Florida · Chapters 199 and 201Florida mortgage doc stamps and intangible tax: what a buyer's loan costs at recording

On top of the 70-cents-per-$100 documentary stamp tax on the deed, a Florida buyer who finances pays two taxes on the new mortgage. Documentary stamp tax on the mortgage: under Florida Statutes §201.08(1)(b), mortgages, trust deeds and other evidences of indebtedness filed or recorded in Florida are taxed at 35 cents on each $100 – or fraction of $100 – of the debt. When there is both a mortgage and a note, the tax is paid on the mortgage when it is recorded and the note is marked as paid. (The $2,450 cap in §201.08(1)(a) applies to notes themselves, not to the tax on a recorded mortgage.) For a mortgage that secures future advances, the tax is paid on the initial debt at recording and on each advance as it is made. Nonrecurring intangible tax: §199.133 imposes a one-time tax of 2 mills – $2 per $1,000, or 0.2% – on notes and other obligations secured by a mortgage or other lien on Florida real property, to the extent secured by Florida property. It is due when the mortgage is presented for recording and is paid to the clerk of the circuit court; the lender is liable for it but may pass the amount on to the borrower (§199.135). So on a $320,000 loan, the mortgage stamps are $1,120 (3,200 × $0.35) and the intangible tax is $640. Some later transactions don't trigger the intangible tax again: a corrective mortgage for the same property and note, an assignment of a mortgage already taxed, an assumption where the debt stays the same, and a refinance with the same lender or its assignee up to the unpaid principal plus accrued interest – only the excess is taxed (§199.145).