Expert: Ken Rapoza Cruz - 6/13/2007

Question
Dear Ken,
Hi this is Anil from India. I have got selected for an ICEC (steel building manufacturing company) In Rio de Jenerio. I want to know about living cost in Rio de Jenerio. I am a single right now. so my requirements are one bedroom furnished flat, and other necessary needs.

also I would like to know how much salary i have to demand to live comfortable in Rio de jenerio.

also I would like to know about whether taxes are applicable for salaries in brazil or there is no tax on salaries.

can you describe me what type of food will be available in brazil.

I am waiting for your reply

Regards

Anil

Answer
As a single person, I would say you could live pretty well on $40,000 a year. That would give you a standard, middle class life.  I'd ask for $50,000.  The dollar excahnge is around R$1.90, but you should expect the worst in that case -- imagine it at R$1.60 and calculate your budget accordingly.

Housing in Rio:
The city is extremely dangerous. Where is the ICEC offices? Id want to live as close to them as possible, so no more than 20 to 30 minutes on ONE bus, or even on foot. I live in Sao Paulo. Im a 45 minute walk to work, tho I take a bus every day.

I dont know the Rio neighborhoods all that well. Ipanema has become very expensive, and a gay man's paradise. Copacabana is touristy. Leblon and Leme I dont know very well.  Ask the company. You want to be as far away as posssible from the favela regions. The rich neighborhood Id recommend is Urca, if you can afford. Guanabara Bay and Flamengo are also fairly nice and safe.

Here is a guess on your expenses, based on mine, minus some deductions for a single person. All based in Brazilian reals. For dollar amount today, divide by 1.9.

Good 1 bedroom Rent, condo fee: R$1,750
Food: $700
Electricity: $110
Gas: $20
Internet, 1 mega high speed connection: R$60
Basic cable: R$45
Telephone, incl cell phone: R$150 (my co pays for my cell. I dont have a land line, so I dont know this cost exactly.)
Incidentals, including entertainment, lunches out, gifts, trips to drug store, etc: R$600
Transportation, including cab and bus or metro: $100


I would base my life on the above budget.  I pay R$92 per month on the bus here in Sao Paulo. I dont know what it is in Rio, maybe R$75. However, I also take a cab now and then, and Im SURE you will to as a newcomber, and those bills add up fast.

Taxes:
This is a tricky question. If ICEC says you dont need to pay taxes, listen to them. How long will you be working in Rio? Forever, or just a year or so?

If you absolutely do NOT want to pay taxes, then you must avoid getting a CPF, which is a national ID.  You MIGHT need one, however, just to get an apartment. You WILL need one if you intend to open a bank account.  Tell ICEC that you need an RNE as soon as possible.  This is a National Foreigner Registry card (in Port, Registro Nacional Estrangeiro). It is what I have. I dont have a CPF, therefore I dont pay taxes.

If you rent a flat in a hotel, you can probably get buy with just your passport, though some might ask for an RNE.

Lets assume you have to pay taxes.  Figure 20% of your income will disappear right off the bat.  You can probaly declare less income, and end up paying just 10% or 15%, but just to play abosolutely safe, base y our salary on the assumption of the bills I listed above, and the possibility that you will have to pay the highest of taxes - 20%.

You should ask ICEC about this and see what they say. Where I work, most people declare less income. Others declare nothing because they dont have a CPF and therefore do not exist in the eyes of the Federal Revenue Department.

If you are just going to be there for a short time, DONT pay taxes.  Enjoy Rio and save  your money, and be safe. The place is extremely extremely dangerous. Someone from Rio will tell you that is not so; thats cuz they are used to it. Ask a poor man in India if he misses eating chicken and he will say not really; but that's because he lives on a simple diet. Give him chicken and more food, and take it away, and I bet he will miss it. Like in Rio...they are used to the danger and it has ceased to be an issue. But it MUST be an issue for you.  YOu are a foreigner. These guys can smell danger. They are natives. You, on the other hand, cannot. Dont trust a carioca (Rio native) who tells you the dangers in Rio are overblown. They are wrong. Or they are very rich, live far from danger, have bullet proof windows on their cars, and live in a closed, gated community far from the hills where some 500,000 people live in working class or absolute poverty among drug traffickers and the military police and national guard the they exchange M-16 firepower with almost every week.

Food:

Rice, beans, basic salad. Steaks, chicken (usally on the bone). In Rio, lots of fish, especially bacalhau -- a salted cod fish with potatoes and rice and egg.  Very basic proteins and rice, beans. No major spices.  Restaurants taht cater to food from states like Bahia will be spicy and unusual to foreigners like you and I.  Minas Gerais state is also very popular; and you will find restaurants taht cater to this taste all over Rio. This will be a lot of meat, rice, beans with a green leafy vegetable on top (like lettuce) and lots andn lots of pork. If youre watching your weight, have high cholesterol or allergic to pork, dont eat anything in a Minas style restaurant.

Enjoy your trip.

Bem vindo ao Brasil.

Ken