One return for most residents. Florida has no personal income tax, so a Miami resident usually files only the federal return, and that is where the planning is done.
A recent move needs its own records. The state you left can examine the move, and the first years' returns and records are what answer it.
Homestead and Amendment 3. The homestead exemption must be applied for, and Florida votes on November 3, 2026 on Amendment 3, which would enlarge it and add a waiting period for new residents.
Corviniti prepares personal tax returns for individuals and families in Miami and across Miami-Dade County, from our office in downtown Miami. A CPA prepares and signs every return, and our team works in English and Spanish.
Florida does not tax the income of individuals, under Article VII, section 5 of the Florida Constitution, so there is no Florida return for wages, investment income, or business income that passes through to you. The work moves to three places: the federal return, the state you moved from if you arrived recently, and the property tax on your home.
This page sits under Corviniti Accounting in Miami, our office in downtown Miami. That page covers Florida tax for South Florida businesses and for people who move to Florida, and links to the rest of our Florida coverage.
Relocation
New York's residency tests and Florida's domicile steps
Miami-Dade tourist and restaurant taxes, 2026. Confirm the rate for the city.
This is for you if
You moved to Miami from New York or another state and need the final return and the records right.
You have accounts, property, or family abroad and are not sure what the federal return requires.
You bought a home and have not applied for the homestead exemption.
Your return now includes equity compensation, a business, or rental property.
What you get
The federal return, planned Deductions, capital gains, and estimated payments planned during the year.
A move handled on both sides The part-year return to the state you left, and the records that support the move.
Property tax The homestead application and a review of your assessment, with Amendment 3 followed after the vote.
Foreign reporting The FBAR and other federal information returns prepared with the tax return.
How We Help
What you get
Personal returns prepared and signed by a CPA, with the Miami items that change the result.
The federal return, plannedDeductions, capital gains, and estimated payments planned during the year.
A move handled on both sidesThe part-year return to the state you left, and the records that support the move.
Property taxThe homestead application and a review of your assessment, with Amendment 3 followed after the vote.
Foreign reportingThe FBAR and other federal information returns prepared with the tax return.
When companies bring us in
You moved to Miami from New York or another state and need the final return and the records right.
You have accounts, property, or family abroad and are not sure what the federal return requires.
You bought a home and have not applied for the homestead exemption.
Your return now includes equity compensation, a business, or rental property.
The Detail
The gaps, and how we close each one
Topic 01
Moving to Miami from New York or another state
Moving to Florida ends a state income tax only when the move is complete and documented. States such as New York examine people who leave, and the taxpayer has to prove the change.
How we handle it
A move to Florida has two parts. The Florida part is straightforward: a Florida home, a Florida driver's license and voter registration, and a Declaration of Domicile filed with the clerk of the circuit court in Miami-Dade. The harder part is the state you left. New York, for example, can tax you as a resident in either of two ways: if your permanent home, your domicile, is still in New York, or if you keep a home there for substantially all of the year and spend 184 days or more in the state, which makes you a statutory resident even after a move. In an examination the taxpayer carries the burden of proof, and the evidence is records: days in each state, where you worked, where your family, doctors, and valuables are, and which home you actually use. In the year of the move you file a part-year return to the old state, and income earned there before the move, including a bonus or equity that vests later, can remain taxable there. We prepare that return and set up the records during the year, while they are easy to keep.
What you get: A part-year return to your former state and the records that support the move.
Topic 02
The federal return, where the planning is done
With no state return, every planning decision a Miami resident makes shows up on the federal return, including the deduction for state and local taxes.
How we handle it
The federal deduction for state and local taxes is capped at $40,400 for 2026. The cap is reduced by 30 percent of modified adjusted gross income above $505,000, but not below $10,000. With no state income tax, a Florida resident who itemizes can deduct state and local general sales taxes instead, and adds property tax, all within the same cap. For a Miami household the choice between itemizing and the standard deduction can change from year to year, and it is worth planning around a home purchase or a large taxable sale. The rest of the planning is federal: the timing of capital gains and losses, retirement plan contributions, charitable gifts, and estimated payments set so that there is no underpayment penalty.
What you get: Federal deductions and timing decisions planned while the year is open.
Topic 03
Homestead, Save Our Homes, and Amendment 3
A Miami homeowner's property tax depends on exemptions that must be applied for.
How we handle it
A Miami homeowner claims the homestead exemption by applying to the Miami-Dade Property Appraiser by March 1 of the first year. The exemption is $25,000 on all taxes and a further $26,411 for 2026 on assessed value between $50,000 and $76,411 for taxes other than school taxes. Once the exemption applies, Save Our Homes limits the yearly increase in assessed value to 3 percent or the change in the consumer price index, whichever is lower, which was 2.7 percent for 2026. Portability lets an owner carry up to $500,000 of that difference to a new Florida homestead. Tax bills are sent in the autumn, with a 4 percent discount for paying in November.
Amendment 3 is on the November 3, 2026 ballot.Amendment 3 would raise the homestead exemption for non-school taxes to $150,000 in 2027 and $250,000 in 2028, and would lower the yearly cap on assessment increases for non-homestead property from 10 percent to 5 percent. It needs 60 percent of the vote. A person who does not have a permanent residence in Florida on December 31, 2026 would receive $25,000 against school taxes and $50,000 against other taxes for the first four years of exemption, and the larger amount from the fifth year. The ballot title and summary were rewritten in August 2026 after a court challenge. We will update this page after the vote.
What you get: The homestead exemption claimed, and Amendment 3 followed after the vote.
Moved to Miami this year? Plan the final return to your former state with a CPA before year-end.
Income, accounts, and family outside the United States
A Miami household with bank accounts, property, investments, or family in other countries has reporting on the federal return that is separate from the tax owed, and the penalties for missing it are large.
How we handle it
A U.S. resident with foreign bank or investment accounts files an FBAR when their combined value exceeded $10,000 at any time during the year. It is due April 15, with an automatic extension to October 15, and it is filed with FinCEN, separately from the tax return. Foreign gifts and inheritances above certain amounts are reported on Form 3520, and a U.S. corporation that is at least 25 percent foreign-owned, or a U.S. single-member LLC owned by a foreign person, files Form 5472 with its return for each year it has transactions with a related party. None of these forms changes the tax owed, and all of them carry penalties when they are missed. For a household that arrived from abroad, the first-year return also has to establish when U.S. residence began. We prepare the reporting with the return, from records we collect during the year.
What you get: The FBAR and other information returns filed with the tax return.
Topic 05
Returns that have outgrown software
Tax software handles a salary and a brokerage account. It cannot choose the treatment of equity compensation, business income, or rental property.
How we handle it
We prepare returns that include equity compensation, business income, rental property, and investment partnerships. Restricted stock units are taxed as wages when they vest and are often under-withheld. Incentive stock options can trigger the federal alternative minimum tax when exercised. A K-1 from a fund or an operating business needs to be read and reconciled, and rental property needs depreciation, the passive activity rules, and, for a rental of six months or less, the sales tax and the county's convention development, tourist development, and sports facilities franchise taxes. We plan these items in the autumn, while the timing can still be changed.
What you get: Equity, business, and rental income handled with judgment.
Topic 06
How the process works
Personal returns go wrong when the preparer sees the documents for the first time in April.
How we handle it
We start with a short call about the year: changes in income, a move, a home purchase or sale, and anything new abroad. You receive one list of the documents we need and a secure place to upload them. We prepare the return, send a draft with a written explanation of the main items, and review it with you in English or Spanish before it is filed. Estimated payments for the next year are set when the return is filed, and we check in during the autumn, while there is still time to act before December 31.
What you get: One document request, a draft explained in English or Spanish, and a return signed by a CPA.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
How much does personal tax preparation cost in Miami?
A fixed fee quoted before we start, set by the forms and schedules the return needs. A return with business income, rental property, equity compensation, or foreign reporting costs more than a return with wages and investment accounts. We quote after a short call.
Do I file a Florida income tax return?
No. Florida has no personal income tax, so there is no Florida return for individuals. You file the federal return, and a return in any other state where you earned income or lived during the year.
I moved to Miami from New York this year. What do I file?
A federal return, and a part-year return to New York for the months before the move. New York taxes all income for the resident part of the year and New York-source income for the rest, which can include a bonus or deferred compensation earned while you worked there. If you kept a home in New York for substantially all of the year and spent 184 days or more there, New York may treat you as a statutory resident for the whole year. We prepare the New York return and the records that support the move.
When is the homestead exemption deadline in Miami-Dade?
March 1 of the year for which you claim the exemption, filed with the Miami-Dade Property Appraiser. You must own and live in the home as your permanent residence on January 1 of that year.
Do you work in Spanish?
Yes. Our team works in English and Spanish, and we explain the return before you sign it in the language you prefer.
Do you work with executives and professionals who moved from New York?
Yes. We prepare the part-year New York return, allocate bonuses, deferred compensation, and equity that New York can still tax, and set up the records that support the move.
Do you handle equity compensation, RSUs, and stock options?
Yes. We plan the exercise and sale dates, the federal alternative minimum tax on incentive stock options, and the withholding shortfall that often comes with vested RSUs. Equity earned while working in another state can remain taxable there, and we allocate it.
Do you work with investors and retirees?
Yes. We plan capital gains and losses, required minimum distributions, and Roth conversions on the federal return, which is usually the only income tax return a Miami retiree files.
Do you handle business owners' personal returns?
Yes, and we prepare the business return alongside it when you have one, so the K-1 or Schedule C, the qualified business income deduction, and the estimated payments agree.
Rentals of six months or less.section 212.03, Florida Statutes: the 6 percent tax on rent for a stay of six months or less, and the exemption for a written lease of longer than six months.
Tourist development taxes.Form DR-15TDT: each county's tax on short-term rentals, and which counties collect it themselves.
Miami-Dade tourist and restaurant taxes.Miami-Dade County's tourist and restaurant taxes: the convention development, tourist development, and sports facilities franchise taxes, and the two taxes on food and beverage sales.
Homestead exemption.section 196.031, Florida Statutes: the $25,000 exemption from all taxes, and the second exemption from taxes other than school taxes.
Amendment 3, on the November 3, 2026 ballot.CS/HJR 1-F: the proposed homestead exemption, the 5 percent non-homestead cap, and the waiting period for new residents.
Declaration of Domicile.section 222.17, Florida Statutes: the sworn statement of Florida domicile, filed for recording in the county.
New York wages after a move.Form IT-203-B, Schedule A: a nonresident's wages allocated to New York by the days worked there.
Stock compensation after a move.the Form IT-203-F instructions: the New York workday fraction applied to stock options, restricted stock, and stock appreciation rights.
Investment income after a move.the IT-203 instructions on New York source income: interest, dividends, and gains are New York income only when the property is used in a business carried on in New York.
Retirement income.4 U.S.C. 114: the federal bar on a state taxing a nonresident's retirement income.
Foreign accounts.the IRS FBAR page: the $10,000 threshold and the April 15 due date.
Qualified business income deduction.26 U.S.C. 199A: the 20 percent deduction, which Public Law 119-21 extended past 2025.
This page summarizes Florida, county, and federal tax rules for general information, and is not tax advice for your situation. Rates, exemption amounts, and thresholds change each year; confirm the current figures with the authority before you rely on them. Amendment 3 is on the November 3, 2026 ballot, and the result will not be known until then.
