Marine land: the amendment that could end laudêmio on Brazil's coast

What marine land is

It is federal land: the strip between the average high-tide line and 33 metres inland. The origin is historical — coastal defence and access — and the consequence is very current: within that strip a private party does not hold full ownership of the soil, but a right of occupation or useful domain over land that remains federal.

According to federal government figures, roughly 500,000 properties in Brazil are classified as terrenos de marinha, of which about 271,000 are registered to a single responsible party, individual or corporate.

What is paid today

Two distinct things, often confused:

• Ground rent (foro) or occupation fee: an annual payment to the federal government for use of the land.
• Laudêmio: a percentage paid to the federal government every time the property changes hands. It is the one that appears on the closing table and surprises more than one foreign buyer, because most countries of origin have no equivalent.

On an island like Florianópolis, where much of the most expensive stock sits precisely on the coast, this is not a footnote: it is a real transaction cost and an extra step (prior consent from the federal property authority) that lengthens closing.

What the amendment proposes

The proposal — PEC 39/11 — was approved in two rounds by the Chamber of Deputies and awaits analysis by the Senate. Its central points:

• Marine land would pass to states and municipalities free of charge, or onerously to the occupiers.
• Federal charging of any amounts on this land — ground rent, occupation fee and laudêmio — would end from the amendment's publication.
• Free transfer would also cover state and municipal services under concession and social housing, such as fishing villages.

What to do meanwhile

The essential point: an amendment approved by the Chamber is not a rule in force. The Senate has yet to act, and until promulgation the current regime applies in full. Anyone telling you today that "laudêmio is no longer charged" is getting ahead of the facts.

What is worth doing if you are buying near the sea in Floripa:

1. Confirm whether the property sits on marine land before signing. It is checked on the title record and with the SPU.
2. Budget the laudêmio inside the total cost of the transaction, not as a closing-day surprise.
3. Allow for the prior-consent timeline, which adds time to the deed schedule.

If the amendment advances, the cost equation for coastal property changes materially. While it does not, you buy under the rules that exist today.