Shopping on Amazon US: How to Pay from Brazil (2026)

On a $200 purchase on Amazon US, a traditional bank credit card adds about $13 just in IOF (3.5%) and spread (~3%), before any import tax. The Picnic card, with a digital dollar balance, costs zero at this same layer, because Amazon US charges in dollars and there’s no currency conversion at checkout. Same product, same day, same delivery. The difference is in the part of the bill you can control.

And here’s the point that almost no guide separates: every purchase on Amazon US has two distinct bills. One is the import tax on the product, which is the same with any card. The other is the payment cost, IOF plus spread, which changes depending on the card you use. Mixing the two makes many people think “there’s no way to save.” There is, at the right layer.

This guide is about Amazon.com (United States), not Amazon Brazil. They are different stores and accounts. We’ll see how to receive your order in Brazil, how much tax you pay in 2026, which card is cheapest, and the precautions that save you headaches. All data was verified in May 2026.

Picnic is a technology platform operating globally since 2021, offering, in Brazil and Europe, an international account with a Visa card in digital dollars.

Why so many people shop on Amazon US

Amazon US is the largest shopping site in the United States, and three reasons draw Brazilians there. Price: the same electronic device is usually much cheaper in dollars than the imported version that arrives in Brazil. Selection: books, parts, niche accessories, and brands that simply aren’t distributed here. And launches: gadgets that take months to reach Brazilian retailers, if they ever do.

A caveat before we continue. amazon.com (United States) and amazon.com.br (Brazil) are separate stores, with different accounts, catalogs, prices, and delivery rules. You can use the same email, but the login and cart are independent. Everything that follows applies to the US store.

The two bills of every Amazon US purchase

Before choosing a card or shipping method, it’s worth understanding that the total cost of an international purchase is split into two bills that don’t mix.

Bill 1: import tax (the same with any card)

This is the tax charged when the product enters the country: the Import Tax (federal) plus ICMS (state). This amount depends on the product price, shipping, and the state where you live. It does not depend on which card you used to pay. Changing cards won’t change a cent of this bill.

Bill 2: payment cost (depends on the card)

This is what your card charges to process a purchase in foreign currency: IOF (federal tax on the transaction) plus spread (the margin the issuer applies to the conversion). Here, yes, your card choice changes the result—and by a lot.

Most guides lump both bills together and conclude that “international shopping is expensive.” The useful reading is different: you manage the import tax by choosing what and how much to buy; you control the payment cost by choosing the right card. Once you understand this split, you stop paying unnecessary fees on the second bill.

How to receive your order in Brazil

There are two ways for a product to leave a warehouse in the US and arrive at your door. They change who handles customs and how much surprise you might face.

Amazon Global: direct shipping, with estimated tax at checkout

Amazon itself ships a good part of its catalog directly to Brazil through the Amazon Global program. The difference is transparency. At checkout, Amazon calculates an Import Fees Deposit: an estimate of taxes and customs fees that you pay along with your order.

This mechanism protects the buyer. If the actual tax is lower than the deposit, Amazon refunds the difference. If it’s higher, Amazon doesn’t charge extra. You see the total cost, with estimated tax, before confirming. For those who’ve never imported, it’s the most predictable route: no surprise bills from Correios weeks later.

Package forwarder: US address, customs on you

When the item isn’t eligible for direct shipping, a package forwarder (services like Shipito or MyUS) comes in. You get a US address, shop on Amazon as if you lived there, receive the order at the forwarder’s warehouse, and they reship it to Brazil. It’s how you access products Amazon won’t ship directly.

The trade-off is that customs becomes your problem. The package arrives via Correios or a courier, and the tax is calculated and charged during clearance, not at checkout. Add the forwarder’s shipping fee and the extra logistics step. Use this when the product you want doesn’t have a direct shipping option.

Which to choose

For most purchases, Amazon Global wins for predictability: the tax is estimated in your cart and you don’t deal with customs clearance. The forwarder makes sense when the item you want isn’t shipped directly, or when you’re consolidating several purchases from different stores into a single shipment. In both cases, the card you use to pay is a separate decision—and that’s where the savings you control are.

How much import tax you pay in 2026

This is the first bill, the product’s. The rules have changed recently, so pay attention to the date.

Since Provisional Measure No. 1,357/2026, published on May 12, 2026 and already in effect, the brackets for individuals are:

• Purchases up to $50: Import Tax waived, on sites certified in the Remessa Conforme program (Amazon is one). The measure must be approved by Congress within 120 days to remain valid, so confirm the rule at the time of purchase.
• Purchases from $50.01 to $3,000: Import Tax of 60%, with a fixed deduction of $30 on the tax amount, brackets set by Ordinance MF No. 1,342/2026 based on the measure. As the measure still depends on Congressional approval, confirm the current rate and deduction at the time of purchase.

On both brackets, state ICMS also applies, 17% in most states—including Minas Gerais—and 18%, 19%, or 20% in others, according to the Comsefaz table. ICMS is calculated “inside,” meaning it applies to the operation value plus the tax itself, which raises the effective rate a bit. Federal bracket source: Agência Senado.

In practice, above $50 the import tax becomes the biggest number in the bill, and it’s the same no matter which card you use. Instead of guessing, use the estimate that Amazon Global shows at checkout: you see the expected tax before confirming and decide with the number in front of you, instead of finding out during clearance.

Import is a regulatory topic in motion. Treat any rate as verifiable as of the date, and always check the estimate Amazon shows before completing your order.

Which card to use: where the savings are

Now the second bill, the one you control. From Picnic card usage data, 99% of Amazon US purchases are charged in dollars. This is decisive: when your card balance is already in dollars, a dollar-denominated purchase doesn’t go through currency conversion, and the Visa network margin doesn’t apply. The cost of the payment layer, in this case, depends only on two things: IOF and spread.

The table below compares the payment layer cost on a $200 purchase on Amazon US (charged in USD). It does not include import tax, which is the same in all cases.

The Picnic card holds a digital dollar balance. Since the balance is already in dollars and Amazon US charges in dollars, there’s no conversion at purchase: IOF is zero and Picnic’s fee is zero. For purchases in other currencies, only the Visa network margin (~0.3%) applies, but for Amazon US, charged in USD, not even that applies. BCB Resolution No. 521/2025 classified certain operations with digital assets as foreign exchange operations; the possible application of the 3.5% IOF on transactions with cards in this category still depends on further regulation, and currently there is no incidence. For more on the product structure, see the guide on dollar accounts for Brazilians.

The Wise card, in its standard configuration, operates with a real balance converted at the time of purchase, so the 3.5% IOF applies and Wise charges a spread of about 0.6%. With the Rende+ Balance, the balance is allocated as a fund share, which reduces the IOF on the purchase to 1.1%. The detailed comparison is in Picnic or Wise: which card is cheaper. Wise source: wise.com/br/pricing/card-fees, verified on 2026-05-23.

“Global” cards from digital banks (C6 Global, Inter Global, Bradesco Global, among others) charge the standard 3.5% IOF and add a spread between 0.4% and 2%. They’re better than traditional credit, but still keep the payment cost several times above zero.

The traditional credit card is the most expensive route for international purchases. The 3.5% IOF is added to the issuer’s spread, which usually ranges from 1% to 4%. The IOF on international purchases was unified at 3.5% by Decree No. 12,499/2025, effective in 2025; the old schedule that would have reduced IOF until 2028 was revoked, so don’t count on that reduction. For more on the spread component, see the guide on currency spread, and for IOF, what is IOF.

Shopping in the next few weeks? The Picnic card, with a digital dollar balance, zeroes out IOF and spread on purchases charged in dollars, like those on Amazon US. Order your card and take these savings to your next order.

The real bill: two scenarios

Illustrative exchange rate for May 2026: $1 = R$5.05. The values below are just the payment layer. Remember, the import tax is the same regardless of card.

A $200 gadget

Difference between Picnic and traditional credit: about R$66 on the same order. On top of this purchase, import tax still applies (the same for all cards), which Amazon Global estimates and shows at checkout.

A larger $1,000 purchase

Here you see the honest reading of the two bills. On a $1,000 purchase, the import tax is the giant in the bill, in the hundreds of dollars, and it’s the same with any card (Amazon Global shows the estimate at checkout). What you control is the payment layer, and there the traditional credit card would charge about R$328 that Picnic doesn’t. You can’t escape the tax, but you can avoid paying card fees on top of it. For spending in dollars in general, see the guide to the best card to use in the US.

Amazon Prime US: is it worth subscribing from Brazil?

US Prime costs $14.99 per month or $139 per year (price verified in May 2026). It gives you fast shipping in the US, which doesn’t matter much if you’re in Brazil, but also access to the streaming catalog, e-books, and exclusive deals like Prime Day. There are reduced plans for students and specific profiles, but they require US eligibility.

From a payment perspective, Prime is a recurring charge in dollars, and that’s where the card makes a difference month after month. On a traditional credit card, each monthly fee carries 3.5% IOF, about $0.52 per month, plus the spread, totaling around $7 to $8 per year just in payment fees. On the Picnic card, with a digital dollar balance, the recurring charge has no IOF or Picnic fee. For international subscriptions in general (streaming, tools, hosting), the logic is the same: what seems small per month becomes significant over a year.

Returns and refunds: how the money comes back

Amazon US’s return policy is generally generous: most items accept returns within 30 days. What confuses Brazilians is how the refund comes back to the card.

The refund always goes back to the same payment method used for the purchase. On the Picnic card, the dollar amount returns to your digital dollar balance, in the same currency it left, with no reconversion. On a traditional credit card, the refund arrives in reais, reconverted at the exchange rate on the refund date, and the IOF paid on the purchase is usually refunded proportionally, but with a timeframe that varies from 30 to 90 days depending on the issuer. For large purchases, this means cash flow tied up for weeks. Keep your order number and receipt until the refund appears on your statement or balance.

Important: the import tax already paid on a returned purchase follows its own refund rules, which depend on the case and the entry channel. Don’t count on this amount being refunded automatically.

Precautions: fraud, authentication, and card protection

Shopping abroad requires a bit more attention to security, because your account and card are used on a foreign site.

• Enable two-factor authentication (2FA) on your Amazon account. It’s the simplest and most effective barrier against unauthorized access.
• Prefer a virtual card for online shopping. Virtual cards reduce exposure of your main number and can be replaced without changing your physical card. Picnic lets you create virtual cards for this use.
• Freeze your card between purchases. If your card allows freezing and unfreezing via the app, keep it frozen when not in use, especially after a large purchase.
• Be wary of emails and links. Amazon never asks for your password or card details by email. Always type the address instead of clicking on links in messages.
• Chargeback is a last resort. If a product doesn’t arrive or is wrong and the seller doesn’t resolve it, you can dispute through the card network, but it’s slow and should only be used after trying Amazon support.

To understand how an international card works under the hood, from limit to purchase processing, see how an international card works. And if you usually accept payment in reais at checkout thinking it protects you, read why this almost always costs more in our guide on how to pay on Booking.com abroad, which details how Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC) works at checkout.

Summary

Shopping on Amazon US from Brazil comes down to three decisions:

1. How to receive. Amazon Global, with estimated tax at checkout, is the most predictable route. Forwarders are for items without direct shipping, but customs is your responsibility.
2. How much tax. Since May 2026, purchases up to $50 on a certified Remessa Conforme site have zero Import Tax; from $50.01 to $3,000 it’s 60% with a $30 deduction (confirm at the time of purchase), and state ICMS applies to everything. This tax is the same with any card and is the biggest part of the bill above $50.
3. Which card. Amazon US charges in dollars. Cards with a dollar balance (like Picnic, in digital dollars) zero out IOF and spread on the purchase. Cards with a real balance pay the 3.5% IOF plus the issuer’s spread.

Before your next order, separate the two bills in your mind. You decide the import tax by choosing what to buy. You decide the payment cost by choosing the card. Order your Picnic card and, for dollar purchases like those on Amazon US, that second bill is zero. To choose the right card for international spending, also see international card with no annual fee.

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Picnic is a technology platform that lets users independently interact with USDC, a U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoin issued by Circle, on public blockchains. USDC is not legal tender in Brazil.

Displayed exchange rates vary with market conditions. The final applicable amount is the one shown on the transaction confirmation screen. Cryptoassets involve risks, including volatility and loss of peg.

Picnic does not custody user assets and is neither a financial institution nor a virtual asset service provider. Sending and receiving U.S. dollar payments through a U.S. account is offered in partnership with Noah Savings Inc. Terms and conditions apply.

Information verified in April 2026.