Canadian Landlords in Miami: Tax & Rental Guide

Miami concentrates more Canadian rental investors than any other US metro outside of Florida proper. Three structural reasons:

• Sunny Isles Beach + Aventura are functionally Canadian communities. The condo towers along Collins Avenue host a documented snowbird population in the tens of thousands every winter. Property managers, real estate agents, and even some local banks are explicitly Canadian-friendly.
• Year-round rental demand.Unlike pure snowbird markets that collapse from May to October, Miami holds long-term tenant demand 12 months a year — the metro's population has grown roughly 10% per decade and the rental supply has lagged.
• Liquidity at exit. Miami condos trade often enough that selling rarely takes more than 90-180 days. The FIRPTA cash-flow gap (15% gross-price withholding held for 12-18 months by the IRS) is real, but the underlying market for liquidity is the deepest in Florida.

The trade-offs: hurricane insurance is expensive, condominium HOA fees in Brickell/Sunny Isles routinely run $800-1,500/month, and short-term-rental restrictions vary by building.

The Miami metro splits into three distinct rental ecosystems for Canadian investors:

• Brickell / Downtown Miami — high-rise condos, year-round professional tenants, short-term restrictions building-by-building. Highest entry prices, highest rental yield.
• Sunny Isles Beach / Aventura — the Canadian-concentrated zone. Mix of long-term retirees and short-term snowbird rentals. Lower entry than Brickell but high HOA fees.
• Coral Gables / Coconut Grove — single-family and townhouse market favored by long-term professional tenants. Lower turnover, lower yields, more stable.

Property tax in Miami-Dade is roughly 1.0-1.5% of assessed value annually, with the assessed value typically 80-90% of market value. Florida has no state income tax, so federal IRS rules are the only income tax obligation on the US side.

The federal IRS treatment of Miami rental property is identical to any US state — non-resident Canadian owners file Form 1040-NR with Schedule E attached, claim deductible expenses, and apply the Section 871(d) election to avoid the default 30% gross-rent withholding.

Florida has no state income tax — federal IRS is the only US income tax obligation. Short-term rentals (under 6 months) are subject to Florida sales tax (6%) plus county discretionary surtax plus county tourist development tax — typically 11-13% combined.

On the Canadian side, you report Miami rental income on Form T776 attached to your T1, converted to CAD using the Bank of Canada annual average rate for the tax year. If your foreign property cost base exceeds CAD $100,000, you also file Form T1135 — use our T1135 Threshold Checker to confirm.

When you eventually sell, FIRPTA withholds 15% of the gross sale price at closing — file Form 8288-B Withholding Certificate at least 90 days before closing to reduce the withholding to your actual estimated capital gains tax. See our FIRPTA Complete Guide for the full process.

Property management in Miami-Dade typically runs 10-12% of monthly rent for long-term rentals, 20-30% for short-term/vacation rentals (which covers cleanings between guests, listing optimization, and guest communication).

Practical considerations for Canadian Miami landlords:

• Hurricane insurance is mandatory and expensive. Plan for $2,500-6,000/year on a typical condo, dramatically more for single-family near the coast. This is deductible on Schedule E line 9 and T776 line 9220.
• HOA fees are not the same as property taxes. HOA fees are deductible as part of rental property operating expenses (Schedule E line 19, T776 line 9220). They are not deductible as personal-residence property taxes for any non-rental portion.
• W-8ECI and Section 871(d) election are critical. Without them, your Miami property manager must withhold 30% of gross rent at source under FDAP rules — usually 5-10× your actual US tax.