The sale price isn’t what lands in your bank account. Before a Florida seller gets paid, the closing agent takes out the state’s documentary stamp tax on the deed, the owner’s title insurance policy if the seller is paying for it, a credit to the buyer for this year’s property taxes, the real estate commission, and the mortgage payoff. Sellers who aren’t U.S. tax residents may also have 10% or 15% of the price withheld for the IRS. This calculator works out each of these using Florida’s own
Florida Seller Net Proceeds Calculator
What you walk away with after selling a Florida home: the state deed tax, the owner’s title policy, the property tax proration, commission, and your mortgage payoff.
How this works: Florida charges a documentary stamp tax on the deed of 70 cents per $100 of the sale price (F.S. 201.02). The owner’s title insurance premium is set by state rule: $5.75 per $1,000 for the first $100,000 and $5.00 per $1,000 from $100,000 to $1 million, with lower rates above that and a $100 minimum. Florida property taxes are billed in November for the whole year, so at most closings the seller credits the buyer for the days the seller owned the home. Following the standard Florida Realtors/Florida Bar contract, that credit runs through the day before closing and uses the bill after the 4% early-payment discount.
FIRPTA: When the seller is a foreign person, federal law requires the buyer to withhold 15% of the sale price and send it to the IRS. The rate is 10% if the buyer will live in the home and the price is $1 million or less, and nothing is withheld if the buyer will live in it and the price is $300,000 or less. The withholding is a prepayment of U.S. tax, not a fee; the seller files a U.S. return to settle up. A withholding certificate from the IRS can reduce it.
Not included: Federal capital gains tax (Florida has no state income tax), HOA or CDD dues prorations, and any utility or assessment payoffs. For a buyer’s closing costs, see the closing cost calculator.
How to use the calculator
Enter the sale price and your mortgage payoff. For the payoff, use the payoff statement from your lender, not the balance on your monthly statement, because the payoff includes interest up to the closing date. Then enter the total commission you agreed to. Commissions are negotiable, so if you’ve offered to pay part of the buyer’s agent’s fee, include it in the total. Choose who pays for the owner’s title insurance. The standard Florida contract has a checkbox for this in paragraph 9(c), and in Central Florida it’s usually the seller.
For property tax, enter this year’s bill, or last year’s if this year’s isn’t out yet, along with your closing date. Florida tax bills come out in November for the whole year. So when you close earlier in the year, you credit the buyer for the days you owned the home. If you close in November or December after paying the bill, choose “Yes,” and the buyer pays you back for the rest of the year instead. Add any other costs you’ve agreed to, such as the title company’s settlement fee, an HOA estoppel letter, or repair credits.
As an example, take a $400,000 sale closing on March 15, 2027. The seller has a $200,000 payoff, pays a 5% commission, and has a $6,000 tax bill. That works out to:
- $2,800 in deed stamp tax.
- $2,075 for the owner’s title policy.
- A $1,152 tax credit to the buyer.
That leaves about $173,973 in net proceeds. If the seller is a Canadian snowbird who isn’t a U.S. tax resident and the buyer will live in the home, $40,000 (10%) is withheld for the IRS at closing. That leaves $133,973 in cash until the seller files a U.S. tax return. For the buyer’s side of the same sale, see the closing cost calculator.
Frequently Asked Questions
The main costs are the real estate commission, the documentary stamp tax on the deed (0.7% of the price), the owner's title insurance policy if the seller pays it, and a property tax credit to the buyer. On a $400,000 sale with a 5% commission closing in mid-March, those come to about $26,000, before the mortgage payoff and any other fees.
Under the standard Florida Realtors/Florida Bar contract, the seller pays the documentary stamp tax on the deed. It's 70 cents per $100 of the sale price, so $2,800 on a $400,000 home.
It depends on the contract. The standard Florida contract lets the buyer and seller choose, and local title companies say the seller usually pays in Central Florida. The premium itself is set by state rule: $2,075 on a $400,000 home.
Florida bills property taxes in November for the whole year, so at most closings the seller credits the buyer for the days the seller owned the home. The standard contract prorates through the day before closing, using the bill after the 4% early-payment discount. If the seller already paid the year's bill, the buyer pays the seller back for the rest of the year.
When the seller is a foreign person for U.S. tax purposes, such as many Canadian snowbirds, federal law requires the buyer to withhold 15% of the sale price for the IRS. It drops to 10% if the buyer will live in the home and the price is $1 million or less, and to zero if the buyer will live in it and the price is $300,000 or less. The seller recovers any excess by filing a U.S. tax return.
Florida has no state income tax. For federal tax, the IRS lets you exclude up to $250,000 of gain, or $500,000 on a joint return, if you owned the home and lived in it for at least two of the five years before the sale. Gain above that, or on a second home or rental, is generally taxable.
Sources:
- https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2026/201.02
- https://www.law.cornell.edu/regulations/florida/Fla-Admin-Code-Ann-R-69O-186-003
- https://www.myfloridacfo.com/division/consumers/understanding-insurance/title-insurance-overview
- https://www.consolidatedcredit.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/AS-IS-Contract-Sample.pdf
- https://www.pbctax.gov/taxes/property-tax/
- https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/1445
- https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/firpta-withholding
- https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/exceptions-from-firpta-withholding
- https://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc701
This article is for general informational purposes only and isn’t financial, legal, insurance, or tax advice - for guidance specific to your situation, talk to a licensed professional.