Documentary stamp tax is a tax levied by the State of Florida on transfers of real estate. There are very few exceptions to the tax.
The documentary stamp tax amount, in every Florida county, except Miami-Dade County, is $0.70 per $100 of the amount paid or the amount of the mortgage at the time of the transfer. In Miami-Dade County, the documentary stamp tax amount is $0.60 per $100 of the total consideration paid for single-family residences and there is an additional surtax of $0.45 per $100 of the total consideration when the transferred property is not a single-family residence.
NOTE: If you are transferring your property and no money is changing hands and the property is not encumbered by a mortgage, then you will likely only be responsible for minimum documentary stamp tax, which would only be $0.70 in all Florida counties except Miami-Dade County where the tax would be $0.60 for residential and an additional $0.45 for non-residential.
Some examples of situations where documentary stamp taxes would be owed based on the amount of the sale price or mortgage are:
• Selling a house – You sell your house in Broward County for $100,000. You would owe $0.70 for every $100 of the $100,000 sale price. Thus, the amount you would owe in documentary stamp tax would be $700.
• Transferring property encumbered by a mortgage – You are transferring your property in Miami-Dade County to your brother and the property is encumbered by a mortgage. At the time of the transfer, the mortgage is $250,000. You would owe $0.60 for every $100 of the $250,000 mortgage, which would be $1,500.
• Adding or removing someone from your deed – You are removing your father from your deed and the property, in Palm Beach County, is encumbered by a mortgage. The amount of the mortgage at the time you are removing your father is $300,000. You would owe $0.70 for every $100 of the $300,000 mortgage, which would be $2,100. NOTE: As of 2024, there is an exception for adding or removing your spouse from title if the property is your homestead.
Two common exceptions to documentary stamp taxes include:
• Adding or removing your spouse from the deed of your homestead – No documentary stamp tax is owed when adding or removing your spouse from title to your homestead property. See Florida Statute Section 201.02(7)(b). Even if you have a mortgage on the property at the time you add or remove your spouse from your homestead, no documentary stamp tax would be owed (as of 2024). It is possible that this statute could be changed, so make sure to confirm the statute is still in existence at the time you add or remove your spouse.
• Transferring your property to your revocable living trust – No documentary stamp tax is owed when transferring your property to your revocable living trust if you are the beneficial owner of the trust. In other words, if you are the settlor of your revocable living trust, then you will not owe documentary stamp tax. The reason for this is that there is no change in beneficial ownership if you are transferring the property from yourself to your revocable living trust since you have total control over the trust and the property in it.