Florida Homestead Exemption

The Florida homestead exemption takes up to $50,000 off your taxable value, and the cap that comes with it is worth far more over time.

What the Florida homestead exemption gives you

• The first $25,000 of value is exempt from all property taxes, including school district
• A second $25,000 is exempt from non-school taxes, applying to value between $50,000 and $75,000
• Typical saving of $750 to $1,000 or more a year, depending on your millage rate
• The property must be your primary residence as of 1 January
• You file by 1 March with your county property appraiser
• Save Our Homes caps annual assessed value increases at 3% or CPI, whichever is lower
• Portability moves up to $500,000 of accumulated Save Our Homes benefit to your next Florida home
• Extra exemptions exist for seniors, veterans, people with disabilities and first responders

The cap is worth more than the exemption

The $50,000 saves you several hundred dollars a year. Save Our Homes can save you several thousand, and it compounds.

Once the exemption is in place, your assessed value cannot rise more than 3% a year, or the change in CPI if that is smaller, regardless of what the market does. Because Florida values have moved sharply, the gap between market value and capped assessed value widens every year you stay. An owner who homesteaded a decade ago may be taxed on a figure far below what the house would sell for today, while the identical house next door, bought last year, is taxed on the full price.

Therefore file in your first eligible year rather than the third. The cap starts from the year the exemption applies, so every year you delay is a year of protection you never get back.

Portability is the part people forget

When you sell and buy again within Florida, you can carry up to $500,000 of that accumulated benefit to the new home. However, it is not automatic. You have to file for it, using form DR-501T alongside the new homestead application, and there is a deadline tied to when you establish the new homestead.

Since the benefit can be worth thousands a year on the new property, ask your closing agent or county property appraiser about portability before you file. Buyers who simply tick the homestead box and move on frequently leave it behind.

Two things that will not happen for you

Nobody files this on your behalf. Not your lender, not your title company, and not your real estate agent. You file it with the county property appraiser, and the deadline is 1 March for the year in question.

The exemption also does not travel with the house. A seller’s homestead status ends when they leave, so if you are estimating your future tax bill from the current owner’s bill, you will be badly wrong. Budget from the market value instead, which is what your lender will use when calculating your escrow.

Buying your first Florida home? See first time buyer programs, or read about Florida property taxes generally.

Sources: Article VII of the Florida Constitution and Chapter 196, Florida Statutes, covering homestead exemption, the Save Our Homes assessment limitation and portability. Millage rates and deadlines are administered by each county property appraiser; confirm yours before relying on a figure here.