Broward County Transfer Tax: Rates, Who Pays, and Penalties

If you’re buying or selling real estate in Broward County, the Broward County transfer tax is Florida’s documentary stamp tax on the deed, charged at $0.70 for every $100 of the sale price.¹²³

How the Deed Tax Is Calculated

Florida Statutes Section 201.02 sets the rate at $0.70 per $100 of consideration in every county except Miami-Dade.⁴ “Consideration” is broader than the cash price. It covers any new mortgage the buyer takes out, any existing mortgage on the property whether formally assumed or not, and the value of anything else exchanged in the deal.¹

Round the consideration up to the next $100 before you calculate. A $450,050 sale is taxed as $450,100.⁴ Then divide by 100 and multiply by $0.70. A clean $450,000 sale produces 4,500 × $0.70, or $3,150. The rate works the same way for a vacant lot, a condo, or a commercial building.

Mortgage Tax and Intangible Tax

Financing brings two separate charges that the buyer pays. Under Section 201.08, the documentary stamp tax on a mortgage or promissory note is $0.35 per $100 of the loan, capped at $2,450 per document.⁵ The cap kicks in at a loan amount of $700,000. On a $360,000 mortgage, the tax is 3,600 × $0.35, or $1,260.

The nonrecurring intangible tax runs 2 mills, or 0.2 percent, on any new mortgage obligation secured by Florida real property.³ On that same $360,000 loan, it adds $720. There is no cap on the intangible tax. Both are collected when the mortgage is recorded.

A $450,000 Sale, Fully Costed

For a Broward buyer purchasing a $450,000 home with a $360,000 mortgage, the transfer-related taxes come to:

Documentary stamp tax on the deed: $3,150, typically paid by the seller
Documentary stamp tax on the mortgage: $1,260, paid by the buyer
Nonrecurring intangible tax: $720, paid by the buyer

Total across both sides of the table: $5,130. Buyers often budget only for the deed tax and get caught by the two financing charges. All three appear on the settlement statement, so reviewing a draft early avoids surprises at the closing table.

Who Pays What

Florida law makes all parties to the deed jointly liable for the deed stamp tax.¹ Broward custom and most standard purchase contracts put that cost on the seller. The parties can negotiate differently, and sometimes do when the market favors one side, but the default on a Broward contract is seller-pays.

The two financing charges are always the buyer’s, since they attach to the buyer’s loan. One wrinkle matters when a government entity or qualifying nonprofit is involved: if one party is tax-exempt, the non-exempt party owes the full amount.¹ The clerk will not record either document until the tax is paid in full.

When the Tax Is Reduced or Zero

Several categories of transfer owe no deed stamp tax, or owe it only on a smaller amount than the market value.

Divorce Transfers

A deed between spouses or former spouses as part of a dissolution of marriage owes no documentary stamp tax, provided the property was their marital home at the time of the divorce. The exemption applies regardless of the consideration involved.⁴ Reference the divorce decree or settlement agreement in the deed so the clerk can verify the exemption at recording.¹

Spousal Transfers of a Homestead

Adding or removing a spouse from the title of your homestead is exempt under Section 201.02(7)(b), but only if the sole consideration is the existing mortgage or lien on the property.⁴ That covers the usual case where one spouse deeds the home to both jointly, or both deed it to just one. If the property isn’t homestead, or if cash changes hands beyond the mortgage balance, the exemption doesn’t apply.

Gifts

A true gift with no money, no mortgage, and no other value exchanged has zero consideration and owes zero tax. The statute taxes “each $100 of the consideration,” so no consideration means no tax.⁴ Watch the mortgage trap: an existing loan counts as consideration even if the recipient never formally assumes it. “Gifting” a home with a $200,000 mortgage balance triggers $1,400 in tax. State clearly on the deed that no consideration beyond any existing encumbrance is involved.

Revocable Trust Transfers

Moving your home into a revocable living trust for estate planning is one of the most common filings in Broward, and the tax treatment catches many people off guard. Florida has no blanket exemption for estate planning transfers.¹ If the property is free and clear, a deed from you to yourself as trustee of your own revocable trust generally involves no consideration and owes no tax. If there’s an outstanding mortgage, the balance becomes the taxable amount. On a property carrying a $300,000 loan, that’s $2,100 just to retitle into your trust. Doing the transfer before you borrow against the property, or after you pay off the loan, avoids the charge.

Penalties for Late or Unpaid Tax

Because the clerk collects the tax at the recording counter and won’t accept the document without it, most buyers and sellers never see a penalty. The risk shows up when a taxable document is executed but never recorded, or when the consideration stated on the deed understates the actual price. Section 201.17 sets a tiered structure:⁶

First 30 days late: 10 percent of the unpaid tax
Each additional 30-day period: another 10 percent, up to a 50 percent maximum
Interest: 1 percent per month on the unpaid balance from the original due date
Fraud: if the Department of Revenue proves by clear and convincing evidence that a deficiency was due to fraud, the penalty jumps to 200 percent of the deficiency in place of the tiered penalty

A floating interest rate also applies to delinquent accounts, set at 11 percent for the first half of 2026.⁷ The minimum penalty is $10 even on a small deficiency, and these charges stack. An underpayment caught a year later can cost well more than the original tax.

Where and How It Gets Paid

Deeds and other transfer documents are submitted to the Broward County Records, Taxes and Treasury Division at 115 S. Andrews Avenue, Room 114, in Fort Lauderdale.⁸ Most title companies and real estate attorneys e-record, which is faster. Recording fees are $10.00 for the first page and $8.50 for each additional page, with $1.00 added per name over four in the index.⁹ A standard two-page warranty deed runs $18.50 in recording fees before any taxes.

The documentary stamp tax is paid to the clerk at recording. When a taxable document is not recorded, the tax goes directly to the Florida Department of Revenue.¹ Some older guides still reference Form DR-219 (Return for Transfers of Interest in Real Property). That form was repealed in 2008 and is no longer accepted.¹⁰ You do not need to file it.

1
Florida Department of Revenue. Florida Documentary Stamp Tax
2
The Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes 201.08
3
Florida Department of Revenue. Nonrecurring Intangible Tax
4
The Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes 201.02 – Tax on Deeds and Other Instruments Relating to Real Property or Interests in Real Property
5
The Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes 201.08 – Tax on Promissory or Nonnegotiable Notes and Written Obligations to Pay Money
6
The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 201 – Excise Tax on Documents
7
Florida Dept. of Revenue. Tax Information Publications 2026
8
Broward County. Records – County Records
9
Broward County. Taxes and Fees Fee Schedule
10
Florida Department of Revenue. Tax Information Publication 08B04-01 – DR-219 Form Filing Requirement is Repealed