Brazil by bus

They don't teach number literacy in Oz?
(#1, the back patter, not the OP)

Now that I think about it a bit more, I don't think the government charges any taxes at all on incoming international money. The 6% is on outgoing money (not all, but most consumer transfers, such as cash exchange or card use).

Ontopic: I don't think it's very fair to make fun of the OP. Yes, this forum repeatedly advises people to buy tickets at the bus station, where it's cheaper. But this third party is clearly ripping people off with a huge upmark. I have bought plenty of bus tickets online, and get charged a minor administration fee. It is not insane to expect your service to have a cost, but that that cost be reasonable. The only thing the OP didn't do is verify the scruples of this third party service. Sure, he/she should have checked, but it's not a completely stupid mistake as some here are implying. Also, this post is clearly aimed at helping future tourists avoid this shitty service, something we should be applauding instead of bashing. Lets not act as if this is some glorious victory of Brazilian inventiveness. It's a shitty con artist who should be chased out of business.

But it might be useful for people new to Brazil to know that when you buy the ticket at the bus station a day or two ahead they will want to see your passport or a copy of it. I forgot to take the passport copy when buying a ticket at the Ouro Preto bus station to go to Rio a day later and so had to walk down the hill and back up again. Those of you who have been there will know that it's rather steep (and our hotel was down below the main square).

What would be the reason for not buying a ticket with no markup at the bus station?
Discomfort with the Portuguese language? Developed-world dependence on internet booking? Both?
IMO neither serves the traveler in Brazil well.

Failure to do sufficient due diligence to understand this, and then complaining about the result, is likely what frustrates experienced Brazil hands here.
The term Gringo Tax exists for a reason.

What is relevant to know is that no Brazilian leaves home without ID, by law iirc (correct me if I am wrong), in case of a police stop. (This has stuck in my head ever since my first trip, watching a friend set out to run the São Silvestre marathon with her ID stuck inside her baseball cap, wearing as little as possible and carrying nothing else.) Foreign travelers should understand that, perhaps unlike at home, this applies to them too.

Comfort? The ability to buy a ticket in advance without being at that respective bus station? While due diligence is of course something you can blame the OP for, there are plenty of internet services that sell those same tickets without a bizar markup. Not having to worry about buying tickets while you're enjoying your holiday is something people appreciate, and those online services offer exactly that. As an experiment I just went to that brazilbustravel site the OP used. Campinas - Rio would cost 54 USD. I then checked viação cometa's website for the exact same bus, where I can buy the same exact seat, also online, for 140 BRL. While the OP is mistaken in assuming that because he got ripped off online, all online sellers charge that markup, he is not wrong in stating he got terribly ripped off by a fraudulent website. While you need a CPF to buy directly from Viação Cometa, both clickbus and brazilbybus accept purchases from abroad without adding a 65% markup.

And yes, at the bus station, I believe that same ticket costs 125 BRL (did that stretch there and back for 250 just the other day), so you'll still have some extra costs from booking online, but that isn't the problem with this specific site.

You can call it a Gringo Tax, or a Stupid Tax, but that doesn't change the fact that this "service" is a shitty fraudulent website that has no right to exist.

Good advice here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J758GW3Bl58

Seriously Andrew, I don't think anyone's bashing the OP or defending the vendor who charged the mark up. The wicked will always be with us though and the only way to minimise the chances of being ripped off is to do a little basic research. The observation that one can buy a ticket at a bus station is hardly a revelation.

They don't teach number literacy in Oz?
(#1, the back patter, not the OP)

Yes, they call it numeracy, except in Queensland where it's known as 'that county thing'.

Again you continue to confuse my origins.

Bezerra da Silva was quite a keen observer of human nature, as his lyrics show.

However, anyone could do the same comparison of fares that Andrew did. If someone is willing to pay, it's not fraud IMO, any more than using a package tour. It's paying for convenience. Self delusion maybe. Naivety. The justification after the OP complained is what makes the transaction hincky, but who knows if that is company policy or some Brazilian employee spontaneously inventing something on his own. Customer service is a pretty unknown concept in Brazil, and many foreigners bang their heads against the wall in vain, insisting it should exist. If the OP is serious about his complaint, he should bring a case with Procon (but probably he won't put in that effort).

Instrução Normativa RFB nº 1611/2016 – money send abroad since 2016, January, 1 st has to pay 25% of income tax. Some other taxes together can change 25% into almost 40%. Travel agents and others are trying to come to a deal with the gouvernement to come down to 6,38% - take a look at www.braztoa.com.br – they are afraid this can make half milion people unemployed.