Buying property in Natal and Pipa (Tibau do Sul)

The two places in the census

IBGE’s 2022 Census counts 751,300 residents in Natal, with 63.5% of homes owned and 31.4% rented, and 16,929 in Tibau do Sul, with 64.4% owned and 32.1% rented (IBGE, 2022 Census). Both rented shares are above the 28% of Rio de Janeiro. Payotte’s pages: Natal and Tibau do Sul.

Tibau do Sul: ITIV under LC 005/2002

The text read is the Tax Code of 27 December 2002, from the City Council’s site. A later law, LC 009/2024, changes IPTU articles but not the transfer tax; other later laws may exist.

• What is taxed (article 173): the transfer, on any basis, of ownership or domínio útil of real estate, of real rights over it (except guarantees) and the assignment of rights to acquire it.
• Rate (article 179): 3% of the tax base. Payotte found no reduced rate for financed purchases in the 2002 code.
• Base (articles 175 and 176): the market value of the property at the time of transfer, and the tax cannot be lower than the value the city uses for the IPTU. For auctions the Secretary may use another rule.
• Taxpayer (article 177): the buyer, the assignee or the parties to an exchange. The seller, the assignor and the notaries and registrars are jointly liable for the tax on the acts done before or by them (article 178).
• Payment (article 180): “in the forms and deadlines set by the regulation”, which Payotte did not read.
• Exemption (article 181): purchase of a “popular” home by a low-income buyer who has no other property, in his or her name or the spouse’s, in the municipality. Popular means a single-family home of up to 70 m² built on a plot of up to 150 m². The OCR-quality text of this article is partly unclear, so confirm its wording with the city.
• Companies (article 174): no tax on property contributed to a company’s capital or on mergers, unless the buyer’s main activity is buying and selling or renting real estate.
• Notaries (articles 182 and 183): a notary or registrar who records a deed without proof of payment or of an exemption certificate faces a fine of 100% of the tax, at least R$ 250.

A calculation, not a quote: at a price of R$ 600,000, 3% gives R$ 18,000, if the market value used equals the price. Payotte’s purchase costs calculator applies the rate; the base is explained in ITBI tax base and reference value. The code also lists a tourism incentive tax among the municipal fees (article 185, VI) but gives no amount in the articles read.

Tibau do Sul: IPTU under the same code

• Taxable event and taxpayer (articles 88 and 93): ownership, domínio útil or possession of property in the urban zone, which the code defines as one with at least two of five public improvements (kerbs and drainage, water, sewers, street lighting, a school or health post within 3 km). The fact is deemed to occur on 1 January each year (article 92).
• The debt follows the property (article 91): the obligation to pay is transmitted to the buyer “except when the title shows proof of payment”. Ask the seller for the title with proof of payment: see due diligence certificates.
• Base (article 95): the valor venal, set from the land value grid and the construction price table that the executive decrees each year, valid from 1 January to 31 December (article 96). Article 96 was amended by LC 009/2024, which Payotte read only to establish that it leaves the ITIV untouched.
• Large plots (articles 99 and 100): the part of a plot over 500 m² that exceeds four times the built area is taxed at the vacant-land rate.
• Large rural-style land (article 90): property of 20 hectares or more is not taxed by the IPTU if used exclusively for farming, livestock, fish farming, extraction or agro-industry.

General rules are in IPTU.

Natal: the ITIV, and what could not be read

Natal calls the transfer tax ITIV. Its regulation, Decreto 11.089 of 2 September 2016 (published in the Diário Oficial do Município on 5 September 2016), says: “A alíquota do imposto é de três por cento (3%) sobre sua base de cálculo”, a rate of 3% (art. 7). The base is the market value of the property at the transfer, not below the value the city uses for IPTU (art. 3). The first transfer of a popular home (single-family, up to 50 m² built on up to 250 m² of land) to a buyer with a family income of up to two minimum wages and no other property is exempt (art. 8). On land the city holds as foreira, a laudêmio of 2.5% of the land value is also due (art. 22). The regulation was issued under Natal’s Tax Code (Lei 3.882/1989); Payotte read the regulation, not the Code’s article, because Natal’s finance sites refused the connection. For the same reason Payotte has no IPTU rule for the city. The state’s fee table and inheritance tax for Rio Grande do Norte were not read either, so no notary, registry or inheritance figure is given; see notary and registry fees and ITCMD. Ask the Natal finance department for the ITBI rate and base, and the notary’s office for a written quote.

The federal coast

The SPU’s Rio Grande do Norte office is at Av. Rui Barbosa, 909, Tirol, Natal; its page has no notice on terrenos de marinha and does not mention Tibau do Sul or Pipa. The SPU’s FAQ says that only the SPU demarcates terrenos de marinha, that a notified owner has 60 days to contest the line, and that the Union lets private parties use and pass on the land by a destination instrument that may carry an annual fee. Before buying near the shore, ask the SPU about the plot. The charges and the foreigner rule are in beachfront property and terrenos de marinha and laudêmio and the SPU transfer certificate.

Which professional to consult

A lawyer registered with the OAB can read the matrícula and check the SPU status; a licensed broker (CRECI) can advise on the market; an appraiser can value the property against the city’s grid. See property lawyer, real estate broker and property appraiser.