazilians to obtain visas—and will generate an estimated R$480 million in consular fees over the first 12 months. Tourists will apply on a revamped VFSeVisa portal, pay US$ 80.90 and receive a 10-year, multiple-entry visa (five years for Canadians and Australians). Airlines have been warned they will face stiff fines if they board passengers who cannot present the e-Visa barcode at check-in.
For travellers and corporate mobility teams who want to simplify that visa process, VisaHQ can handle the entire application online—from document upload to final approval—while providing real-time status updates and expert support; see https://www.visahq.com/brazil/ for details.
A second pillar of the overhaul is Brazil’s sweeping tax reform, also scheduled to begin on 1 January 2026. A dual-VAT regime (CBS and IBS) will replace a patchwork of cascading taxes on services. Hotels, car-hire firms and tour operators say they will have no choice but to pass the higher effective tax rate—calculated by KPMG at 3-5 percentage points—straight on to consumers. Early modelling by the Brazilian Hotel Industry Association (ABIH) suggests a mid-range business-hotel room in São Paulo will rise from R$550 to roughly R$585 per night.
Municipalities are piling extra levies on top. Angra dos Reis and Ilha Grande have approved a “sustainable tourism fee” of up to R$95 per visit; Rio de Janeiro is considering re-activating a dormant hotel-bed tax in time for Carnival 2026. Together, the federal VAT and local surcharges could lift the average visitor’s daily spend by 8-10 %.
For global-mobility and corporate-travel managers the implications are clear. Budgets for short-term assignments, project kick-offs and client meetings in Brazil will have to expand, while employees from the newly affected countries must now add visa-lead-time checks to their pre-trip workflows. Multinationals are already renegotiating blanket-agreement airfares to soften the blow and updating travel-policy per-diems to reflect higher in-country costs. Failure to adjust could leave travellers non-compliant with internal reimbursement rules—and companies out of pocket.
