Short answer: yes, Canadians renting out their Florida condo while away can do it legally — but the default U.S. tax is brutal: 30% withheld on the gross rent, with no deductions. On $30,000 of rent, that is $9,000 gone before you pay a single bill. The fix most owners use is the election under Internal Revenue Code section 871(d) to treat the rent as effectively connected income: you give your manager a Form W-8ECI so the 30% withholding stops, file Form 1040-NR every year, deduct HOA fees, property tax, insurance, management, repairs, interest and depreciation, and pay graduated rates on the net. If those deductions bring $30,000 of gross rent down to $4,000 of net income, the federal tax is roughly $400 instead of $9,000 (illustrative math — your net depends on your building). Florida adds no state income tax, but a lease of six months or less triggers about 13% in transient rental taxes in most of Miami-Dade, and Canada taxes the same rent again at home, with a foreign tax credit so you do not pay twice on the same dollar.
Updated: October 14, 2026.
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Moving to Miami math first: the two ways the IRS taxes a Canadian landlord
| Default: no election | With the 871(d) election | |
|---|---|---|
| What is taxed | Gross rent | Net rent, after expenses and depreciation |
| Rate | Flat 30% withheld at source | Graduated rates, like a U.S. landlord |
| On $30,000 gross rent | $9,000 withheld | ~$400 if net income is $4,000 (illustrative) |
| Withholding form | None — tenant or manager must withhold | Form W-8ECI to your manager stops withholding |
| Annual return | File to claim any refund | Form 1040-NR + Schedule E, every year |
| Deductions | None allowed | HOA, tax, insurance, management, repairs, interest, depreciation |
The election is made on your Form 1040-NR, covers all your U.S. rental property, and stays in effect until revoked — which is why the next section matters more than the rate. Our Canadian snowbird guide to Miami for winter 2026–2027 puts this decision in the full season calendar, before you list the condo.
The forms, the deadlines, and the 16-month trap
Form W-8ECI goes to whoever pays you — your property manager or tenant — once you elect net taxation. Without it, they are legally required to hold back 30% of every gross payment. Form 1040-NR is due June 15 for most Canadian rental owners (April 15 only if you also had U.S. wages subject to withholding). If you have no Social Security number, you apply for an ITIN on Form W-7, usually filed with your first 1040-NR — and an ITIN left unused for three straight years expires.
The deadline that actually hurts people is quieter: under Treasury Regulation 1.874-1, a nonresident who files too late — beyond roughly 16 months after the due date — can lose the deductions entirely and be taxed on gross rent. In plain terms: rent first and “sort out the taxes later” can convert a ~$400 tax bill into a $9,000 one. The election also means a return is due every year, including loss years and years the condo sits empty after you have elected. If you do not want that annual commitment, the honest SETTLE advice is: do not rent the condo out.
What most people don’t know
Your condo association decides before the IRS does. Minimum lease terms, caps on rentals per year and tenant-approval windows live in your building’s own documents — many Miami towers require 6–12 months, or a single lease per year. A rule adopted after you bought generally cannot be enforced against you unless you consented to it or bought later (Florida Statute 718.110(13)), but the rule that was there when you purchased absolutely can. Read the lease package before you price a single month: a 12-month minimum kills the popular plan of renting only the seven months you spend in Canada.
Short rentals are taxed like a hotel room. Florida has no state income tax, but renting for six months or less is a transient rental: 6% state sales tax, a 1% Miami-Dade discretionary surtax and 6% in county tourist taxes — about 13% total across most of Miami-Dade (14% in Miami Beach). Airbnb and Vrbo collect and remit on bookings made through them; a direct booking or a manager without that agreement leaves registration and remittance on you.
Renting changes your condo’s status in Canada, not just in Florida. Canada taxes residents on worldwide income, so the rent goes on your Canadian return in Canadian dollars (CRA Guide T4036), and you claim the U.S. tax back as a foreign tax credit on Form T2209. Less obvious: a purely personal-use Florida condo is exempt from Form T1135, but a rental condo is specified foreign property — if your foreign property cost tops C$100,000 at any point in the year, T1135 is due. Tell your Canadian accountant before the first tenant moves in, not the following April.
Today’s filing habit is tomorrow’s FIRPTA refund. When a foreign person eventually sells U.S. real estate, the buyer generally withholds 15% of the gross sale price at closing. That withholding is a prepayment you reclaim by filing the 1040-NR for the sale year — a far simpler claim when you already have an ITIN and years of clean rental returns behind you.
The deposit is still Florida law, even from Toronto. Your tenant’s deposit is not your money while you hold it — read how security deposits in Miami actually work before your manager collects one in your name.
Cost of living in Miami: what renting the condo out really nets you
Run the cost of living in Miami math on the net, not the advertised rent. From gross rent, subtract management (commonly around 10% for a long lease, more for seasonal), the election-year accounting on both sides of the border, transient taxes on any lease of six months or less, and the vacancy month your building’s approval process quietly adds. What survives that math is the real offset against your HOA, property tax and insurance — the three costs that keep rising whether the condo is rented or not. Compare your building against the best neighborhoods in Miami for seasonal demand in our moving-to-Miami guides before you set the price: a condo that rents in three days in Brickell can sit for six weeks two neighborhoods away, at the same asking rent.
Frequently asked questions
Do Canadians pay the 30% U.S. tax on Florida rent, or is there a treaty rate?
For real estate rent, the 30%-on-gross default applies unless you make the section 871(d) election to be taxed on net income at graduated rates. The Canada–U.S. treaty does not turn rental income into a lower flat rate — the election is the mechanism that fixes it.
Does Florida tax the rent too?
There is no Florida personal income tax and no state return for the rent. But leases of six months or less carry transient rental taxes — about 13% combined in most of Miami-Dade — collected from the tenant and remitted by you, your manager, or the booking platform.
I only rent for two months a year. Do I still file a U.S. return?
Yes, if you made the net election — a 1040-NR is due every year, even in a loss. Without the election, the 30% withholding settles the U.S. side, but you would file to claim any refund owed. Either way, the rent is reported in Canada.
Can I rent my condo on Airbnb while I am in Canada?
Only if three separate gates all open: your condo association’s rental rules allow short terms, your city allows short-term rentals in your zone (Miami Beach prohibits them in most residential areas), and you are registered for the transient taxes. Most snowbird condos clear none of the three — the realistic product is one longer seasonal or annual lease, not nightly rentals.
This article is general information about relocation and rental planning, not tax or legal advice. Cross-border rental taxation turns on your residency, ownership structure and building rules — confirm your setup with a cross-border CPA before your first lease.
Yara Coker — SETTLE, relocation services in Miami.
Want help with your move to Miami?
Tell us where your condo is and how many months you spend in Canada — we’ll walk through the building rules, the season calendar and the real net before you list it.
