Tesouro Direto

The skyline of central São Paulo at dusk — Photo: Skyline of São Paulo centre.jpg — Rodrigo.Argenton, CC BY-SA 4.0

Definition

The Brazilian National Treasury's own retail platform for buying federal government bonds directly — Tesouro Selic, Tesouro IPCA+ and Tesouro Prefixado — from around R$30.

Why it matters

Brazil's equivalent of cetesdirecto — the simplest, lowest-cost first step for most Brazilian beginners.

How it works in practice

There are three families, and the difference between them matters more than the maturity date. Tesouro Selic follows the Selic policy rate day by day, so its price barely moves and it can be sold on any business day without drama. Tesouro IPCA+ pays official inflation plus a fixed spread, protecting purchasing power if held to maturity. Tesouro Prefixado locks a fixed rate today. You buy fractions of a bond (from roughly R$30) through a broker connected to the platform. B3 charges a custody fee of 0.20% a year, and Tesouro Selic holdings are exempt from it up to R$10,000 per CPF — check b3.com.br for the current schedule.

A concrete example

Put R$1,000 into Tesouro Selic and the balance creeps up with the daily policy rate; sell in three months and you receive roughly what you put in plus the accrued interest, minus income tax on the gain. Put the same R$1,000 into a Tesouro IPCA+ maturing in 2035 and sell it after three months instead, and you may receive more or less than R$1,000 — its price moves inversely to long-term interest rates until maturity.

What people most often get wrong

"Government bond" does not mean "no price risk". Only Tesouro Selic is designed to be sold early without surprises. Selling an IPCA+ or Prefixado bond before maturity means accepting the market price of the day (marcação a mercado), which in a rising-rate period can be below what you paid. Income tax also follows a regressive table — the longer you hold, the lower the rate applied to the gain.

Frequently asked questions

Is Tesouro Direto covered by the FGC?

No — the FGC insures bank deposits, not government bonds. Tesouro Direto carries the credit risk of the Brazilian federal government directly, which is generally considered the lowest credit risk available inside the country. Different protection mechanism, not a weaker one.

Which Tesouro bond suits an emergency fund?

The Selic-linked one is the family built for that job: its price is stable day to day and it settles quickly. Inflation-linked and prefixed bonds are designed to be held to a specific future date, which is the opposite of what an emergency fund needs.

Educational content only — not financial or tax advice. Rates, limits and tax rules change: confirm current figures with the regulator or tax authority before deciding.