Buying property in Fortaleza and the Ceará coast

The two places in the census

IBGE’s 2022 Census counts 2,428,708 residents in Fortaleza, with 65.4% of homes owned and 30.3% rented, and 25,555 in Jijoca de Jericoacoara, with 68.1% owned and 28.3% rented (IBGE, 2022 Census). Payotte’s pages: Fortaleza and Jijoca de Jericoacoara.

Fortaleza: ITBI as Sefin publishes it

Sefin’s FAQ gives the rules below. It does not cite a law number, and Payotte did not read the tax code, so the 4% is Sefin’s statement of the rate, not an article read.

• Rate: 4% on the highest of three values: the market value set by the administration, the value you declare (if higher), or the IPTU value.
• Financing: 0.5% on the amount actually financed under SFH, up to R$ 390,672.24 (the 2026 updated value on the page). The page does not say which rate applies to the rest of the price.
• Early payment: 2% if the tax is paid before the instrument on which it is based (the public deed or the bank contract) is drawn up; for property in Fortaleza the payment must be made no later than the day before the deed.
• Payment: 30 days from the notice of assessment; up to 3 monthly instalments without interest or up to 6 with interest at the Selic rate. The payment certificate is released only after the last instalment.
• Brokerage: an invoice for the broker’s fee issued through the city’s system can reduce the base by the fee.
• Objection: within 30 days of the notice, with at least two supporting documents. If you must close first, file a request and pay only after the city answers, or the objection is archived.
• Exemption: low-income buyers, for a residence worth up to R$ 87,628.95, among other conditions.
• Refunds: if the deed is not completed, a court annuls it, the transfer proves non-taxable or exempt (on prior request), or the tax was overpaid.

A calculation, not a quote: at a price of R$ 600,000, 4% gives R$ 24,000 and the early-payment 2% gives R$ 12,000, if the base equals the price. The gap is large enough to plan the order of payments around the deed date with the notary. Payotte’s purchase costs calculator uses these rates; the base is explained in ITBI tax base and reference value.

Fortaleza: IPTU

The IPTU page itself could not be located in a readable form. On Sefin’s home page the 2026 headlines show payment opening on 8 January and lump-sum discounts of up to 8% (until 6 February), 6% (until 6 March) and 4% (until 8 April), and no increase in the tax. Treat these as past dates and read the current notice. General rules are in IPTU, the municipal property tax.

Jijoca de Jericoacoara and the national park

For Jijoca Payotte read no ITBI rate, and the city’s law was not readable: get the rate from the municipality in writing. What the federal conservation agency ICMBio publishes for the Jericoacoara National Park:

• It is a coastal and marine park of 8,863.03 hectares, created by a decree of 4 February 2002; Lei 11.486 of 15 June 2007 followed. ICMBio’s page notes that the park has more than one creation decree and a separate document for the boundary change.
• The park office is on Rua Oceano Atlântico in Jijoca de Jericoacoara.
• ICMBio publishes the park’s management plan, its zoning and a buffer-zone map as downloadable files.

Payotte could not read those documents, and the ICMBio page says nothing about the village or about private land. Before buying in or near Jericoacoara, ask ICMBio whether the plot lies inside the park, in its buffer zone or outside, and ask the municipality which zoning rules apply.

Federal coastal land

For plots on or near the Ceará shore, terrenos de marinha (the 33 m band from the 1831 line) belong to the Union. The SPU’s Ceará office is at Rua Barão de Aracati, 909, 9th floor, Aldeota, Fortaleza; its page carries no notice about Jericoacoara. The rules, the 5% laudêmio and the foreigner authorisation are in beachfront property and terrenos de marinha and laudêmio and the SPU transfer certificate.

The state’s fees for 2026

Ceará’s table (Portaria 2982/2025 of the Court of Justice, in force 2 January 2026) gives totals that include the fee, the court fund, the stamp and two 5% funds; the municipal service tax is not included. For deeds the amounts are printed up to R$ 23,322.58 and for registration up to R$ 55,337.23. Above those values the last bracket has no printed amount: it works by a formula (a base fee plus a charge for each further slice) with a maximum whose wording is ambiguous. Almost every real property price falls in that last bracket, so Payotte gives no total. The registry table also leaves out the preliminary entry (R$ 78.55), searches and some additional charges. A first home financed under SFH gets a 50% reduction. For the Ceará inheritance tax the state’s page refused access, so no rate is given. See notary and registry fees and ITCMD.

Which professional to consult

A lawyer registered with the OAB can read the matrícula and check the plot’s status; a licensed broker (CRECI) can advise on the market; an engineer or architect can check boundaries and permits. See property lawyer and architect and engineer.