Who customarily pays Florida documentary stamp taxes?

Florida custom is: the seller pays the deed documentary stamp tax (and the Miami-Dade surtax where it applies); the buyer pays the mortgage documentary stamp tax and the non-recurring intangible tax. The purchase contract can vary this allocation by agreement, and on certain new-construction or distressed transactions the parties commonly negotiate around the convention. The settlement statement (Closing Disclosure / HUD) reflects whatever allocation the contract specifies. The customary split is built into the Florida Realtors / Florida Bar standard contract (FR/Bar form) at Paragraph 9.

Is the Florida documentary stamp tax deductible on my federal return?

For the seller, the deed documentary stamp tax is a selling expense that reduces the amount-realized on the sale — effectively reducing the taxable gain. It is not a separate itemized deduction. For the buyer, the mortgage documentary stamp and intangible tax are part of the acquisition cost, added to the basis of the property. Neither is an annual deductible expense; both flow through the sale-of-home capital-gains computation. The IRS guidance is IRC § 1001(b) (amount realized) and § 1012 (basis). For investment property or business use, the analysis is different — consult a Florida-licensed CPA before reporting.

What is the non-recurring intangible tax for, and why is it separate from the mortgage doc stamp?

The intangible tax under F.S. § 199.133 is a one-time tax on the obligation secured by a Florida mortgage, levied at 2 mills per dollar of mortgage amount ($2.00 per $1,000, or 0.2%). It is a vestige of Florida's broader intangible personal property tax, which was largely repealed in 2007 — but the mortgage-specific application was preserved as a non-recurring tax at recording. The mortgage documentary stamp tax under F.S. § 201.08 is a separate tax on the promissory note itself, computed at $0.35 per $100 of the note amount. Both are paid once, at recording, and both are typically the buyer's responsibility. On a $320,000 mortgage, the stamp tax is $1,120 and the intangible tax is $640, for a total mortgage-related closing tax of $1,760.

How does the Florida documentary stamp tax compare to a real estate transfer tax in other states?

Most states have either a real estate transfer tax, a recording tax, or both — but Florida's structure is unusual in two respects. First, it splits the burden between deed-side (seller-paid) and mortgage-side (buyer-paid), where most states impose a single tax on the conveyance. Second, the Florida mortgage intangible tax is a Florida-specific holdover from the now-largely-repealed intangible personal property tax — most states do not have an analogous mortgage-recording tax beyond simple per-page recording fees. On a $400,000 Florida home with a $320,000 mortgage, total transactional taxes run $4,560 in the statewide case (the deed alone is $2,800). Comparable transactions in Texas (no transfer tax), Georgia ($0.10 per $100 transfer tax), or New York (~$2 per $500 + mortgage tax) produce materially different bottom-line numbers.

Does the documentary stamp tax apply to gifts, transfers between spouses, or transfers to a revocable trust?

It depends on whether there is consideration. F.S. § 201.02 is triggered by consideration paid for the conveyance — a true gift with no consideration owes only the minimum stamp ($0.70). Transfers between spouses incident to divorce, transfers to a revocable trust where the grantor is the sole beneficiary, and deeds correcting a scrivener's error are generally treated as no-consideration transfers and pay only the minimum stamp. Transfer to a revocable trust where the trust assumes a mortgage IS a consideration transfer, however — the assumed mortgage balance is the consideration. The Florida DOR publishes guidance (TIP forms) annually; check the current TIP before relying on a no-consideration treatment.

What is Form DR-219 and when do I file it?

Form DR-219 is the Florida Department of Revenue Return for Transfers of Interest in Real Property. It is filed with the county clerk at the time of recording the deed and accompanies the documentary stamp payment. The clerk collects the stamp tax and the surtax (where applicable) and remits to the DOR. For deeds where the consideration is unclear from the face of the deed (e.g., a deed reciting "ten dollars and other good and valuable consideration"), the DR-219 captures the actual consideration for DOR audit purposes. A misstatement on the DR-219 is subject to penalties under F.S. § 201.17.

Does the mortgage doc stamp apply to a refinance?

Yes — the documentary stamp tax under F.S. § 201.08 applies to any new note secured by a Florida mortgage, including a refinance. The intangible tax under F.S. § 199.133 also applies to the new mortgage. A common refinance-cost-reduction strategy is the 'consolidation and modification' approach: instead of executing a new note and mortgage, the lender and borrower execute a modification of the existing note and a mortgage modification. Properly structured (consult a Florida-licensed real-estate attorney), the modification approach can reduce the doc-stamp and intangible-tax exposure on the incremental amount only, rather than the full refinanced balance. The savings on a $300,000 refinance can run $1,000-$1,500.

Reviewed against F.S. § 201.02, § 201.031, § 201.08, § 199.133; current Florida Department of Revenue (DOR) rate schedule

Florida Documentary Stamp Tax Calculator

Compute the four transactional taxes that hit a Florida real-estate closing — deed documentary stamps (F.S. § 201.02), Miami-Dade surtax (F.S. § 201.031), mortgage documentary stamps (F.S. § 201.08), and the non-recurring intangible tax on mortgages (F.S. § 199.133). Surfaces statewide vs Miami-Dade rate differences and the customary seller / buyer allocation.

Calculator

Adjust the inputs below; the result updates instantly.

Transaction

Sale price / consideration ($)

$400,000

County

Miami-Dade County has a unique two-rate structure preserved by F.S. § 201.031: $0.60 per $100 base deed-stamp rate (instead of the statewide $0.70), plus a $0.45-per-$100 discretionary surtax on non-single-family-residential transfers. Every other Florida county uses the flat statewide $0.70-per-$100 rate. We default to Miami-Dade here because the distinction is the most-common source of error.

Property class

The Miami-Dade surtax under F.S. § 201.031 applies only to non-single-family-residential transfers. A transfer of a single-family home is exempt; a transfer of commercial property, vacant land, multi-family (3+ units), or a single condo unit in a building of more than one unit is NOT exempt and pays the surtax. Outside Miami-Dade, this field has no effect on the tax — only on what's surfaced in the breakdown.

Mortgage

Mortgage amount ($)

$400,000

Total Florida transactional taxes

4,600.00

Deed documentary stamps (F.S. § 201.02): $2,400.00
Miami-Dade surtax (F.S. § 201.031): $0.00
Mortgage documentary stamps (F.S. § 201.08): $1,400.00
Non-recurring intangible tax (F.S. § 199.133): $800.00
Seller's customary share: $2,400.00
Buyer's customary share: $2,200.00
Effective deed rate (per $100): $0.60 per $100 of consideration
Summary: Total Florida transactional taxes on a $400,000 single-family residential transfer in Miami-Dade with a $400,000 mortgage: $4,600. Seller's customary share (deed stamps): $2,400. Buyer's customary share (mortgage stamps + intangible tax): $2,200. Effective deed rate: $0.60 per $100.

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Fennec Press's Florida real-estate bundle includes a closing-disclosure documentary-stamp verification checklist, the Miami-Dade surtax-exemption affidavit template (the most common closing-table dispute), and a county-clerk recording-fee schedule built for Florida title agents, real-estate attorneys, and closing teams.

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How this calculator works

Florida levies four separate transactional taxes at a real-estate closing — each anchored to its own statute, each computed differently, and each customarily borne by a different party. Most online "Florida doc stamps" calculators address only one of the four (usually the deed-side stamp) and leave the buyer or the title agent guessing on the rest. This calculator does all four in one pass and tells you which side of the closing table pays each.

The four taxes:

Deed documentary stamps under F.S. § 201.02. The statewide rate is $0.70 per $100 of consideration. Miami-Dade County uses $0.60 per $100 instead, by virtue of the county's home-rule charter preserved at F.S. § 201.031.
Miami-Dade discretionary surtax under F.S. § 201.031. $0.45 per $100, but only in Miami-Dade and only on transfers of property that is NOT a single-family residence.
Mortgage documentary stamps under F.S. § 201.08. $0.35 per $100 of the face amount of the promissory note. Statewide rate, no county variation.
Non-recurring intangible tax under F.S. § 199.133. $0.002 per $1.00 of the mortgage obligation (2 mills) — i.e., $2.00 per $1,000. Paid once at recording, hence "non-recurring."

The customary allocation in a Florida real-estate closing is buyer-pays-the-mortgage-side, seller-pays-the-deed-side. The Florida Realtors / Florida Bar standard contract (FR/Bar form) at Paragraph 9 encodes this convention, and most title agents allocate the line items accordingly on the Closing Disclosure. The contract can vary the allocation — and frequently does on distressed or new-construction transactions — but the convention is the default.

The Miami-Dade rate structure

The single most common source of error on Florida documentary-stamp calculations is the Miami-Dade County two-rate structure. The mechanism, preserved at F.S. § 201.031:

Base deed-stamp rate: $0.60 per $100 of consideration (instead of the statewide $0.70). Applies to all Miami-Dade transfers regardless of property class.
Discretionary surtax: an additional $0.45 per $100, but ONLY on transfers of property that is NOT a single-family residence. Multi-family (three or more units), commercial, vacant land, and a single condo unit in a multi-unit condo building are all subject to the surtax.

The net effect:

Miami-Dade SFR: $0.60 per $100 (cheaper than statewide)
Miami-Dade non-SFR: $0.60 + $0.45 = $1.05 per $100 (the highest combined transactional rate in Florida)
Anywhere else in Florida: $0.70 per $100 flat

A practical implication: a $1,000,000 single-family Miami-Dade transfer pays $6,000 in deed stamps — versus $7,000 for an identical transfer in Broward or Palm Beach. But a $1,000,000 vacant-land transfer in Miami-Dade pays $10,500 (6,000 deed + 4,500 surtax) — a 50% premium over the same transfer in any other Florida county.

The surtax exemption for SFR is interpreted strictly. A duplex, a triplex, a small apartment building, a condo unit, and a vacant lot zoned residential but without a single-family home on it are all NOT exempt. The Florida DOR has published interpretive guidance (TIP 04A01-12 and successors) addressing edge cases such as zero-lot-line homes and townhouses; consult the current TIP or a Florida-licensed real-estate attorney before claiming the exemption on a borderline property.

A worked example: $400K Pinellas single-family home

A residential closing in Pinellas County (statewide rate jurisdiction) on a $400,000 single-family home with a $320,000 mortgage:

Deed stamps: $400,000 / $100 × $0.70 = $2,800 (seller's customary share)
Miami-Dade surtax: $0 (not in Miami-Dade)
Mortgage stamps: $320,000 / $100 × $0.35 = $1,120 (buyer's customary share)
Intangible tax: $320,000 × 0.002 = $640 (buyer's customary share)
Total Florida transactional taxes: $4,560
Seller customarily pays: $2,800
Buyer customarily pays: $1,760

If the same transaction were all-cash (no mortgage), the buyer's customary share drops to $0 and the seller-paid total is just the $2,800 in deed stamps. The decision to take a mortgage on a Florida purchase carries a one-time transactional tax cost of roughly $5.50 per $1,000 of mortgage ($3.50 mortgage stamps + $2.00 intangible) — a useful number to keep in mind when comparing financed and all-cash offers.

A worked example: $1M Miami-Dade vacant-land transfer

A vacant-land purchase in Miami-Dade County for $1,000,000, with the buyer paying 30% down and financing $700,000:

Deed stamps: $1,000,000 / $100 × $0.60 = $6,000
Miami-Dade surtax: $1,000,000 / $100 × $0.45 = $4,500 (vacant land is non-SFR)
Combined deed + surtax: $10,500 (seller's customary share)
Mortgage stamps: $700,000 / $100 × $0.35 = $2,450 (buyer's customary share)
Intangible tax: $700,000 × 0.002 = $1,400 (buyer's customary share)
Total Florida transactional taxes: $14,350
Seller customarily pays: $10,500
Buyer customarily pays: $3,850

The same vacant-land transfer in, say, Hillsborough County would carry deed stamps of $7,000 and no surtax — a difference of $3,500 on the seller's side, before any negotiation. On a large commercial transaction, the Miami-Dade premium can be the single biggest line item on the Closing Disclosure that the parties hadn't budgeted for.

What counts as "consideration"

F.S. § 201.02 computes the deed-side stamp tax on the consideration paid for the conveyance. In a straightforward arms-length sale, the consideration is the sale price. Two common complications:

Mortgage assumption. If the buyer is taking title subject to (or expressly assuming) an existing mortgage, the assumed mortgage balance is part of the consideration — even if not paid at closing. A $400,000 sale with a $250,000 mortgage assumption is a $400,000 consideration figure for stamp-tax purposes (the $150,000 cash plus the $250,000 assumed debt).
Like-kind exchanges. A § 1031 exchange of Florida real estate still owes Florida documentary stamps on the value of the property received. Federal capital-gains deferral does not propagate to the Florida transactional-tax side.

For deeds reciting nominal consideration ("ten dollars and other good and valuable consideration"), the DR-219 captures the actual consideration for DOR audit purposes. The minimum stamp on a no-consideration transfer is $0.70 (the rate applied to the deed itself). Misstatement of consideration on the DR-219 is subject to penalties under F.S. § 201.17 — including a 100% penalty plus interest if the misstatement is found willful.

What this calculator does NOT do

This calculator handles the four Chapter 201 / Chapter 199 transactional taxes. It does not:

Compute the documentary stamp on a refinance modification. A properly structured mortgage modification (rather than a new note + mortgage) can reduce the doc-stamp and intangible-tax exposure on a refinance to the incremental amount only. The math depends on the modification structure; consult a Florida-licensed real-estate attorney.
Allocate the surtax on mixed-use property. A property that is partially SFR and partially non-SFR (e.g., a home with a detached commercial workshop) requires a value-allocation analysis under DOR TIP guidance. The calculator assumes the entire transfer is on one side of the SFR / non-SFR line.
Address commercial-lease documentary stamps. F.S. § 201.08 also applies to certain commercial-lease assignments and instruments; the framework is similar but the underlying obligation is different. Use a commercial-lease-specific resource.
Calculate the underlying real-estate transaction's federal tax consequences. Capital-gains exclusion under IRC § 121, basis additions under § 1012, and § 1031 like-kind-exchange deferral are separate analyses. Use the Closing Cost Calculator for the community-association side of the closing.

How this page is maintained

The four Chapter 201 / Chapter 199 rates have not moved in recent Florida legislative sessions; the last meaningful change was the 2007 repeal of the broader intangible personal property tax, which preserved § 199.133 as a stand-alone non-recurring mortgage tax. We refresh the rate constants and the linked DOR rate schedule each time the Florida DOR publishes a new TIP (Tax Information Publication) affecting these statutes, and after each Florida legislative session in case of legislative change.

Last reviewed: 2026-05-15 against F.S. § 201.02, § 201.031, § 201.08, § 199.133.

FAQ

Common questions

Edge cases and clarifications around florida documentary stamp tax calculator.

Miami-Dade County operates under a home-rule charter that pre-dates the modern Chapter 201 framework. F.S. § 201.031 preserves the Miami-Dade structure: a lower base deed-stamp rate of $0.60 per $100 (versus the statewide $0.70), offset by a $0.45-per-$100 discretionary surtax on non-single-family-residential transfers. The net effect: Miami-Dade single-family homes are taxed at a discount ($0.60 vs $0.70 per $100), but Miami-Dade non-SFR transfers carry the highest combined rate in Florida at $1.05 per $100. This county-specific structure is the single most-common source of doc-stamp calculation error on Florida closings.

Resources

Links marked sponsoredmay earn TheFennecLab a commission. They do not affect the calculator's output. See disclosures.

Florida DBPR Online Sunshine — F.S. § 201.02 — documentary stamp tax on deeds and other conveyances
Florida DBPR Online Sunshine — F.S. § 201.031 — Miami-Dade discretionary surtax on non-SFR transfers
Florida DBPR Online Sunshine — F.S. § 201.08 — documentary stamp tax on promissory notes and mortgages
Florida DBPR Online Sunshine — F.S. § 199.133 — non-recurring intangible tax on Florida mortgages
Florida Department of Revenue — Documentary Stamp Tax — DOR administrative guidance and current rate schedule
Florida DOR — Form DR-219 (Return for Transfers of Interest in Real Property) — recording-time return filed with the county clerk

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