The Florida documentary stamp tax is a state excise tax on documents that transfer an interest in real property, and on written obligations to pay money. On a purchase you pay it twice: once on the deed, and again on the promissory note.
The 2026 rates
- Deed, every county except Miami-Dade: $0.70 per $100 of consideration. No cap.
- Deed in Miami-Dade: $0.60 per $100, plus a $0.45 per $100 surtax. The surtax skips single-family dwellings.
- Promissory note: $0.35 per $100, capped at $2,450 per obligation.
- Mortgage securing that note: $0.35 per $100 of the debt. No cap.
Two details trip people up. Miami-Dade uses a different structure from the rest of Florida. And the cap applies to the note, while the mortgage carries none.
Who pays which half
Custom across most of Florida gives the deed tax to the seller and the note tax to the buyer. The buyer signs the note, so the buyer pays its tax.
Custom is not law. Your purchase contract decides it, so read that clause rather than assuming.
Worked example
Take a $400,000 purchase outside Miami-Dade with a $320,000 mortgage.
- Deed: $400,000 divided by 100, times $0.70, gives $2,800. Customarily the seller.
- Note: $320,000 divided by 100, times $0.35, gives $1,120. Customarily the buyer.
A refinance transfers no interest, so no deed tax applies. The new note still owes its share.
Transfers that work differently
The tax follows consideration, meaning whatever someone actually gave for the property. Several everyday transfers therefore behave differently from a sale.
- A deed between spouses may owe only the minimum tax, when no real consideration changes hands
- Take a property subject to an existing mortgage and the balance you assume counts as consideration
- Gift unencumbered property to a relative and the minimum tax usually applies, not a percentage of market value
- A quitclaim deed earns no exemption by itself. What the parties paid decides the tax, not the form of the deed.
These turn on the facts. Your closing agent should confirm the treatment before you count on an exemption.
Where it lands at closing
The county clerk collects this tax at recording. It appears on your Closing Disclosure beside the intangible tax and title insurance. Those three charges are what make a Florida closing different. See Florida closing costs for the full picture.
Definition reviewed by Renzo Johnson, Licensed Mortgage Loan Originator. Last updated August 2026.