The Quick Read: Florida taxes the new mortgage, not the owner, so living in another state changes nothing about the bill. On a cash-out, the tax applies to the full face amount of the new loan, not just the cash you pull out.
- Two separate taxes apply: documentary stamp tax at $0.35 per $100 of the note, and a nonrecurring intangible tax at 2 mills ($0.002 per dollar) of the note.
- Together they run about $5.50 per $1,000 borrowed, before title and recording fees.
- The $2,450 cap applies to unrecorded notes, not to a mortgage recorded against Florida property.
- Signing in your home state does not avoid the tax when the mortgage is recorded in Florida.
- DSCR coverage does not change. The taxes are a one-time closing cost, so they reduce your net cash instead.
Why Does Florida Tax a Loan Instead of the Borrower?
Florida attaches these taxes to the paper, not the person. When a lender records a mortgage against Florida real property, the state taxes the debt that mortgage secures. Your driver’s license, your LLC’s state of formation, and the state where you sign never enter the formula.
DSCR Cash-Out Calculator
Run the cash-out numbers in Florida
Rate source: Freddie Mac 30-yr average via FRED® — Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis · effective Oct 8, 2026
Prefilled with starting assumptions — enter your property’s value, balance, taxes, and insurance for a more accurate picture.
Program parameters update from Lendmire’s centralized guideline source. Taxes and insurance are editable estimates.
As of Oct 8, 2026 · General Freddie Mac market benchmark, not a Lendmire loan offer. Property value, balance, taxes, and insurance are editable estimates. Maximum loan-to-value varies by lender, program, property type, and seasoning. Not a Loan Estimate, approval, or commitment to lend. Program availability and eligibility are subject to lender guidelines, credit approval, property review, and underwriting.
A DSCR cash-out refinance is almost always a brand-new loan. A new note is signed, a new mortgage is recorded, and the old loan is paid off at closing. That new recorded mortgage is the trigger. DSCR loans are designed for non-owner-occupied investment properties, so the borrower is often an LLC, subject to lender program eligibility. The tax treats an LLC owned by someone in Ohio and an individual in Orlando the same way.
That is good news for planning. You do not need to research your home state’s rules to estimate the Florida bill. You need one number: the face amount of the new loan.
The Two Taxes, Defined
The first is documentary stamp tax, usually called doc stamps. The Florida Department of Revenue says notes and other written promises to pay money are taxed at 35 cents per $100, or portion thereof, of the full obligation. It is collected when the document is recorded, and in practice the title or closing agent collects it at closing.
The second is the nonrecurring intangible tax. It is a separate tax under a separate statute, and it applies to debts secured by a mortgage on Florida real property. The rate is 2 mills, meaning the loan amount times 0.002. The calculator at PassFloridaRealEstate shows the same formula, and notes that doc stamps round up to the next $100 while the intangible tax does not round.
Many investors budget for one and get surprised by the other. Plan for both.
Does Out-of-State Ownership Change the Bill?
No. The only variable that moves the number is the size of the new recorded loan. Here is how the common out-of-state situations play out.
| Your situation | Florida tax applies? |
|---|---|
| Individual living in another state | Yes, on the recorded mortgage |
| Out-of-state LLC owns the property | Yes, same calculation |
| You sign at home before a notary | Yes, if the mortgage is recorded in Florida |
| Mail-away or remote closing | Yes, same trigger |
The signing-location question trips up many people. Florida law does have an out-of-state execution concept, but it helps only on debts that are not secured by a Florida mortgage. When the loan is secured by a mortgage on Florida property and that mortgage is recorded, both taxes are due on recording. Signing the note in Chicago does not move the collateral out of Florida.
The practical takeaway: an out-of-state owner pays no premium and gets no discount. You pay what a Florida resident would pay on the same loan.
What Gets Taxed on a Cash-Out: The Whole Loan
The tax base is the full face amount of the new note and mortgage. It is not the cash-out portion alone.
Say your property has an existing balance and you take a new loan that pays it off and puts cash in your pocket. The state does not care how the new loan is split between payoff and proceeds. It sees one new note. That makes a cash-out cost more than the “new money” alone would suggest, and it is why investors sometimes feel the tax is out of proportion to the cash they received.
Two related points matter here:
- No deed tax on a plain refinance. Doc stamps also apply to deeds, at $0.70 per $100 per the Department of Revenue page. But a refinance with no change in ownership does not involve a new deed, so only the note and mortgage taxes apply. Title agencies such as Atlantic Title Firm make the same point on their calculator page.
- Rounding matters slightly. A loan that lands one dollar over a $100 increment pays doc stamps on the next full $100. The effect is under a dollar of tax per rounding step, so it rarely moves a decision.
The Worked Math, Step by Step
Run the numbers on a modeled loan of $400,000. These figures are an illustration built from the rates above, not a quoted fee.
1. Divide the loan by $100. That gives 4,000 units. 2. Multiply by $0.35. Doc stamps come to $1,400. 3. Multiply the loan by 0.002. The intangible tax comes to $800. 4. Add them. The two taxes total $2,200.
For a sourced parallel, the Atlantic Title Firm page works a $320,000 note: $1,120 in doc stamps plus $640 in intangible tax.
A fast shorthand: doc stamps are $3.50 per $1,000 borrowed, the intangible tax is $2.00 per $1,000, so the pair costs about $5.50 per $1,000. Here is how that scales across modeled loan sizes.
| Modeled loan amount | Doc stamps | Intangible tax | Combined |
|---|---|---|---|
| $250,000 | $875 | $500 | $1,375 |
| $400,000 | $1,400 | $800 | $2,200 |
| $600,000 | $2,100 | $1,200 | $3,300 |
| $1,000,000 | $3,500 | $2,000 | $5,500 |
Notice that the cost climbs in a straight line. There is no ceiling to flatten it. For a view of how this plays out by loan size, see Lendmire’s article How Much Florida Doc Stamps Add to a DSCR Cash-Out by Loan Amount.
The $2,450 Cap Is a Trap
Investors search for a cap and find one. The Department of Revenue page says tax on a note or other written obligation is capped at $2,450. Stop reading there and you will think your exposure is limited.
It is not. That cap covers notes. It does not cover mortgages recorded in Florida. Koontz & Associates states plainly that there is no limit on the documentary stamp tax due for mortgages or liens filed or recorded in Florida. The unrecorded-note situation, where the lender pays the tax directly to the state, is rare in DSCR lending and mostly irrelevant to your file.
A DSCR cash-out is a recorded mortgage. Assume no cap.
Where the General Rule Bends
The “tax the whole new loan” rule holds for nearly every investor cash-out. A few edge cases deserve a mention, and each one is a question for your title agent, not an assumption to bank on.
Renewal exemptions. Florida practice recognizes that a renewal note can be exempt when it continues an original debt without enlarging it and without adding new borrowers. A cash-out enlarges the balance by definition, and when the balance rises, tax is due on the increase at minimum. A DSCR cash-out with a new lender also usually pays off the old loan instead of renewing it. Treat the exemption as unlikely and confirm with the title agent.
Assignment structures. A Lexology legal article describes a technique where a lender takes an assignment of an existing note and mortgage, with no tax on an assignment between lenders. That is a commercial-lending tool. DSCR cash-outs do not commonly use it, so do not count on it.
Changing the borrowing entity. If you move title into a new LLC as part of the refinance, two things can happen. The new obligor likely defeats any renewal exemption. And the deed itself can trigger deed doc stamps. The Department of Revenue’s Form GT-800014 says that when mortgaged property is transferred, tax is generally due on half of the outstanding mortgage balance. That rule has exceptions, so ask the title agent how your specific transfer is treated before you restructure.
Miami-Dade. The deed rate differs in that county, but the mortgage note rate is statewide. Your cash-out math does not change.
This is also where Lendmire’s role matters. The brokerage arranges financing through select lenders in its wholesale network and cannot promise a reduced tax base. The title agent handling the closing owns that question.
What the Taxes Do to a DSCR File
Here is the part that surprises people. These taxes have no effect on your coverage ratio.
DSCR compares rent to the full monthly obligation: principal, interest, taxes, insurance, and any association dues. Doc stamps and intangible tax are one-time closing costs, so they never enter that monthly math. Your coverage number is the same with or without them.
What they do change is your net cash. On a cash-out, closing costs typically come out of the proceeds. Cash-out refinances on investment property top out around 75% LTV across most of the network, and many programs expect about 6 months of ownership before you tap equity, measured from title recording. Because the tax sits inside the closing costs and the loan stays under that ceiling, a bigger tax bill means a smaller check to you. Your equity position does not improve to compensate. Program terms vary by lender and are subject to lender guidelines.
Two other things to keep straight. Clearing 1.00 coverage is where select programs start, but it is not the same as positive cash flow, because repairs, vacancy, and management sit outside the ratio. And the right comparison for a Florida cash-out is net proceeds after all costs, not the headline loan size. For the bigger picture of how these loans work, see Lendmire’s complete DSCR loans guide.
A broker’s observation from files like these: out-of-state owners often discover the tax at the closing statement because the early cost estimate used a rough percentage. Ask for a line-by-line estimate up front. The stronger files compare Florida’s tax cost against smaller alternatives, since a second lien or line of credit taxes only the new note, not a whole new first mortgage.
DSCR vs. conventional financing
There are two common ways to finance an investment property, and they qualify you differently — here’s how investors weigh them.
Why investors choose it
- Qualifies on the property’s rental income — no personal tax returns, W-2s, or pay stubs needed to document income.
- No personal debt-to-income ceiling to clear, so existing mortgages and obligations don’t cap your borrowing the same way.
- Can be closed in an LLC, keeping the property inside a business entity.
- Built for scaling — not held to the limit on number of financed properties that conventional financing applies.
- Underwriting centers on the deal: generally qualifies when the rent covers the payment, a 1.00x coverage ratio being a common baseline (confirmed in underwriting).
- Designed specifically for investment property, including long-term and, where the program allows, short-term rentals.
Where it’s strong
- Often the lowest ongoing financing cost for a buyer who fully qualifies on personal income — a fit for a first property or a cost-first purchase.
Trade-offs for investors
- Requires full personal income documentation and must fit within a debt-to-income limit — salary, existing debts, and other mortgages all count.
- Typically held in your personal name rather than a business entity.
- Caps how many financed properties you can carry, which can become a ceiling as a portfolio grows.
- Evaluates you as a borrower as much as the property, which usually means more paperwork.
How investors usually choose: a first or single property often optimizes for the lowest financing cost; portfolio builders often optimize for leverage, vesting in an LLC, and scaling past conventional caps. The right answer depends on your goals, the property, and current guidelines — both paths run through select lenders in Lendmire’s wholesale network, with eligibility and terms confirmed in underwriting.
Who Pays and Where It Shows Up
| Item | Base | Typically collected |
|---|---|---|
| Doc stamps on note and mortgage | Full new loan, rounded up per $100 | At closing, via title agent |
| Intangible tax | Full new loan, no rounding | At closing, via title agent |
| Deed doc stamps | Only if title transfers | Seller side on a sale |
| Recording fees | Per document | Separate from the taxes |
The taxes are paid to the county clerk or recording official at recording. Look for them as separate lines on the closing statement from the title agent, and do not let them hide inside a lump “title and closing” figure.
Common Mistakes Out-of-State Owners Make
- Assuming doc stamps live only on the deed. On a refinance they sit on the note and mortgage even with no deed.
- Trusting the $2,450 cap. It does not reach recorded mortgages.
- Budgeting only for the cash-out amount. The whole new loan is taxed.
- Believing out-of-state signing avoids the tax. It does not, when Florida collateral is recorded.
- Mixing up the two taxes. They come from different statutes and show up as different lines.
- Moving the property into a new LLC at the same time. That can add deed stamps and weaken any exemption.
Tax treatment can depend on how the funds are used and how the property is held; investors should keep clear records and speak with a qualified tax professional before relying on any deduction.
Pre-Closing Checklist for Out-of-State Owners
1. Ask the title agent for an itemized estimate showing doc stamps, intangible tax, and recording fees on separate lines.
2. Confirm the loan amount used as the tax base matches the new note, not just the cash-out.
3. Decide whether the borrower and the titleholder will be the same entity. If not, ask about deed stamps first.
4. Check what the file’s net proceeds look like after all costs, not before.
5. Compare against a smaller second-lien option if the net number disappoints.
6. Confirm the property type is eligible. Manufactured homes, log homes, and barndominiums are not offered in the network’s DSCR programs.
If you are buying or refinancing a rental property and want to see how the numbers work, Lendmire can help you compare DSCR loan options based on the property income, credit profile, leverage, and investor goals. The brokerage arranges DSCR financing through select lenders across 41 markets, including Washington, D.C.
Key Terms Defined
Doc stamps: Florida’s documentary stamp tax, charged at $0.35 per $100 of a note or recorded mortgage.
Intangible tax: A separate one-time Florida tax on debts secured by Florida real property, at 2 mills of the loan amount.
Face amount: The full dollar size of the new note, which is the base for both taxes.
Cash-out refinance: A new loan that pays off the old one and returns extra cash to the owner.
Seasoning: The ownership period a lender wants before it will allow a cash-out, commonly about 6 months.
Obligor: The person or entity legally responsible for repaying the debt.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does living outside Florida lower the doc stamp bill?
No. The taxes attach to the recorded mortgage on Florida property, so your state of residence, your LLC’s home state, and your signing location do not change the amount. The only input is the face amount of the new loan.
Are both Florida taxes charged on a refinance, even with no new deed?
Yes. A plain refinance involves no deed, so no deed stamps apply. But the new note and mortgage still carry doc stamps, and the intangible tax applies to the new secured debt. Both are calculated on the full new loan.
Is there a maximum on the doc stamp tax for a mortgage?
Not for a recorded mortgage. The $2,450 cap belongs to notes and does not extend to mortgages recorded in Florida. A larger loan simply pays proportionally more.
Can an exemption reduce the tax base on my cash-out?
Possibly, but rarely. Renewal exemptions require continuing the original debt without enlarging it or adding new borrowers, and a cash-out enlarges the balance. Because possible exemptions depend on the structure, ask the title agent before assuming any reduction.
Do these taxes change my DSCR coverage ratio?
No. DSCR looks at rent against the monthly obligation, and these taxes are one-time closing costs. They reduce your net cash from the refinance instead, so judge the deal on proceeds after costs.
A deeper walk-through of investment-property equity extraction lives in Lendmire’s guide to cash-out refinance on an investment property.
About Lendmire
As a non-QM mortgage broker (NMLS# 2371349), Lendmire facilitates DSCR investor loans across 41 markets, including Washington, D.C. DSCR eligibility is generally reviewed around property-level rental income instead of personal income documentation, subject to lender guidelines, serving LLC-structured portfolios and self-employed borrowers who don’t fit conventional boxes. A two-time Scotsman Guide Top Mortgage Workplace (2025, 2026).
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References
1. Florida Department of Revenue – Documentary Stamp Tax
2. PassFloridaRealEstate – Documentary Stamp Tax Calculator
3. Atlantic Title Firm – Florida Doc Stamp Calculator
4. Koontz & Associates – Documentary Stamp Taxes
5. Lexology – Don’t Pay Unnecessary Doc Stamp Tax
6. Florida Department of Revenue – Form GT-800014
This article is part of Lendmire’s investment property cash-out refinance program — full qualification details, guidelines, and scenarios live on the program page.
Related reading: DSCR Cash-Out Requirements for a BRRRR Payoff of Hard Money · Can a BRRRR Investor Pay Off Hard Money With a DSCR Cash-Out? · How Much a Lock-in Landlord Saves With a Rental HELOC Over a New First
Guides: Investment Property Cash-Out Refinance in Florida
Brandon Miller
Founder & CEO, Mortgage Loan Originator, Lendmire LLC
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- Lendmire LLC · Firm NMLS# 2371349 · Verify firm licensure
Required disclosures. Lendmire (NMLS# 2371349) operates as a licensed mortgage broker, not a direct lender or depository. The discussion in this article is general in nature and should not be relied upon as financial, legal, or tax advice — every investment scenario is unique and should be reviewed by a qualified professional. Any loan inquiry is subject to lender underwriting, and this article is not a commitment to lend or a guarantee of approval. Mortgage rates, loan terms, and program guidelines vary by borrower, property, and state, and may change without notice. Equal Housing Opportunity. Verify licensure at NMLS Consumer Access.