GlobalMobility3_Brazil_StudentWorksheet

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C1 / C2 · ADVANCED
Navigating Global Mobility in Brazil
Tax Reform · Payroll · Compliance · EOR Strategy · 2026
STUDENT WORKSHEET
Navigating Global Mobility in Brazil · Advanced Business English 1
■ VIDEO Watch before or during class:
Brazil Tax Reform 2026 Explained: Dual VAT & Transfer Pricing — Vertex Inc. / Brazilian-American Chamber
of Commerce
youtube.com · search: "Brazil Tax Reform 2026 Vertex" or "2026 Brazilian Tax Reform Transfer Pricing BACC"
WARM-UP & DISCUSSION
1 Read the quotation and discuss.
What does it mean to you? Do you agree? Give reasons for your answers.
“Moving people is no longer about shipping boxes; it is about navigating geopolitical friction and legal
compliance in real time.”
— Global Mobility Director, 2026 Tech Summit
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2 Discuss the questions.
Give reasons for your answers.
• What is global mobility? How does it differ from traditional HR management?
• In which situations might a business choose an Employer of Record (EOR) over opening a local company
branch?
• When was the last time you dealt with international relocation, remote-work compliance, or cross-border
taxation? What happened?
• Have you noticed recent updates about tax changes or payroll adjustments in Brazil? How are companies
reacting?
VOCABULARY
3 Match the definitions to the words in the box.
Write the correct word next to each definition.
actionable autonomy buy-in crave defensive demoralized justification misinterpret
NAVIGATING GLOBAL MOBILITY IN BRAZIL STUDENT WORKSHEET
Navigating Global Mobility in Brazil · Advanced Business English 2
a)
_______
_______
The fact of agreeing with, accepting, or supporting a new operational tax structure or expansion strategy
that another stakeholder suggests.
b)
_______
_______
Having lost corporate confidence, enthusiasm, and market momentum due to extreme regulatory
burdens.
c)
_______
_______
Have a very strong strategic desire for compliant talent pools or agile workforce scaling.
d)
_______
_______
Able to be put into practice or acted on immediately, providing measurable compliance value.
e)
_______
_______
Form an incorrect or flawed understanding of complex municipal or federal tax frameworks.
f)
_______
_______
Very anxious to protect corporate actions, challenge auditing authorities, or avoid strict regulatory
penalties.
g)
_______
_______
The operational independence of a regional entity to make human resource decisions without
micro-management from global headquarters.
h)
_______
_______
A clear financial or legal explanation supporting an aggressive corporate restructuring model.
4 Discuss the questions.
Give reasons for your answers.
• How do you think the words in exercise 3 might be connected to global mobility management and tax
compliance?
• What do you think makes a corporate marketing department successful when advertising technical global
talent solutions?
NAVIGATING GLOBAL MOBILITY IN BRAZIL STUDENT WORKSHEET
Navigating Global Mobility in Brazil · Advanced Business English 3
VIDEO
5 Watch the first part of the video (to 02:01) and answer the questions.
Note your answers below.
1. What is the speaker's attitude toward legacy, manual document tracking in traditional expatriate
assignments?
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2. How did Brazil's regulatory environment shift following pressure from US foreign tax credit rules? What
key reforms were triggered?
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6 Watch the second part of the video (from 02:01). Work in pairs.
Student A: take notes on Parts 1 and 3. Student B: take notes on Parts 2 and 4.
Part 1 Dual VAT structure (CBS / IBS) and the 2026 pilot phase
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Part 2 Transfer pricing reform and the arm's length standard
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Part 3 Dividend withholding tax (IRRF) — impact on non-residents
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Part 4 EOR model and payroll burden (FGTS + employer contributions)
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7 Share the notes you made in exercise 6 with your partner.
NAVIGATING GLOBAL MOBILITY IN BRAZIL STUDENT WORKSHEET
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Fill in any gaps. Discuss any differences in what you each understood.
8 Complete the sentences summarising the compliance formula.
Use your notes and the information in the video to help you.
Part 1 — Opening question
You should begin processing an international transfer by asking a clear and transparent question. This gives
the inbound assignee ___________ by allowing them to accept or reject the localised salary conversion.
Part 2 — State exact payroll overheads
In the second part, you should state exactly what payroll overheads are expected (such as the mandatory
_____ % FGTS contribution) instead of using vague “blur words”.
Part 3 — Withholding tax transparency
Thirdly, you should explain exactly how the _____ % Withholding Income Tax (IRRF) on dividends affects the
non-resident individual. This offers a clear sense of ___________.
Part 4 — Actionable roadmap
Finally, to turn the operational transition into a joint strategic situation, you should end with an ___________
roadmap.
NAVIGATING GLOBAL MOBILITY IN BRAZIL STUDENT WORKSHEET
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ANALYSIS & DISCUSSION
9 Discuss the questions.
Give reasons for your answers.
• Do you think global corporations handle salary transparency and equal-pay metrics the same way across
all Latin American cultures? Why / why not?
• Would a standard remote contractor agreement work well under Brazil's strict CLT employment
framework? What risks might arise?
• What do you think about utilising an EOR framework to bypass local entity registration? What are the
advantages and risks?
10 Rewrite the corporate communications to make them professional.
Use the 4-part compliance formula from exercise 8 as your guide.
a)
"I need to talk to you about your relocation documents. You're always late sending the visa papers and frankly it's
slowing down our entire team roadmap. Just get them done by tomorrow, ok?"
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b)
"The cost presentation you gave me about the dual VAT transition (CBS/IBS)wasn't detailed enough. You forgot
the 2026 pilot rates. Fix it."
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USEFUL LANGUAGE
11 Put the useful phrases under the correct headings.
Write each phrase in the correct column of the table.
‘I'd like to commend you for streamlining the immigration process…’ ‘Have I understood correctly regarding the 8%
FGTS liability?’ ‘Would now be a good time to talk about the 2026 tax reform?’ ‘Here's where you need to adjust
your withholding tax estimates…’ ‘In my opinion, your workforce localisation strategy is outstanding.’ ‘Would you
be open to an automated EOR compliance solution?’ ‘Here's what I observed regarding the payroll overhead
variances…’ ‘Is there any regulatory clause I am misinterpreting?’ ‘Let's go back to the drawing board on the
international remote policy.’
Opening Discussion Giving Praise Offering Suggestions Checking
Understanding
Pointing Out
Problems
ROLE PLAY
12 Work in pairs. Read the role-play scenarios and practise them.
Use the compliance formula and useful language from exercise 11.
Scenario A
Your regional mobility vendor processes visa updates too slowly, causing significant assignment delays and
compliance risk.
Student A
HR Global Director — give feedback
■ Open the conversation diplomatically
■ State the specific compliance problem clearly
■ Use the 4-part formula to structure your points
■ Propose an actionable next step
Student B
Vendor Account Manager — receive feedback
■ Listen actively and check understanding
■ Acknowledge the issue without becoming defensive
■ Offer a concrete solution or timeline
■ Close with agreed next actions
Scenario B
An international remote worker has accidentally triggered tax residency in Brazil by exceeding the threshold
of days spent in the country without registering a local contract.
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Student A
Compliance Auditor — give feedback
■ Explain the tax residency trigger clearly
■ Quantify the financial and legal exposure
■ Use precise vocabulary (IRRF, CLT, FGTS)
■ Recommend immediate remediation steps
Student B
Remote Executive — receive feedback
■ Ask clarifying questions to understand the risk
■ Avoid justifying or deflecting the issue
■ Show willingness to take corrective action
■ Confirm your understanding of next steps
13 Discuss the questions.
Give reasons for your answers.
• How well do you think your partner structured their feedback regarding the compliance issue? What worked
well?
• Do you think using a standardised formula is useful for navigating high-stakes regulatory conversations?
Why / why not?
• Which of the scenarios felt more realistic or challenging? What made it difficult?
KEY FACTS FOR REFERENCE
FGTS 8% mandatory monthly employer contribution on gross salary
Employer payroll burden 35.5% – 38.8% above gross salary (INSS + FGTS + other)
Dividend withholding (IRRF) 10% on dividends paid to non-residents — effective 1 Jan 2026
High-income minimum tax 10% minimum income tax for residents earning over R$ 600,000/year
2026 dual VAT pilot 1% combined rate: CBS 0.9% (federal) + IBS 0.1% (regional/municipal)
Salary transparency Mandatory government reporting for companies with 100+ employees
Minimum wage (2026) R$ 1,621/month — visa thresholds tied to multiples of this figure
Sources
• Brazil Tax Reform 2026 Explained — Vertex Inc. (YouTube, Oct 2025)
• 2026 Brazilian Tax Reform: Impacts on Transfer Pricing — Brazilian-American Chamber of Commerce (YouTube, Apr 2026)
• Law No. 15,270/2025 — New Taxation Rules for Profits and Dividends — Felsberg Advogados
• Tendências do mercado de Global Mobility — Brazil Talks
• ECA International — Global Mobility Trends 2026