Florida Documentary Stamp Tax: Loans, Notes and Moving Property Into an LLC
Florida Documentary Stamp Tax: Loans, Notes and Moving Property Into an LLC
Florida's documentary stamp tax, usually called doc stamps, is a tax on certain written documents, not on your business's profits. Two common LLC moves trigger it without many owners realizing: lending money to your own company with a promissory note, and transferring real estate into the LLC by deed. A mortgage adds a separate tax, the nonrecurring intangible tax. This guide covers the rates, how the tax works in the common cases, who is liable, and how to report and pay.
This is informational content, not legal or tax advice. The rates below are the verified state figures. Doc stamp rules have exceptions, and how the tax applies to your transaction depends on facts this article cannot see. Confirm your situation with the Florida Department of Revenue (DOR), and work with a Florida real estate attorney or CPA before you sign a note, record a deed or close on a mortgage.
What doc stamps are and who pays them
Doc stamps attach to the document, not to the business. For LLC owners, three documents matter most:
- Promissory notes and other written obligations, including a note from you to your LLC
- Deeds that transfer real estate
- Mortgages, which carry their own intangible tax
Every party to the document is liable for the tax, regardless of who agrees to pay it. If your note or operating agreement says the LLC will cover the stamps, that promise does not protect you if the tax goes unpaid. Neither side is off the hook because the other side agreed to pay.
The rates at a glance
| Document | Rate | Cap or special rule |
|---|---|---|
| Promissory note or written obligation, unsecured | 35 cents per $100 | Capped at $2,450 per document |
| Promissory note or written obligation secured by a mortgage | 35 cents per $100 | No cap |
| Deed | 70 cents per $100 | Miami-Dade uses 60 cents plus a 45-cent surtax, except on single-family dwellings |
| Mortgage (nonrecurring intangible tax) | 2 mills | A mill is one-tenth of a cent, so 2 mills is $2 per $1,000 borrowed |
Confirm the Miami-Dade figures for your specific property with DOR before you calculate, because the surtax exception turns on how the property is classified.
Loans from you to your LLC: promissory notes
Many owners fund a new LLC with a loan instead of a capital contribution. The loan is recorded in a promissory note, and the note is a written obligation subject to the 35-cent rate. The tax is calculated on the principal amount.
Here is how that works in practice:
- A $50,000 unsecured note from you to your LLC owes $175 ($50,000 divided by $100, times $0.35).
- An unsecured note is capped at $2,450 per document. At 35 cents per $100, the cap is reached at $700,000 of principal, so any unsecured note above that amount still owes $2,450.
- A note secured by a mortgage has no cap. A $1,000,000 secured note owes $3,500.
The fact that you are lending to a company you own does not change the math. The LLC is the borrower, you are the lender, and both are liable under the rule above.
Some owners avoid a note by tracking the money only in the bookkeeping. That is a different question with its own tax and liability consequences, so it belongs in a conversation with a CPA, not a shortcut you take at formation.
Mortgages and the 2-mill intangible tax
A mortgage is taxed separately from the note it secures. The nonrecurring intangible tax is 2 mills, which is $2 for every $1,000 borrowed. On a $200,000 mortgage, that is $400.
"Nonrecurring" means the tax is paid once when the mortgage is created, not every year. A mortgage-secured note can therefore carry both the 35-cent note tax and the 2-mill mortgage tax. Ask your closing agent or DOR to show you the total before you sign, so you are not surprised at the table.
Moving real estate into an LLC by deed
The deed rate is 70 cents per $100 of the taxable amount. On a $200,000 deed outside Miami-Dade, the stamp tax is $1,400. Miami-Dade deeds follow the separate structure in the table above.
Owners often assume that a transfer to a company they already control is free of tax. That assumption is wrong often enough to cost real money. A deed to your own LLC can trigger doc stamps, so confirm the taxable amount and any exemption with DOR or a Florida real estate attorney before the deed is recorded.
A deed transfer also raises questions this article does not cover, and each one can be expensive if missed:
- Your mortgage. Read the loan documents for transfer restrictions and any lender consent requirement before you deed the property.
- Your title insurance. Ask the title insurer how a transfer to an LLC affects your existing policy and whether the LLC needs its own coverage.
- Your homestead exemption. If the property is your homestead, ask a Florida attorney or the county property appraiser how moving title to an LLC affects that status before you act.
Moving other property into the LLC
Cash, equipment, vehicles and other personal property are not deeds, notes or mortgages, so the rates in this guide do not apply to them on their face. The risk is in the paperwork. If you document a transfer of cash as a note, the note is taxed at 35 cents per $100. If you document it as a capital contribution, there is no note to tax, but the contribution has its own tax and ownership consequences.
Ask DOR whether any bill of sale or assignment you use for equipment or vehicles triggers a stamp tax, and check sales tax on those transfers as a separate question. The answer depends on the transaction, so do not assume a bill of sale is automatically exempt.
Annual intangible tax: confirm before you assume
Florida's annual intangible personal property tax is a separate tax from the 2-mill nonrecurring intangible tax on mortgages. Florida repealed the annual intangible personal property tax effective January 1, 2007, so only the 2-mill nonrecurring tax on mortgages and other liens on Florida real property remains.
How to report and pay
Doc stamps are reported to DOR on one of two forms, depending on your registration status:
- DR-228 for taxpayers who are not registered.
- DR-225 for registered taxpayers, which applies when you have 5 or more taxable transactions in a month.
Payment is due on the 20th of the month following the transaction. A transaction in October is due by November 20. Because the right form depends on your registration status and transaction volume, confirm which one applies to you on the DOR website at floridarevenue.com.
If a title company or closing agent handles your transaction, ask in writing who is remitting the stamp tax, on which form and by what date. Remember that every party stays liable even if someone else was supposed to handle it.
Common mistakes that cost owners money
- Assuming a loan from you to your LLC is free of tax because the money stays in the family of entities.
- Assuming the LLC pays the stamps so you do not have to think about them.
- Deeding property into the LLC without checking the stamp tax, the mortgage, the title policy and the homestead status.
- Calculating the unsecured note tax without applying the $2,450 cap, or applying the cap to a secured note that has none.
- Missing the 20th-of-the-month deadline or filing the wrong form for your registration status.
When to bring in a professional
Simple cases, such as a small unsecured note with no mortgage and no deed, may be manageable on your own with DOR's guidance. Get professional help before you proceed if any of these apply: you are deeding real estate to an LLC, the property is or was your homestead, a mortgage is involved, the note is large, you have multiple owners or lenders, or the LLC is taxed as a corporation. A Florida real estate attorney can review the deed and mortgage paperwork, and a CPA can advise on how the loan or contribution affects your tax position.
Official resources
- Florida Department of Revenue: https://floridarevenue.com/
- Florida Department of State, Division of Corporations (Sunbiz): https://dos.fl.gov/sunbiz/
Doc stamps are one part of forming and funding an LLC in Florida. Get the rates right before you sign, because the tax is owed on the document whether or not the transaction feels like a real sale.