Why invest in Florida property?

Florida, through the rules that apply to you.

Florida is the third most populous US state. This guide sets out what a UK-resident buyer meets: who can own, how a purchase closes, the taxes on buying, letting and selling, residency, and how the UK taxes the result. Figures come from the Florida Statutes, the Florida Department of Revenue, the IRS, USCIS, the US Census Bureau and GOV.UK, in US dollars.

International developments are being added to PROXERA. None is listed yet, so this page explains the market rather than offering anything in it.

Federal tax law makes specific provision for nonresident aliens who own US real property, through the rental and FIRPTA rules below. Florida's own restrictions are targeted. Part III of chapter 692 of the Florida Statutes, created by CS/CS/SB 264 and effective from 1 July 2023, restricts purchases by foreign principals linked to seven named countries of concern, including China, Russia and Iran. For them it restricts agricultural land and property on or within 10 miles of a military installation or critical infrastructure facility. The United Kingdom is not a named country.

Under section 695.01, a conveyance or mortgage is not effective against creditors or later purchasers for value without notice unless it is recorded. Recording the deed is what protects your title against third parties.

Worked example: on a $400,000 purchase outside Miami-Dade, deed tax is $2,800. A $300,000 mortgage adds $1,050 of documentary stamp tax and $600 of intangible tax. In Miami-Dade, deed tax on a $400,000 single-family dwelling is $2,400; where the surtax applies, it is $4,200.

A vacation rental is a condominium unit or a dwelling of up to four units rented more than three times in a calendar year for under 30 consecutive days, or advertised as regularly rented (section 509.013, section 509.242). It needs a licence from the Division of Hotels and Restaurants of the Department of Business and Professional Regulation, renewed annually (section 509.241).

Short-term letting also requires registration with the Department of Revenue, and counties can levy transient rental taxes on rentals of six months or less. Local laws may not ban vacation rentals or regulate their duration or frequency, unless adopted on or before 1 June 2011 (section 509.032). Association documents may carry their own rental rules.

Rent. Florida rents form an overseas property business, kept separate from any UK property business: losses on one cannot be set against profits on the other (HMRC PIM4702). They go on the SA106 foreign pages. From 2027 to 2028, overseas property profits are taxed at 22%, 42% and 47% (Finance Act 2026), and the furnished holiday lettings regime ended in April 2025.

Treaties. The UK and US convention, signed on 24 July 2001 and in force since 31 March 2003, lets the US tax income and gains from real property there (Articles 6 and 13), and requires the UK to credit US tax against UK tax on the same income or gains, subject to UK rules (Article 24). A separate Inheritance Tax convention has been in force since 11 November 1979. Foreign Tax Credit Relief may not cover all the US tax paid.

Gains. For 2026 to 2027, Capital Gains Tax is 18% within the basic rate band and 24% above it, after a £3,000 allowance (GOV.UK). The real time Capital Gains Tax service cannot be used to claim foreign tax credit relief for overseas property.

Residence. Since 6 April 2025 the 4-year foreign income and gains regime has replaced the remittance basis, and Inheritance Tax can reach overseas assets of long-term UK residents. See UK tax on overseas property, or, for UK property bought from America, buying from the USA.