Countries › Brazil › Guide › 11. Real estate and land › ITR, Brazil's federal rural land tax: bare land value, utilization degree and rates from 0.03 to 20 percent

ITR, Brazil's federal rural land tax: bare land value, utilization degree and rates from 0.03 to 20 percent

Last verified: 2026-10-27 · Status: Stable

ITR is an annual federal tax on owning, holding the useful domain of or possessing rural property outside the urban zone on 1 January. It is charged on the taxable bare land value, which the owner declares at market price, at a rate that depends on the farm's total area and how intensively the usable area is used, from 0.03 percent for small, well used farms to 20 percent for very large, idle ones. Preservation areas and legal reserves are excluded from the taxable area, small family plots are immune, and municipalities can collect the tax by agreement with the Union.

USD figures use the Banco Central do Brasil PTAX selling rate of R$5.3346 per US dollar for 27 October 2026. Conversions are for orientation only.

Key facts

Lowest ITR rate (up to 50 ha, utilization above 80 percent)	0.03 %Lei nº 9.393/1996 Annex, as of 2026-10-27 · in force
Highest ITR rate (above 5,000 ha, utilization up to 30 percent)	20 %Lei nº 9.393/1996 Annex, as of 2026-10-27 · in force
Small plot ITR immunity outside Amazonia, Pantanal and drought polygon	30 hectaresLei nº 9.393/1996 art. 2 sole paragraph III, as of 2026-10-27 · in force
ITR assessment date	1 January each year Lei nº 9.393/1996 art. 1, as of 2026-10-27 · in force

The rule

1. The Union levies a tax on rural land ownership. It must be progressive, with rates set to discourage unproductive properties; it does not apply to small rural plots, as defined in law, worked by an owner who has no other property; and municipalities that so choose may supervise and collect it, as long as this does not reduce the tax.
Cost to do it: Annual tax; see rates below.Constituição Federal of 5 October 1988, Art. 153 VI and § 4 I to III, 1988-10-05 official text · verified 2026-10-27

2. Taxable event and taxpayer. ITR is assessed annually on ownership, useful domain or possession of property located outside the urban zone of the municipality on 1 January. The taxpayer is the owner, the holder of the useful domain or the possessor on any basis, and the tax domicile is the municipality where the property sits. Small plots are immune when the owner works them alone or with family and owns no other property: up to 100 hectares in Western Amazonia and the Pantanal, 50 hectares in the drought polygon and Eastern Amazonia, and 30 hectares elsewhere.
Cost to do it: None for immune small plots.Lei nº 9.393 of 19 December 1996, Art. 1 caput; art. 2 sole paragraph; art. 4, 1996-12-19 official text · verified 2026-10-27

3. Base. The owner declares the bare land value (VTN) at market price on 1 January, excluding buildings and improvements, crops, cultivated pastures and planted forests. The taxable area is the total area minus permanent preservation areas and legal reserve under the Forest Code, areas of ecological interest declared by the environmental authority, areas under environmental servitude, native forest in medium or advanced regeneration and areas flooded for authorized hydro reservoirs. The taxable bare land value (VTNt) is VTN multiplied by taxable area over total area. The Forest Code lets the producer present the CAR rural environmental registry to establish the taxable area.
Cost to do it: Undervaluing the VTN lets the Receita Federal assess the tax on its own land price system (art. 14).Lei nº 9.393 of 1996, art. 10 as amended by Lei nº 11.428 of 2006, Lei nº 11.727 of 2008 and Lei nº 12.844 of 2013; Lei nº 12.651 of 25 May 2012 art. 29 § 5, Lei nº 9.393 arts. 8 §§ 1 and 2 and 10 § 1 I to III; Lei nº 12.651 art. 29 § 5, 1996-12-19 official text · verified 2026-10-27

4. Rate. The rate is read from the annex table using the total area and the degree of utilization (GU), the ratio of area effectively used in the prior year to the usable area: from 0.03 percent (up to 50 hectares, GU above 80 percent) to 20 percent (above 5,000 hectares, GU up to 30 percent). The minimum tax is R$10. The tax is due by the last business day of the month set for filing the annual return (DIAT), and may be split into up to three monthly quotas of at least R$50 each with Selic interest. Late filing costs 1 percent a month on the tax, at least R$50.
Cost to do it: From 0.03 to 20 percent of VTNt each year.
Example: 1,000 hectare farm, VTNt R$20,000,000: GU above 80 percent, rate 0.15 percent, ITR R$30,000; GU of 30 percent or less, rate 4.70 percent, ITR R$940,000. / VTNt of about US$3,749,110: about US$5,624 a year if well used, about US$176,208 if idle.Lei nº 9.393 of 1996 and its Annex, Arts. 7, 10 § 1 IV to VI, 11 and 12 and Annex (Tabela de Alíquotas), 1996-12-19 official text · verified 2026-10-27

Total area (hectares)	GU above 80%	65 to 80%	50 to 65%	30 to 50%	Up to 30%
Up to 50	0.03	0.20	0.40	0.70	1.00
50 to 200	0.07	0.40	0.80	1.40	2.00
200 to 500	0.10	0.60	1.30	2.30	3.30
500 to 1,000	0.15	0.85	1.90	3.30	4.70
1,000 to 5,000	0.30	1.60	3.40	6.00	8.60
Above 5,000	0.45	3.00	6.40	12.00	20.00

ITR rates in percent by total area and degree of utilization (Lei nº 9.393, Annex).

Worked example

Effect of legal reserve on the base. A 1,000 hectare farm in the Cerrado outside the Amazon has VTN of R$25,000,000 (about US$4,686,387), with a 20 percent legal reserve (Lei nº 12.651 art. 12 II), that is 200 hectares, excluded. VTNt is R$25,000,000 x 800/1,000 = R$20,000,000. With GU above 80 percent the ITR is R$30,000 (about US$5,624) (Lei nº 9.393 arts. 10 and 11 and Annex).

Step by step

1. Register the farm in the CAR and keep the reserve and preservation areas mapped (Lei nº 12.651 art. 29).
2. Each year, appraise the bare land value at market on 1 January and document utilization of the prior year.
3. File the annual ITR return (DITR) by the Receita Federal deadline and pay the tax or the first quota by the last business day of that month (Lei nº 9.393 art. 12).
4. On a farm purchase, check ITR clearance, since the tax follows the property.

Common traps

Low declared VTN. The Receita can assess on its land price system and charge penalties (Lei nº 9.393 art. 14).
Idle land. Low utilization on a large farm multiplies the rate up to 20 percent.
Unregistered reserves. Without the CAR and proper records, excluded areas can be challenged (Lei nº 12.651 art. 29 § 5).

Sources

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