Miami-Dade County property owners can now pay their property taxes with bitcoin, online or in person, after Tax Collector Dariel Fernandez announced on Monday, November 9, that his office has officially begun accepting it — while stressing that the county itself never touches a coin.

Source: Miami-Dade County Tax Collector, official announcement, Nov. 9, 2026

How the payment works

A property owner who chooses the cryptocurrency option selects it during online checkout, or asks for it when paying in person at a counter. The system then lets the payer connect a supported cryptocurrency exchange account or digital wallet and authorize the payment, according to the Tax Collector's announcement.

A third-party system converts the bitcoin into U.S. dollars at the moment of payment, before the funds reach the Tax Collector's Office. The payment is then recorded through the office's existing settlement and reporting process, like a check or card payment.

Who is Dariel Fernandez

Fernandez was elected in November 2024 and is the county's first elected tax collector, sworn in on January 7, 2025, according to reporting on his official biography. That biography also notes he earlier served on Miami-Dade's Cryptocurrency Task Force. His office calls Miami-Dade one of the first government agencies in the country to accept bitcoin payments of this kind.

The timing: a 4% discount is still on the clock

The change landed in the middle of Florida's property tax collection season. Miami-Dade opened its 2026 tax roll on October 30. Under section 197.162 of the Florida Statutes, owners who pay in November receive a 4 percent discount; the discount falls to 3 percent in December, 2 percent in January and 1 percent in February, with the full amount due in March. For bitcoin payers, that means the November 30 deadline matters more than the payment method.

What the announcement does not say

Two questions are unanswered in the announcement and in the coverage so far, reported by CBS Miami and News4JAX among others: the office has not named the third-party conversion company, and it has not published whether bitcoin payments carry a convenience fee. Card and mobile-wallet payments online already carry a nonrefundable 2.50 percent fee with a $2.50 minimum, per the office's payment-methods page — but no crypto-specific fee has been stated, so homeowners should ask before they pay rather than assume the card fee applies.

The IRS catch every payer should know

Paying with bitcoin is not the same, in federal tax law, as paying with dollars. Since 2014, the Internal Revenue Service has treated virtual currency as property, not money. Its Notice 2014-21 says using it to pay for goods or services 'may result in a tax liability.' In practice, paying a tax bill with bitcoin is treated like selling the bitcoin first: if the coins are worth more on payment day than when the payer bought them, that gain is a capital gain, with the recordkeeping that goes with it at filing time next April.

A worked example makes the point: a Kendall homeowner with a $6,000 bill who bought bitcoin years ago at a lower price would still deliver exactly $6,000 to the county — but could also owe federal tax on the gain embedded in the coins used, and would need records of what those coins originally cost.

Where and how to pay — and what has not changed

Payments can be made at the office's 13 locations, through its T-Connect mobile units, or online around the clock at mdctaxcollector.gov. The bitcoin option covers property taxes only; other county fees and charges are not covered. Paying with cryptocurrency is entirely voluntary, and every existing method remains available, including fee-free eChecks, cards, cash and checks.

What happens next is mostly disclosure: whether the office names its conversion processor, whether a crypto fee schedule is published, and how much volume the option draws in its first season. For now, Miami-Dade has added a payment rail, not a bitcoin treasury — the county's books still run entirely in dollars.