I have had teams of contractors working for me in Brazil doing various dev projects. However we just signed a new customer in healthcare - all work needs to be done on their infrastructure and asset. Most of my teams will use their device w/ a VPN or worst case VDI but this new requirement of physically having equipment in hand “quickly” is causing a headache.
What are the best recommendations for getting laptops and mobile devices into Brazil without incurring a substantial fee at customs? We have considered sending an internal mule with two m3’s, an android and iPhone to start and will be scaling out a team in the next 60 days or so.
thanks in advance 9
This is not an easy task. If you want to do everything by the book, hire a fixer (despachante) in order to do that. They will navigate the complex import regulations and deliver the goods in Brazil quickly.
Rule of thumb when sending electronics to Brazil is: around 50% tax on declared value (talking about regular people importing stuff).
If you send the goods through UPS/FedEx, they make you pay all the customs fees when posting the package. When sending from US/Canada, shit gets delivered really quickly (around 2 weeks door to door, sometimes even less).
If you send through USPS/regular mail… they don’t make you pay the fees when posting the package, so when arriving in Brazil your package will go first through a customs sorting center. This is a fucking nightmare as it can take anything between a week or even 3 months to process your package before actually delivering to your contractors. In this sorting center the auditors will look at your package and based on the declared value they will issue a notice to pay the fees. Only after paying the fees the package is released to final delivery.
When entering to Brazil through air, any individual (Brazilian national or not) may bring goods up to 1000 USD with him and won’t need to pay anything. Personal items are excluded from this limit (personal items are 1 smartphone, 1 camera, 1 watch, clothes, hygiene items, etc). Laptops are NOT considered personal items by law and it is up to the agent at the border if they will let you slide with it or not (sometimes they ask to turn on the device and see proof, such as personal photos stored and such. But again, this is up to the agent’s discretion and sometimes it works sometimes not).
Hypothetically, if one should go to Brazil with the goods one should at least use a very busy airport as 1st point of entry (such as GRU). Less busy airports will incur in greater risk of being taxed (and if you go through the ‘nothing to declare’ queue and are actually caught, is 50% tax + 50% penalty for trying to evade. Items are detained by customs until you pay the fees).
I would say it should be fine to send your internal man with a couple of laptops and phones, but beware that if he gets caught at customs inspection you will have to pay 50% tax + 50% penalty in order to release the goods. If money is not a problem and you want to ensure quick and safe delivery though, I would use UPS/FedEx (or hire a fixer if this is gonna be a recurring thing, they may even know of tax breaks for companies that I don’t).
What are the best recommendations for getting laptops and mobile devices into Brazil without incurring a substantial fee at customs?
Buy them in Brazil.
Buying the hardware in the country they’re going to be used in is almost always the answer.
We have considered sending an internal mule with two m3’s, an android and iPhone to start and will be scaling out a team in the next 60 days or so.
That is absolutely not the answer. You’re risking federal legal issues for the company as well as potentially major issues for the individual.
I’d mule laptops for the airline miles lol
If you send IT equipment to Brazil, unless there are tariff agreements between BR and US, you’ll pay a 50% import fee (I was in the same situation from Europe and we paid close to 1000EUR in custome fees for 1 laptop and accessories).
You should argue in favor of muling the equipement. It will amply pay for the trip, the Caïperinhas and the Churascos. Enjoy.
What are the best recommendations for getting laptops and mobile devices into Brazil without incurring a substantial fee at customs?
buy them in Brazil ? do they not have shops in that country ?
Thanks for all of the recommendations! Would love to procure the asset it Brazil to make things easy but they must work on my clients hardware due to the legal landscape in healthcare.
Advice on how to illegally import stuff isn’t a sysadmin question. Maybe try r/illegallifeprotips
you’re trying to smuggle past customs, good luck when someone gets caught.
i have contractors all over, from Mexico to Brazil to Hong Kong and the Philippines. We worked our contract to take “ownership” of the laptops that we then put into intune w/ autopilot and don’t give them vpn but sharepoint and aws file servers. Relatively cheap solution, and legal.
Fly there and buy the machines in Brazil. Set them up with intune.
It’s easiest to purchase in country and image over the wire. Brazil is super tricky with opened electronics.
Is Windows 365 an option?
However we just signed a new customer in healthcare - all work needs to be done on their infrastructure and asset.
So… does that mean your contractors will have access to this healthcare companies data?
Get them through a local vendor instead of sending them from the states. Same for all latam countries.
I’m sorry but buying stuff in Brazil in American dollars is really cheap. Just go to fast shop (the Brazilian Best Buy) and buy the laptops you want. Use intune with autopilot to install your stuff and carry on with your day. If you plan on using VDI then the computer doesn’t even need to be that powerful.
Remember, Brazil assembles computers in Manaus which don’t pay taxes so they’re usually really inexpensive. Would they be your MacBook with M4 chip? No but they do the job.
Don’t fool with Brazilian customs. They say customs agents are so smart they can fix watches using boxing gloves. 
I think you could also lease the laptops to the contractors. Then, they would technically not be imported.
At least, that’s what my boss did for the car he sent to his brother in Uruguay. Though of course, you’d need the contract to be translated and have an apostille for it…
Buy in “Ciudad del Este” (in Uruguay), near “Foz de Iguazu” (Brazil). Ship from Foz to destination… 
Are you hiring I’m a project manager for the largest healthcare company in NY and my gf lives in Brazil and I want to find a remote job so I can move there permanently.
It doesn’t matter, as the shipment stands a high chance of getting stolen. Welcome to Brazil.