Short answer. EFD-Reinf is the SPED digital filing through which a Brazilian company reports the withholdings it makes — income tax (IRRF), social-security on services, and PIS/COFINS/CSLL retentions. The headline change: from 2025 facts onward it replaced the old annual DIRF. Reporting is now monthly — due by the 15th of the following month — and the new R-4000 event series carries the IRRF information the DIRF used to hold, including the 2026 dividend withholding. For a foreign-owned Brazilian company that pays anyone with tax withheld, EFD-Reinf is now a monthly obligation, not a once-a-year form.
What EFD-Reinf is
EFD-Reinf (Escrituração Fiscal Digital de Retenções e Outras Informações Fiscais) is part of Brazil’s SPED digital-bookkeeping system, alongside ECF and DCTFWeb. It is the channel for reporting:
- IRRF — withholding income tax on payments to individuals and companies;
- service retentions — the INSS social-security withholding on certain services (taken and provided);
- PIS/COFINS/CSLL retentions on payments;
- and, through it, the data that feeds DCTFWeb to generate the payment document.
[Source: Receita Federal — EFD-Reinf; IN RFB 2.043/2021]
The big change: it replaced the DIRF
For decades, withholdings were reported once a year in the DIRF (Declaração do Imposto de Renda Retido na Fonte). That is over. Under IN RFB 2.181/2024, the DIRF was extinguished for taxable events from 1 January 2025 — the R-4000 series of EFD-Reinf now carries that information, on a monthly basis. A foreign-owned company still filing “the annual DIRF” in its calendar is working from an outdated playbook. [Source: IN RFB 2.181/2024 — Receita Federal]
The event series you actually file
EFD-Reinf works through typed events. The two that matter most:
- R-2000 series — services with INSS retention. R-2010 (services taken), R-2020 (services provided), R-2098/R-2099 (closing).
- R-4000 series — income-tax and contribution withholdings (the DIRF successor):
- R-4010 — payments/credits to a resident individual;
- R-4020 — payments/credits to a legal entity (and, relevantly, to non-residents);
- R-4040 — payments to unidentified beneficiaries;
- R-4080 — withholding on amounts received;
- R-4099 — closing/reopening of the R-4000 series.
The R-4000 series also carries profit and dividend distributions — which is how the 2026 10% dividend withholding (the new dividend tax) is reported. [Source: Receita Federal — Manual EFD-Reinf, série R-4000]
Who must file
Broadly, anyone who was obliged to file the DIRF now files EFD-Reinf — i.e., any company or individual that paid or credited income with tax withheld. For a foreign-owned Brazilian company that is almost always the case: withholding on cross-border payments for services, royalties or interest, IRRF on local payments, and the 2026 withholding on dividends remitted abroad all flow through it. Companies that take services with INSS retention also file the R-2010. [Source: IN RFB 2.043/2021]
The deadline that trips people up
EFD-Reinf is monthly: the events must be transmitted by the 15th day of the month following the payment/withholding (anticipated to the previous business day when the 15th is not a working day), and always before the DCTFWeb for the period is closed. Missing or late events draw penalties and, worse, block the DCTFWeb that confesses the tax due. This monthly cadence is the biggest adjustment for groups used to the annual DIRF. [Source: Receita Federal — EFD-Reinf]
How it fits the compliance stack
EFD-Reinf does not stand alone. It feeds DCTFWeb: the withholdings you report in EFD-Reinf become part of the debits DCTFWeb consolidates (now via the MIT module) to issue the DARF. Read together with the ECF, DCTFWeb and EFD-Reinf overview and the corporate-tax picture, it is the “withholding reporting” leg of a foreign company’s monthly Brazilian compliance.
Practical takeaway
For a foreign-owned Brazilian company:
- Drop “annual DIRF” from your calendar — from 2025 facts it no longer exists; EFD-Reinf carries it monthly.
- Map your withholdings to events — R-4010/R-4020 for IRRF on payments, R-2010 for service INSS, and the R-4000 series for the 2026 dividend withholding.
- File by the 15th, before DCTFWeb — the two are chained; a missing EFD-Reinf blocks the DARF.
- Configure the ERP once — most errors are systemic (wrong event, wrong code), not one-offs. Get the mapping right at setup.
FAQ
What is EFD-Reinf in Brazil? A monthly SPED digital filing where a company reports the taxes it withheld — IRRF, INSS on services, and PIS/COFINS/CSLL retentions — which then feed DCTFWeb to generate the payment document.
Did EFD-Reinf replace the DIRF? Yes. Under IN RFB 2.181/2024, the annual DIRF was extinguished for taxable events from 1 January 2025; the EFD-Reinf R-4000 series now carries that information monthly.
When is EFD-Reinf due? By the 15th day of the month following the payment or withholding (moved to the previous business day if the 15th is not a working day), and before the period’s DCTFWeb is closed.
Does EFD-Reinf report the 2026 dividend withholding? Yes. Profit and dividend distributions, including the 10% dividend IRRF in force from 2026, are reported through the R-4000 series.
Who has to file EFD-Reinf? Any company or individual that paid or credited income with tax withheld — which, for a foreign-owned Brazilian company making service, royalty, interest or dividend payments, is effectively always.
📚 Related: Tax Compliance in Brazil: ECF, DCTFWeb and EFD-Reinf and Withholding Tax in Brazil.
Sources
Official sources reviewed for this brief: the EFD-Reinf obligation and rules (IN RFB 2.043/2021 and the Receita Federal EFD-Reinf portal), and the normative instruction extinguishing the DIRF in favour of the R-4000 series (IN RFB 2.181/2024 — Receita Federal), read together with the 2026 dividend-taxation change (Lei 15.270/2025 — Planalto).