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What is Florida's doc stamp tax and who pays it?

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What Is Florida's Documentary Stamp Tax?

Florida charges a documentary stamp tax on certain closing documents. It shows up as a line on your Closing Disclosure or settlement statement. There are two separate stamp taxes, plus an intangible tax on the mortgage — they are not the same charge (Florida Dept. of Revenue — Documentary stamp tax).

The Deed Tax: Rate and Who Pays

The documentary stamp tax on the deed is $0.70 per $100 of the sale price. Miami-Dade County has a different rate for some property, so check locally if your deal is there.

• In most Florida counties, the seller customarily pays the deed tax.
• This is a county custom, not a state law — the contract can shift it to the buyer.
• Read the tax-proration or closing-costs section of your contract to see what it actually says.

The Note Tax and the Intangible Tax on the Mortgage

If you're financing, two more charges apply:

• Doc stamps on the promissory note: $0.35 per $100 of the loan amount.
• Intangible tax on the mortgage: $0.002 per dollar of the loan amount.
• Both of these are customarily paid by the borrower.

Florida has no other state transfer tax and no other mortgage tax beyond these two — the doc stamps and the intangible tax are it (Florida Dept. of Revenue — Documentary stamp tax).

Can This Line Change Between the Estimate and the Closing Disclosure?

Transfer taxes are one of the fees that generally cannot increase from the Loan Estimate to the Closing Disclosure without a valid changed circumstance (CFPB — Loan Estimate vs Closing Disclosure). If your doc stamp line went up, that's worth asking about — not because it's automatically wrong, but because this category has tight rules. Ask your lender for the changed-circumstance documentation if it moved.

What to Do Next

This is not legal or tax advice, and county customs and your contract control who actually pays. The free tool reads your own Closing Disclosure or Loan Estimate — or just the price, loan amount and county you tell it — and shows you the doc stamp and intangible tax lines, what they should be, who customarily pays, and whether the amount changed in a way that's allowed. Confirm every figure with your closing agent or the Florida Department of Revenue before you sign.

Closing Cost Check FL explains Florida closing costs and federal disclosure rules in plain language from official sources; it can be wrong, and it is not legal, financial or tax advice. Your contract and the closing agent's figures control. Nothing you paste is stored.