Documentary Stamps Calculation for the Florida Real Estate Exam (2026)

The math on documentary stamps looks straightforward. Multiply the price by the rate. Candidates usually miss these questions because they apply the wrong rate to the wrong document, use the statewide rate inside Miami-Dade, or skip the "or fraction thereof" rounding step built into Florida Statute 201.02.

Doc stamps are worth a dedicated deep dive because they are Florida-specific, formula-based, and easy to confuse with note stamps and intangible tax. The Florida real estate exam math formulas guide covers the broader math set; this post focuses on documentary stamps and related closing-tax traps.

This post covers the three transfer-related taxes you have to keep straight, the formula and rounding rule from F.S. 201.02, three worked examples in realistic Florida price ranges, four common traps, and the Florida-specific rules that make documentary stamp questions different from generic real estate math.

The three taxes you have to keep straight

Florida charges three separate taxes at closing that all get lumped together in casual conversation but are legally and mathematically distinct.

Deed documentary stamps (F.S. 201.02). The tax on documents that transfer an interest in Florida real property. Paid on the consideration (sale price). $0.70 per $100 in every Florida county except Miami-Dade. By customary practice the seller pays the deed stamps, though the contract controls the final allocation.

Promissory note documentary stamps (F.S. 201.08). The tax on documents that create a written obligation to pay money. Paid on the loan amount. $0.35 per $100 statewide. The buyer customarily pays this when financing the purchase.

Intangible tax on new mortgages (F.S. 199.133). A separate tax on the mortgage instrument itself, not the note. Paid on the loan amount. $0.002 per $1 statewide, which is equivalent to $2.00 per $1,000 or 0.2%. The buyer customarily pays this. New mortgages only; assumed mortgages do not trigger a new intangible tax.

Three different documents. Three different rates. Three different rounding rules. The exam routinely puts all three on a single transaction and asks you to compute one or all of them.

That produces three different doc stamp outcomes for the same sale price:

Property and county	Deed stamp rate
Miami-Dade single-family principal residence	$0.60 per $100 (base only, surtax exempt)
Miami-Dade condo, multi-family, commercial, vacant land	$1.05 per $100 ($0.60 base + $0.45 surtax)
Any of the other 66 Florida counties	$0.70 per $100

A $500,000 deed produces three different doc stamp totals depending on county and property type: $3,000 for a Miami-Dade single-family residence, $5,250 for a Miami-Dade condo, $3,500 for the same transaction in Hillsborough or any other non-Miami-Dade county. The exam writes wrong-answer choices specifically to catch candidates who memorize "$0.70 per $100" as if it were the only rate.

The formula

The formula is the same shape for all three taxes. The variables change.

Tax	Formula
Deed documentary stamps	(consideration / $100, rounded UP) x rate per $100
Note documentary stamps	(loan amount / $100, rounded UP) x $0.35
Intangible tax	loan amount x 0.002

Three things to internalize.

The "or fraction thereof" rounding rule applies to deed and note stamps, not intangible tax. Florida Statute 201.02 sets the deed stamp at $0.70 per $100 "or fraction thereof." That phrase is doing real work. A $425,150 sale price contains 4,251 full hundreds plus a partial hundred ($50), so the rounding rule converts that to 4,252 taxable units. Deed stamps on $425,150 = 4,252 x $0.70 = $2,976.40, not $425,150 x 0.0070 = $2,976.05.

Intangible tax has no rounding step. It uses the exact loan amount. $340,500 x 0.002 = $681.00.

The rate depends on the county and the property type for deed stamps. $0.70 per $100 everywhere except Miami-Dade. $0.60 per $100 in Miami-Dade for single-family residences. $1.05 per $100 in Miami-Dade for everything else.

Step 1: Deed and note stamps on a $425,000 Tampa home

A buyer is closing on a $425,000 single-family home in Hillsborough County (Tampa). The buyer is financing $340,000 (80% LTV). Both numbers are exact multiples of $100, so rounding doesn't come into play yet.

Deed stamps (seller pays by custom)

• Consideration: $425,000
• $425,000 ÷ $100 = 4,250 (clean)
• Hillsborough is not Miami-Dade, so the rate is $0.70 per $100
• Deed stamps = 4,250 x $0.70 = $2,975.00

Note stamps (buyer pays by custom)

• Loan amount: $340,000
• $340,000 ÷ $100 = 3,400 (clean)
• Rate: $0.35 per $100 (statewide)
• Note stamps = 3,400 x $0.35 = $1,190.00

Intangible tax (buyer pays by custom)

• Loan amount: $340,000
• Rate: $0.002 per $1
• Intangible tax = $340,000 x 0.002 = $680.00

Total state transfer-related taxes on this closing: $4,845.00

Step 2: The same $425,000 home, but it's a Miami-Dade condo

Same sale price ($425,000), same loan amount ($340,000), but the property is a condo in Miami-Dade County. The single-family residence exemption from the surtax does not apply to condos. So the Miami-Dade base rate AND the surtax both apply to the deed.

Deed stamps with Miami-Dade base + surtax

• Consideration: $425,000
• $425,000 ÷ $100 = 4,250
• Miami-Dade base: 4,250 x $0.60 = $2,550.00
• Miami-Dade surtax (because condo is not SFR): 4,250 x $0.45 = $1,912.50
• Total deed stamps = $4,462.50

Note stamps (same as Step 1, because note rate is statewide)

• 3,400 x $0.35 = $1,190.00

Intangible tax (same as Step 1, because intangible rate is statewide)

• $340,000 x 0.002 = $680.00

Total: $6,332.50

The same transaction is $1,487.50 more expensive in Miami-Dade than in Hillsborough. The math underneath that net number is: Miami-Dade's $0.60 base rate is $425 lower than the statewide $0.70, but the $0.45 surtax adds $1,912.50, for a net of $1,487.50 more. A candidate who forgets the surtax and uses the $0.60 base alone gets $2,550 on the deed. A candidate who applies the statewide $0.70 rate in Miami-Dade gets $2,975 on the deed. Both are tempting because each uses one correct fact in the wrong setting.

Step 3: A Miami-Dade single-family home, same $425,000

To complete the picture, here is the third Miami-Dade outcome. Same $425,000 price, but the property is a single-family residence used as the buyer's principal residence. The surtax exemption applies.

Deed stamps

• Consideration: $425,000
• $425,000 ÷ $100 = 4,250
• Miami-Dade base only (no surtax because property qualifies for SFR exemption)
• Deed stamps = 4,250 x $0.60 = $2,550.00

That's $425 less than the same sale in Hillsborough and $1,912.50 less than the same sale on a Miami-Dade condo. Three outcomes from one sale price, and the variable that determines the outcome is county-and-property-type, not the math.

The Four Traps That Cause Doc Stamp Mistakes

Trap 1: Forgetting the "or fraction thereof" rounding rule. Florida Statute 201.02 sets the deed stamp at $0.70 per $100 "or fraction thereof." That language is in the statute itself, not an interpretation. A $425,150 sale price = 4,251 full hundreds + a partial hundred. The rounding rule converts that to 4,252 taxable units. Deed stamps = 4,252 x $0.70 = $2,976.40, not $2,976.05.

Trap 2: Applying the statewide $0.70 rate in Miami-Dade. Miami-Dade's base rate is $0.60 per $100, not the statewide $0.70. Candidates who memorize "doc stamps = 0.7% of the sale price" without learning the Miami-Dade exception are vulnerable whenever a question puts the transaction in Miami-Dade.

Trap 3: Surtax confusion in Miami-Dade. The $0.45 surtax in Miami-Dade applies to every deed EXCEPT deeds transferring a single-family residence used as a principal residence. Condos do not qualify for the exemption. Multi-family does not qualify. Commercial does not qualify. Vacant land does not qualify. Only owner-occupied single-family principal residences qualify. The exam tests this by putting the transaction on a Miami-Dade condo or vacant lot and watching candidates apply the $0.60 base rate without the surtax. Wrong answer.

Trap 4: Mixing deed stamps, note stamps, and intangible tax. Three separate taxes, three separate rates, three separate bases. Deed stamps apply to the sale price. Note stamps apply to the loan amount. Intangible tax applies to the loan amount. A question may give you a sale price and a loan amount, then ask you to compute one specific tax or all of them. Candidates regularly use the sale price for note stamps or apply the $0.70 deed rate to the loan amount. The correct note stamp rate is $0.35 per $100.

Florida-specific rules that show up on the exam

The deed stamp base rate is $0.70 per $100 of consideration in 66 of Florida's 67 counties. Miami-Dade is the single exception, at $0.60.

The Miami-Dade surtax is $0.45 per $100 on every deed except single-family residential structures used as a principal residence. The exemption is for the surtax, not the base. Even an exempt Miami-Dade single-family residence still pays the $0.60 base.

The note stamp rate is $0.35 per $100 statewide. There is no Miami-Dade variation on note stamps. The rate is the same in every county.

The intangible tax rate is $0.002 per $1 of the loan amount, statewide, on new mortgages only. Assumed mortgages do not trigger a new intangible tax. The base is the exact loan amount; there is no $100-increment rounding step. F.S. 199.133.

The rounding rule "$0.70 per $100 or fraction thereof" applies to both deed and note stamps. Round up when the price or loan amount is not an exact multiple of $100.

Who pays is a customary allocation, not a statutory one. Florida custom outside Miami-Dade puts the deed stamps on the seller, the note stamps on the buyer, and the intangible tax on the buyer. Miami-Dade custom sometimes puts the deed stamps on the buyer. The purchase contract controls; the statute does not.

For exam purposes, the customary allocation is what gets tested unless the question specifies otherwise. The math is the math regardless of who pays; the "who pays" question is a separate item type from "compute the amount."

The Save Our Homes 3% cap, the homestead exemption, and the millage rate are completely separate from doc stamps. Doc stamps are a one-time transactional tax. Property taxes are annual. The two get confused only by candidates who haven't drilled them. We covered the annual side in the millage rate calculation post.

How to drill this for the exam

Doc stamps are a high-leverage drill target because the trap pattern is narrow. The common mistakes are the right number with the surtax forgotten, the rate confused between deed and note, the rounding step skipped, or the wrong county convention used. Those are all fixable with focused practice.

The drilling pattern that works:

Identify the document first. Always. Is this a deed or a note? That decision picks the rate ($0.70 or $0.60 or $1.05 for deeds; $0.35 for notes).

Identify the county next. Miami-Dade or not. If Miami-Dade, identify the property type to decide whether the surtax applies.

Then divide by $100 and check for a fractional part. If fractional, round UP.

Then multiply by the rate. That's the answer.

Re-read the question one more time before bubbling. Doc stamp wrong answers can look right at first glance because they often use one correct rate, county, or base number in the wrong place.

The Pass Florida Math Coach handles this directly with doc stamp practice across deed stamps, note stamps, intangible tax, statewide rates, Miami-Dade rates, the surtax exemption for single-family principal residences, and the fractional-price rounding rule.

Ready to drill the Florida exam math?

Documentary stamps are one of the cleanest Florida-specific math topics to improve because the rules are narrow and repeatable. Pass Florida was built for this kind of practice: 1,002 Florida-specific questions, Math Coach for 14 calculation types, a Trap Library for EXCEPT/NOT pattern questions, offline access, and one $39.99 purchase. No subscription, no upsells, no fake reviews.

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FAQ

What's the documentary stamp tax rate on a deed in Florida?

$0.70 per $100 of the consideration (sale price) in every Florida county except Miami-Dade. Miami-Dade uses a base rate of $0.60 per $100, plus a $0.45 per $100 surtax on every deed except deeds transferring a single-family residential structure used as a principal residence. The statute is F.S. 201.02 (base) and F.S. 201.031 (Miami-Dade surtax).

Why is Miami-Dade different from the rest of Florida on doc stamps?

Miami-Dade County adopted a discretionary surtax authorized by the Florida Legislature. The result is a unique two-tier structure: a $0.60 base rate (lower than the statewide $0.70) plus a $0.45 surtax on non-residential transfers. The combined Miami-Dade rate on a condo, multi-family, commercial, or vacant land deed is $1.05 per $100, which is higher than the statewide $0.70. A single-family principal residence deed in Miami-Dade pays $0.60 per $100, which is lower than the statewide rate. Same county, two outcomes depending on property type.

What's the doc stamp on a $400,000 home?

It depends on the county. In Hillsborough, Pinellas, Orange, Broward, or any of the other 65 non-Miami-Dade counties, deed stamps on $400,000 are 4,000 x $0.70 = $2,800. In Miami-Dade on a single-family principal residence, $2,400. In Miami-Dade on a condo or any non-SFR property, $4,200. The question should tell you the county and property type.

Does the rounding rule apply to intangible tax?

No. The "or fraction thereof" rounding rule applies to deed stamps (F.S. 201.02) and note stamps (F.S. 201.08). The intangible tax (F.S. 199.133) is computed on the exact loan amount with no $100-increment rounding. $340,500 x 0.002 = $681.00 exactly.

Who pays the doc stamps in Florida?

By custom, the seller pays the deed stamps and the buyer pays the note stamps and intangible tax. This is convention, not statute. The purchase contract controls the final allocation, and the parties can negotiate it. In Miami-Dade, custom sometimes puts the deed stamps on the buyer instead. The exam tests the customary allocation unless the question specifies otherwise.

Are there exemptions from the doc stamp tax?

Yes, but they're narrow. Common exemptions include transfers between spouses pursuant to a divorce decree, transfers to or from government entities, certain transfers to tax-exempt organizations, and transfers where the only consideration is the assumption of an existing mortgage (the tax base is reduced in those cases). The full list is in Florida Statute 201. For exam purposes, the most-tested exemptions are the spousal-transfer-pursuant-to-divorce exemption and the Miami-Dade SFR principal residence surtax exemption.

Is the intangible tax the same as the doc stamp on the note?

No. They are two separate taxes on the same financing transaction. The note doc stamp ($0.35 per $100) taxes the promissory note. The intangible tax ($0.002 per $1, or 0.2%) taxes the mortgage that secures the note. Both are paid by the buyer at closing on a new financed purchase. On a $340,000 mortgage, note stamps are $1,190 and intangible tax is $680, totaling $1,870 on the financing side alone.

How often do doc stamp questions appear on the Florida real estate exam?

The exact frequency varies by exam form, but documentary stamps are worth studying because they are Florida-specific, formula-based, and easy to test with short scenarios. They also connect to closing-cost questions, mortgage-note questions, and intangible-tax questions.

Sources & Methodology

What this post covers. The three transfer-related taxes Florida levies at closing: deed documentary stamps, promissory note documentary stamps, and the intangible tax on new mortgages. It explains how each is computed under F.S. 201.02, F.S. 201.031, F.S. 201.08, and F.S. 199.133, then works through examples across Hillsborough and Miami-Dade Counties.

Why doc stamps were prioritized in this math series. Doc stamps are Florida-specific, rate-driven, and easy to confuse with note stamps and intangible tax. The other math posts in this series cover proration, millage rate, and LTV.

Why the Miami-Dade surtax got dedicated treatment. The Miami-Dade two-tier structure, base rate plus surtax with a single-family exemption, is a common source of confusion. Candidates who learn only the statewide rate are not ready for Miami-Dade scenarios. Candidates who learn the Miami-Dade base rate but forget the surtax for non-SFR transfers are also exposed. The structure is codified at F.S. 201.031.

Sale price and loan amounts used in examples. The $425,000 sale price and $340,000 loan amount keep the math realistic while still making the rate differences easy to compare.

Rounding rule. All deed and note doc stamp examples use the "or fraction thereof" round-UP convention required by F.S. 201.02 and F.S. 201.08. Intangible tax examples use the exact loan amount per F.S. 199.133.

What this post does not cover. The $2,450 cap on doc stamps for certain types of promissory notes is briefly mentioned but not worked through in detail; it is not a high-frequency exam topic because most exam loan amounts fall below the threshold where the cap matters. Doc stamp exemptions for spousal transfers, government conveyances, and corporate restructurings are mentioned but not exhaustively documented; the post is exam-prep, not a tax-law treatise.

Reviewed May 2026. Florida tax rules, exam procedures, and candidate instructions can change. Verify current exam rules through DBPR and Pearson VUE, and verify tax rules through the Florida Department of Revenue or current Florida statutes.

• Florida Statutes Chapter 201, excise tax on documents
• F.S. 201.02, documentary stamp tax on deeds
• F.S. 201.031, Miami-Dade surtax
• F.S. 201.08, documentary stamp tax on notes and written obligations
• F.S. 199.133, intangible tax on obligations secured by liens on Florida real property
• Florida Administrative Code Chapter 12B-4, documentary stamp tax rules
• Florida Department of Revenue Documentary Stamp Tax guidance
• Pearson VUE and DBPR Florida real estate candidate materials

Keep Reading

• Florida Real Estate Exam Math Formulas
• Free Mixed Math Drill
• Documentary Stamps and Closing Costs
• Florida Documentary Stamp Tax Calculator
• Proration Calculations for the Florida Real Estate Exam
• Millage Rate Calculation for the Florida Real Estate Exam
• LTV Real Estate Exam Florida
• Florida Real Estate Practice Exam: Free Questions
• The 19 Topics on the Florida Real Estate Exam