Three taxes Florida does not have, the federal step-up that usually erases the gain, the doc stamps and prorations that remain, and the homestead wrinkle that changes the math. What heirs actually pay when they sell.
By InTym Properties
Florida heirs start with a piece of good news: the state charges no inheritance tax, no estate tax, and no income tax on the sale of an inherited house. The taxes that remain are mostly federal, and the biggest federal rule, the step-up in basis, usually erases most or all of the taxable gain.
What follows is the map: which taxes do not exist here, which ones do, the local costs that show up on the settlement statement, and the homestead wrinkle that surprises heirs every year. This is orientation, not tax advice; your CPA should confirm the numbers on your specific estate before you sign anything.
Start with what you can cross off. Florida levies no inheritance tax (a tax on the heir for receiving), no state estate tax (a tax on the estate for transferring), and no state income tax on the capital gain when you sell. If you inherited a Broward County house and you live in Florida, the state takes nothing at the sale.
If you live in another state and inherited Florida property, your home state's rules may reach the gain. That is the out-of-state version of the question, and the post on selling an inherited house from another state covers the logistics; the tax side is a question for a CPA licensed where you live.
The single most important number in an inherited-house sale is not the sale price. It is the basis, what the IRS treats as your purchase price for gain purposes. When someone dies, the basis resets to the fair market value on the date of death. That is the step-up.
The effect: if your parent bought a Hollywood house in 1995 for $90,000 and it was worth $400,000 when they passed, your basis is $400,000, not $90,000. Sell it for $410,000 and your taxable gain is roughly $10,000, not $320,000. The decades of appreciation die with the old basis.
Two qualifications keep this honest. The step-up reflects the value at the date of death, so a home that sits vacant and appreciates for two years produces a real, taxable gain on that later appreciation. And improvements you make after inheriting add to your basis, while depreciation taken by a rental the estate held can reduce it. A CPA runs the actual computation; the point here is that the terrifying number most heirs imagine, decades of gain, usually does not exist.
The federal estate tax applies to estates above the federal exemption, which sits in the multi-million-dollar range. A single inherited house, even a nice one, almost never pushes an estate over it. If the estate is large enough to worry about estate tax, the estate's attorney is already involved and this question is theirs. For everyone else: file it under things you do not owe.
The tax line items on a Florida settlement statement are smaller than the fear suggests, but they are real:
Documentary stamp tax on the deed. Florida charges $0.70 per $100 of consideration in Broward and most counties (Miami-Dade uses a different rate structure for single-family homes). On a $400,000 sale that is $2,800, customarily paid by the seller. The doc stamps post walks the arithmetic and the Miami-Dade exception.
Property tax proration. Florida property taxes are paid in arrears, so at closing you credit the buyer for the share of the year the estate owned the home. If you close in September, roughly three quarters of the year's tax bill comes out of your proceeds as a credit.
Municipal liens and assessments. Not a tax, but they behave like one at closing: code enforcement fines, utility balances, and special assessments attach to the property and get paid out of proceeds or priced into the offer. The title search surfaces them either way.
If the house was the deceased's homestead, two tax consequences follow. First, the Save Our Homes cap, which held the assessed value below market for years, dies with the owner. The property appraiser reassesses at full market value, and the buyer's future tax bill will be higher than the bill you remember. Second, constitutionally protected homestead passes outside probate to the heirs or spouse, but most title companies still want a court order or a homestead determination before they will insure the sale. That is a process step, not a tax, and the Broward probate post covers the court side.
For a typical inherited Florida house sold within a year or two of the death: no state taxes, little or no federal capital gains thanks to the step-up, doc stamps around 0.7% of the price, a property-tax proration credit, and whatever liens or assessments the title search finds. The largest real cost of an inherited house is usually not a tax at all. It is the carry: insurance on a vacant property, the next property-tax installment, maintenance, and the probate timeline itself.
That carry is the number a direct sale attacks. InTym Properties buys inherited houses as-is, in or out of probate, and can write the offer while the court case is still open so the estate stops paying to hold a house it does not want. The inherited house page explains how the closing coordinates with the personal representative and the court order.
Selling an inherited house in Florida is a lighter tax event than almost any other kind of sale: no state-level taxes at all, and a federal step-up that usually erases the gain heirs fear. What remains is doc stamps, a tax proration, and the monthly cost of holding the property while the estate settles. Get the step-up computation confirmed by a CPA, get the court order if it is homestead, and the rest is arithmetic.
Inherited a house in Broward County or anywhere in Florida and want the number without the wait? Call or text (650) 540-1854. InTym Properties buys inherited property as-is, writes the offer while probate is open, and closes through a licensed Florida title company when the court clears title.
Usually little or none. Federal law resets your cost basis to the home's fair market value on the date of death, the step-up in basis. If you sell soon after inheriting, the taxable gain is typically only the appreciation since that date. Confirm your specific numbers with a CPA; nothing here is tax advice.
No. Florida has no inheritance tax, no state estate tax, and no state income tax. The federal estate tax applies only to estates above the federal exemption, which is in the multi-million-dollar range, so most inherited houses owe no estate tax at all.
Two main items. Documentary stamp tax on the deed, $0.70 per $100 of sale price in Broward County and most Florida counties. And a proration of the year's property taxes: you credit the buyer for the portion of the year the estate owned the home. Both appear on the settlement statement.
Yes, in two ways. The Save Our Homes assessment cap dies with the owner, so the property gets reassessed at market value and the new buyer's taxes will likely be higher than the ones you saw on the prior bill. And homestead property may need a court order confirming it passed outside probate before a title company will insure the sale.
That gap is your taxable gain under the step-up rule. If the home sat vacant for two years and appreciated, you pay federal capital gains on the appreciation since the date of death, not since the original purchase. Holding costs like taxes, insurance, and maintenance during that period may be deductible; a CPA can tell you.
Often yes. In Florida the personal representative can contract to sell once appointed, and the sale closes when the court authorizes it. InTym Properties can write an offer while probate is still open and close the moment title clears, which stops the tax, insurance, and maintenance bleed.
Written offer usually within 48 hours, signed by InTym Properties, every number shown. No repairs, no fees, no obligation.
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