Florida Mortgage Doc Stamp + Intangible Tax Calculator

How this calculator works

Florida charges two separate, distinct state taxes at the recording of a mortgage on Florida real property. Most online "Florida mortgage tax" calculators conflate them into a single number — and most lender disclosure forms (and most title software written for non-Florida markets) get the breakdown wrong on the Closing Disclosure roughly half the time. This calculator separates them, applies the right basis to each, and lights up the F.S. § 199.143 modification-and-new-money rules that determine which portions of a refinance, HELOC, or assumption are taxable.

The two taxes:

1. Documentary stamp tax on the note — F.S. § 201.08. Rate: $0.35 per $100 of the mortgage face amount, or fraction thereof. The "or fraction thereof" language matters: a $100.01 mortgage owes $0.70, not $0.35, because the $100.01 contains a fractional $100-unit beyond the first whole $100. Implementation: doc stamp = ceil(amount / 100) × $0.35.
2. Non-recurring intangible personal property tax — F.S. § 199.133. Rate: 2 mills (0.002) of the mortgage amount, paid once at recording. Linear in the underlying dollar amount; no fractional rounding. Intangible tax = amount × 0.002.

Both taxes are paid once, at the moment the mortgage is recorded with the county clerk. The borrower customarily pays both — i.e., the buyer on a purchase, or the homeowner on a refinance. The Florida Realtors / Florida Bar standard contract (FR/Bar form) at Paragraph 9 allocates the mortgage-side taxes to the buyer.

F.S. § 201.08 — documentary stamp tax on notes

Section 201.08 imposes a stamp tax on every promissory note or non-negotiable written obligation to pay money executed or delivered in Florida (or, in the case of a mortgage on Florida real property, secured by Florida real estate). The rate is $0.35 per $100 of the face amount of the obligation, or fraction thereof. There is no jumbo cap, no high-end rate change, and no exemption based on the borrower's identity (with narrow government-program exceptions).

The "fraction thereof" rounding matters at the margins. The math: doc stamp = ceil(amount / 100) × $0.35. So:

• $100.00 mortgage → $0.35 (one whole $100 unit)
• $100.01 mortgage → $0.70 (one whole + one fractional $100 unit)
• $199.99 mortgage → $0.70 (two units, the second fractional)
• $200.00 mortgage → $0.70 (two whole units)
• $400,000.00 mortgage → $1,400.00 (4,000 units × $0.35)

Section 201.09 carves out a narrow exemption: a renewal or modification of an existing note executed by the same payee (i.e., the same lender continues to hold the obligation), where no new funds are advanced, is not subject to a fresh stamp tax. This is the statutory basis for the "modification refinance" exemption surfaced by this calculator.

F.S. § 199.133 — non-recurring intangible tax

Section 199.133 imposes a one-time tax on obligations secured by a lien on Florida real property, at 2 mills (0.002) per dollar. The historical context: Florida had a broader intangible personal property tax (recurring, annual) on stocks, bonds, and other intangibles. The legislature largely repealed that tax in 2007, but kept § 199.133 alive as a stand-alone, non-recurring tax on mortgages — recording-time only, never renewed.

Section 199.143 sets the per-transaction rules:

• A new mortgage securing a new obligation owes intangible tax on the full mortgage amount.
• A modification of an existing mortgage that does not advance new money is exempt — the original tax was paid at the original recording, and modifying the obligation does not create a new taxable event.
• A refinance with new money is split: the new-money portion is taxable on the new-money dollars; the modified portion of the original obligation is not separately taxed.
• An assumption where the buyer takes title subject to the existing mortgage (no new money, no new note) is exempt — the existing obligation simply continues with a new obligor.

The narrow same-lender requirement matters. The § 201.09 / § 199.143 exemptions apply only when the same mortgagee continues to hold the obligation. A refinance with a different lender — even at the same dollar-for-dollar loan amount — does not qualify, because the new lender takes a new note, which is a new taxable event.

Worked example: $400,000 purchase mortgage

Transaction: $500,000 single-family home purchase in Orange County with a $400,000 purchase money mortgage.

• Documentary stamp tax: ceil($400,000 / $100) × $0.35 = 4,000 × $0.35 = $1,400.00
• Non-recurring intangible tax: $400,000 × 0.002 = $800.00
• Total Florida mortgage-recording tax: $2,200.00
• Effective combined rate: $0.55 per $100 of mortgage

Plus the deed-side stamp tax under F.S. § 201.02 ($500,000 × $0.70 / $100 = $3,500) paid by the seller, the buyer's total mortgage-side recording-tax exposure on this $500,000 purchase is $2,200. County recording fees of roughly $200–$250 (separate clerk fees, not state taxes) are layered on top.

Worked example: $400,000 rate-and-term refinance with the same lender

Transaction: $400,000 mortgage on the same property, refinanced with the existing lender. The new note is exactly the unpaid principal balance. The refinance is documented as a mortgage modification agreement (not a new note + new mortgage).

• Documentary stamp tax: $0.00 — exempt under F.S. § 201.09 (renewal-or-modification exception; same mortgagee; no new money)
• Non-recurring intangible tax: $0.00 — exempt under F.S. § 199.143 (no new obligation created)
• Total Florida mortgage-recording tax: $0.00

Same loan amount, same property, same lender — same dollar of obligation. The savings versus a refinance with a different lender on the same terms: $2,200. This is the single most-important negotiating point in deciding whether to refinance with your current lender or to shop the rate to a new one. The rate savings have to be material enough to absorb $2,200 of avoidable Florida recording tax for the new-lender refinance to come out ahead.

Worked example: $400,000 cash-out refinance with $100,000 in new money

Transaction: $400,000 cash-out refinance on the same property. The unpaid principal balance of the existing mortgage is $300,000. The borrower is taking out an additional $100,000 in cash, for a new mortgage face amount of $400,000. The refinance is with a new lender (so the modification exemption does not apply).

• Documentary stamp tax: ceil($400,000 / $100) × $0.35 = $1,400.00 (F.S. § 201.08 doc stamps apply on the full face of the new note; new note = new taxable event)
• Non-recurring intangible tax: $100,000 × 0.002 = $200.00 (F.S. § 199.143 limits the intangible tax to the new-money portion only)
• Total Florida mortgage-recording tax: $1,600.00

Note the asymmetry between the two taxes: doc stamps apply on the full $400,000 (a new note is a new note); the intangible tax applies only on the $100,000 of new money (the existing obligation was already taxed at the original mortgage recording). This is the canonical illustration of why these two taxes have to be computed separately — they have different bases and different rules.

If the same refinance had been structured as a same-lender modification with $100,000 of new money, the doc stamps would also be limited to the new-money portion ($350 instead of $1,400), and the total recording tax would drop to $550 — a $1,050 savings on a same-lender same-property modification compared to a new-lender new-note refinance. The same-lender modification path is materially cheaper on any cash-out refinance, not just on rate-and-term refinances.

Common errors

Working with title agents and closing software across hundreds of Florida transactions, the recurring errors we see:

• Conflating the two taxes. The single most common error: lender disclosure forms (and non-Florida title software) lump both into a single "transfer tax" line at $0.35 per $100 — leaving the intangible tax silently uncollected, or double-counting one of the two. A correct Florida Closing Disclosure has two separate line items, each citing its own statute.
• Miscounting modification new money. A modification that includes capitalized interest or a small loan-modification fee is sometimes treated as a "new-money" event for the entire modified balance, when in fact only the new-money portion (typically the capitalized fees) is taxable. The unpaid principal balance carried forward into the modification is not separately taxed.
• HELOC basis dispute. Lenders occasionally try to assess both taxes only on the initial draw rather than on the maximum credit limit. The DOR TIP guidance on future-advance mortgages is clear: the maximum is the basis. Subsequent draws within the recorded maximum are not separately taxed, but the recording-time tax must be paid on the maximum up front.
• Skipping the doc stamp on a refinance. Both taxes apply on a new-lender refinance — there is no general "refinance exemption" on the doc stamp side. The exemption is narrow: same-lender, modification only, no new money.

What this calculator does NOT include

County recording fees are SEPARATE from the state mortgage-recording taxes computed here. Florida county clerks charge a per-page recording fee under F.S. § 28.24: typically $10 for the first page and $8.50 for each additional page. A typical recorded Florida mortgage runs 20 to 30 pages, so the recording fees on a single mortgage usually fall in the $175 to $255 range. Recording fees are clerk fees (not state taxes), flat-per-page (not rate-based), and vary slightly by clerk's office on specialty endorsements.

This calculator also does not compute the deed-side documentary stamp tax under F.S. § 201.02 (paid by the seller on the consideration in a purchase), the Miami-Dade discretionary surtax under F.S. § 201.031 (a deed-side tax that does not apply to mortgages), or any of the negotiated closing-side fees (title-search, settlement, examination, courier, endorsement). For full closing-cost modeling including all of these, see our Closing Cost Calculator. For the deed-side stamp tax in isolation, see our Documentary Stamp Tax Calculator.

How this page is maintained

The two underlying rates — $0.35 per $100 for the doc stamp and 2 mills for the intangible tax — have not moved in over two decades and are not on the legislative reform agenda. The last meaningful structural change was the 2007 repeal of the broader intangible personal property tax, which preserved § 199.133 as a stand-alone, non-recurring mortgage tax. The § 199.143 modification-and-new-money rules and the § 201.09 renewal exemption are similarly stable. We refresh this calculator each time the Florida DOR publishes a new TIP (Tax Information Publication) affecting these statutes, and after each Florida legislative session in case of any change.

Last reviewed: 2026-05-15 against F.S. § 201.08, § 201.09, § 199.133, § 199.143.