Selling your Florida property as a Canadian resident
If you live in Canada and are not a U.S. person for tax purposes, the buyer of your Florida home or condo generally withholds 15% of the price at closing and sends it to the IRS — 10%, or nothing, when an individual buyer will live in it and the price is within the thresholds. It is a prepayment, not your tax: a U.S. return later settles the tax on your gain and claims the withholding back. Florida itself adds no income-tax withholding.
By Danilson Ramos · Founder, Atamatax
Updated
Your Florida Closing Cash Map
Set to Florida. Enter the figures in U.S. dollars, as they will appear on the settlement statement.
The full price, before the mortgage payoff or any costs.
Reduces your cash — not the withholding base.
Commission, closing fees, transfer taxes.
For the certificate screen only.
Florida has no personal income tax, so there is no Florida income-tax withholding on the sale. The federal FIRPTA withholding still applies, and the deed's documentary stamp tax is a closing cost, not a withholding.
Enter an expected sale price to see the withholding and your cash at closing.
Your status comes from facts, not your passport
FIRPTA asks one question about you: are you a U.S. person for income tax purposes? For most Canadian residents who own a winter home, the answer is no, and the withholding applies. But three facts change it, and they are common among Canadians in Florida: a U.S. citizenship you may have from birth or a parent, a green card obtained years ago and never formally given up, and a pattern of long winters that meets the substantial presence test. The foreign-seller guide walks through each test; the situation check asks about them without assuming anything from where you live.
What is particular about a Florida sale
- No state income-tax withholding. Florida has no personal income tax. Unlike sellers in a few other states, you face only the federal FIRPTA withholding.
- Condos sold to a buyer who will live there. Many Florida condos sell below $1,000,000 to buyers moving in — the case where the 10% rate (or none, at $300,000 or less) may apply. It depends on the buyer’s definite plans, and the closing agent usually asks the buyer to confirm them in writing.
- Sales to investors and companies. A buyer who will rent the unit out, or a company buying, means the full 15%.
- Closing costs on your statement. The documentary stamp tax on the deed, title charges and commission come out of your cash; they do not reduce the withholding.
The Canadian side, briefly
The U.S. return and the Canadian return deal with the same sale, in different currencies and under different rules. Atamatax and the U.S. professional handle the U.S. side — the withholding, any certificate, the U.S. return for the year of the sale. The Canadian reporting is for your Canadian adviser, and the two should exchange figures before either return is filed. If you do not yet have a U.S. taxpayer number, the ITIN process is the same for Canadians as for anyone else, and is worth starting early.
Working with a Florida realtor or title company?
Agents who handle Canadian sellers can introduce you to the FIRPTA Desk — with your consent — before the property is even listed. You decide later whether they may follow your case’s closing milestones; nothing private is shared with them otherwise.
How introductions work for realtors and title agentsQuestions
Common questions
- I'm a Canadian citizen. Am I automatically a foreign seller?
- No — citizenship does not decide it. You are a foreign seller if you are not a U.S. person for tax purposes. A Canadian who holds a green card, is also a U.S. citizen, or meets the U.S. days-present test without a recognised exception is treated differently. Most Canadian residents selling a Florida vacation home are foreign sellers, but the check asks the facts rather than assuming.
- I spend the winter in Florida. Does that change anything?
- It can. Long winters add up toward the substantial presence test (183 weighted days over three years). Many snowbirds who meet it rely on the closer-connection exception, claimed on Form 8840, or on the Canada–U.S. treaty's tie-breaker rule. If you have been meeting the test without either, settle your status with a professional before you sign anything at closing.
- Is there Florida tax withheld too?
- Florida has no personal income tax, so there is no Florida income-tax withholding on your sale. The documentary stamp tax on the deed is a closing cost on your settlement statement, not a withholding. The federal FIRPTA withholding still applies.
- Do I also pay tax in Canada on the sale?
- As a Canadian resident you generally report the sale in Canada as well. How the U.S. tax on the gain interacts with your Canadian return — foreign tax credits, currency conversion, the principal-residence rules — is a Canadian question for your Canadian adviser. The two returns need to agree, so it helps to involve them early.
- My mortgage is with a Canadian bank. Does that matter?
- Not for the withholding. Whoever holds the mortgage, the withholding is computed on the gross price; a loan paid off at closing reduces your cash, not the withholding base.
Plan your sale — or your closing
Planning to list next season? The check turns into a preparation plan with a document checklist and reminders. Already under contract? It shows your cash at closing and what the closing agent will need.
Check my FIRPTA situationAuthorities cited
- IRS: FIRPTA withholding — IRS — FIRPTA withholding (rate, amount realized, the residence test, multiple transferors)
- IRS: exceptions from FIRPTA withholding — IRS — Exceptions from FIRPTA withholding (residence at $300,000 or less, nonforeign certification, withholding certificate, nonrecognition)
- Instructions for Form 8288 — Instructions for Form 8288 (Rev. 01/2026) — rates, the 20-day filing rule, pending applications, multiple transferors, installment sales
- IRS: ITINs for foreign property sellers — IRS — ITIN guidance for foreign property buyers and sellers (Form W-7, the FIRPTA exception, the stamped Form 8288-A)
- IRS: withholding certificates — IRS — Withholding certificates (grounds, the 90-day target after a complete application, notice to the transferee)
- IRS: reporting and paying tax on U.S. real property interests — IRS — Reporting and paying tax on U.S. real property interests (the transferor's return and the stamped Form 8288-A)
Primary sources (Cornell Legal Information Institute for the US Code and CFR; IRS.gov for forms, procedures, and treaty documents). This page is general information, not individualized tax or legal advice.
Atamatax provides tax preparation support and educational resources. This website does not constitute legal or tax advice.