Florida Property Tax Guide: Save Our Homes, Homestead, Portability & Millage Rates

Florida has no state income tax. That sounds great on the brochure, but the bill has to come from somewhere -- and a big chunk of it comes from property tax. If you are buying a home in Florida, the property tax line on your closing disclosure can be the difference between a comfortable payment and a stretch. It is also the line most buyers misunderstand, because the seller's current tax bill is almost never what you will pay in year one.

This guide walks through how Florida property tax actually works: how it is calculated, what the homestead exemption gets you, how the Save Our Homes 3% cap protects long-time owners, what portability is and how to claim it, and how to estimate the bill on a home you have not bought yet. By the end you should be able to read a TRIM notice, sanity-check a county estimate, and avoid the most common buyer mistake -- assuming you inherit the seller's tax bill.

How Florida Property Tax Is Calculated

Florida property tax is an ad valorem tax -- "according to value." The basic formula is simple:

A "mill" is one dollar of tax per one thousand dollars of taxable value. If your taxable value is $300,000 and the total millage rate is 20 mills, your bill is $300,000 x 20 / 1,000 = $6,000 per year.

The total millage rate is the sum of every taxing authority that has jurisdiction over your parcel: the county, the school district, the city or town (if you are inside one), the water management district, sometimes a hospital district, sometimes a children's services district, and any independent special districts. Each of those bodies sets its own millage every year through its budget process. Your TRIM notice in August lists each of them line by line.

Total millage rates across Florida typically run between 15 and 23 mills. School taxes alone usually account for 6 to 8 mills. As a quick sanity check, most Florida non-homestead properties pay roughly 0.8% to 1.4% of market value in annual property tax. Homestead properties with mature Save Our Homes protection often pay much less, sometimes 0.3% to 0.6% of market value, because their assessed value has been frozen well below market for years.

Just Value vs. Assessed Value vs. Taxable Value

Three different "values" appear on a Florida tax record, and confusing them is the source of most buyer mistakes.

• Just Value -- The county property appraiser's estimate of market value as of January 1 of the tax year. This is what your home would sell for.
• Assessed Value -- Just value, capped by Save Our Homes (3% for homestead) or the 10% non-homestead cap. This is the value before exemptions.
• Taxable Value -- Assessed value minus exemptions (homestead, senior, veteran, widow/widower, etc.). This is what gets multiplied by the millage rate.

For a brand-new homeowner with no caps yet applied, all three values can be similar in year one. For a long-time homesteader, assessed value can be a fraction of just value, and taxable value can be lower still after the homestead exemption.

The Homestead Exemption: $50,000 in Two Pieces

Florida's homestead exemption is the single most important tax break for owner-occupants. It is worth up to $50,000 of taxable value reduction, and it unlocks the Save Our Homes cap.

How the $50,000 Stacks

The homestead exemption is structured as two $25,000 pieces:

• First $25,000 -- Applies to all property taxes, including school district taxes. Reduces taxable value from the first dollar.
• Additional $25,000 -- Applies to assessed values between $50,000 and $75,000. Does not apply to school district taxes.

So a home with an assessed value of $75,000 or more gets the full $50,000 exemption against county and city taxes, but only $25,000 against school taxes. Because school millage runs around 6-8 mills, the second $25,000 saves most homeowners about $300-$450 a year, while the first $25,000 saves around $500-$600 depending on millage.

Eligibility and Filing

To qualify for the homestead exemption you must:

1. Hold legal or equitable title to the property as of January 1 of the tax year.
2. Occupy the property as your permanent residence as of January 1.
3. Be a Florida resident (Florida driver's license or ID, voter registration, vehicle registration all in Florida).
4. File an application with your county property appraiser by March 1.

Most Florida counties accept online filings. Once granted, the exemption renews automatically each year as long as you continue to occupy the home and remain a Florida resident. If you move, rent the home out, or change residency, you must notify the property appraiser -- failure to do so can result in back taxes, penalties, and interest going back up to ten years.

Additional Exemptions

Florida layers several additional exemptions on top of the standard homestead. The most common:

• Senior exemption -- Up to an additional $50,000 for homeowners 65+ with limited household income (income limit set annually by Florida Department of Revenue, around $36,000 in recent years). Available only in counties and cities that have adopted the ordinance.
• Veterans / disability exemptions -- $5,000 for disabled veterans, full exemption for permanently and totally disabled veterans, surviving spouse provisions, and a discount tied to combat-disabled percentage.
• Widow / widower exemption -- Additional $5,000.
• Disability exemption -- $500 to full exemption depending on degree and category.
• First responder total disability -- Full property tax exemption for first responders permanently disabled in the line of duty.

These stack on top of the $50,000 standard homestead and can dramatically reduce or eliminate the property tax bill for qualifying owners.

Save Our Homes: The 3% Cap That Locks Florida Owners In

Save Our Homes (SOH) is a 1992 constitutional amendment that caps the annual increase in assessed value on a homesteaded property at the lesser of 3% or the change in the Consumer Price Index. It does not cap the millage rate, and it does not cap your tax bill directly -- but because the assessed value cannot grow more than 3% per year regardless of how fast the market rises, your bill is effectively capped too.

How the Cap Builds Up

In a flat market, SOH does very little. In a hot market like Florida has seen for most of the last decade, SOH builds enormous protection. A homesteader who bought in 2014 at $200,000 and saw their market value double to $400,000 by 2024 might still have an assessed value of only $260,000 -- because SOH limited annual assessment growth to 3% per year, while market value rose 7-10% per year.

The difference between just value ($400,000) and assessed value ($260,000) is called the Save Our Homes benefit or "SOH gap." In this example it is $140,000 of value that is shielded from taxation. At a 20-mill rate, that gap saves the owner about $2,800 per year -- and the gap keeps growing as long as market values rise faster than 3%.

What Resets the Cap

SOH protection belongs to the homestead, not to the property. When the property is sold to a new owner, the cap resets and the assessed value is reset to just (market) value as of January 1 of the year following the sale. The new buyer starts a fresh SOH clock from that higher base.

This is why a new buyer's tax bill is almost always higher than the seller's, sometimes dramatically so. The seller may have been paying tax on $200,000 of assessed value while the buyer pays on $400,000.

Portability: Take Your SOH Benefit With You

Portability is a 2008 amendment that lets you carry your accumulated Save Our Homes benefit from one Florida homestead to another. Without portability, every move would reset your SOH gap to zero. With portability, long-time Florida homeowners can move and keep most of their tax savings.

How Much Can You Port?

The maximum portable SOH benefit is $500,000. That is the difference between just value and assessed value on the old homestead, capped at $500,000.

Upsizing vs. Downsizing

The math depends on whether your new home is more or less expensive than the old one:

• Upsizing (new home worth more) -- Transfer the full dollar amount of your SOH benefit. New assessed value = new just value -- ported benefit (capped at $500,000).
• Downsizing (new home worth less) -- Transfer a proportional share. New assessed value = new just value x (old assessed value / old just value). Effectively you keep the same percentage of your home's value shielded.

Example of upsizing: You sell a homestead worth $400,000 with assessed value of $250,000 (a $150,000 SOH benefit). You buy a $600,000 home. Your new assessed value becomes $600,000 -- $150,000 = $450,000. You then apply the $50,000 homestead exemption for a taxable value of $400,000.

Example of downsizing: Same $400,000 / $250,000 sale, but you buy a $300,000 home. Your old SOH ratio was 250 / 400 = 62.5%. Your new assessed value is $300,000 x 62.5% = $187,500, then minus $50,000 homestead = $137,500 taxable value.

Deadlines and Filing

You must establish your new Florida homestead within 2 tax years of abandoning the old one. (This window was 3 years prior to a 2020 amendment; it is now 2 years.) "Abandoning" generally means the year you no longer occupy the property as a permanent residence.

Portability is not automatic. You must file form DR-501T ("Transfer of Homestead Assessment Difference") with your new county's property appraiser, along with the standard homestead application (DR-501). File both by March 1.

The 10% Non-Homestead Cap

Most Florida buyers know about Save Our Homes. Far fewer know that since 2008 (Amendment 1), Florida also caps assessed value increases on non-homestead properties at 10% per year. This includes second homes, rental properties, and commercial real estate. School taxes are excluded from the cap.

The 10% cap is much weaker than the 3% homestead cap, but in years where market values rise 15-20%, it does limit the assessment increase. Like the homestead cap, the non-homestead cap resets on sale or change of ownership. Unlike the homestead cap, there is no portability.

If you are a landlord or second-home owner, the 10% cap is your only protection against rapid assessment increases. It does not stack with millage rate increases, however -- if your county raises millage 15%, your bill rises with it regardless of the cap.

The TRIM Notice and How to Appeal

Every August, every Florida property owner receives a TRIM notice -- "Truth in Millage." It is technically not a bill; it is a proposed notice showing:

• The property appraiser's just value, assessed value, and taxable value for the current year.
• Each taxing authority's proposed millage rate.
• The estimated tax under last year's rates and under the proposed rates.
• Public hearing dates where you can object to proposed millage increases.
• The deadline to appeal the assessed value (typically 25 days from the TRIM mailing, usually mid-September).

Appealing Your Assessed Value

You can challenge the property appraiser's just value in two ways:

1. Informal review -- Call or visit the property appraiser's office and present comparable sales or other evidence that the value is too high. Often resolves issues without paperwork.
2. Value Adjustment Board (VAB) petition -- File form DR-486 with the county clerk by the deadline on your TRIM notice (usually mid-September). A small filing fee applies (around $15). A magistrate or board reviews your evidence at a hearing.

Appeals succeed when you can show recent comparable sales below the appraiser's value, when the property has unrecorded damage, or when there is a factual error (wrong square footage, wrong year built, missing structural issue). Challenging value because "my neighbor pays less" almost never works -- the neighbor likely has SOH protection.

Millage Rates by County: What to Expect

Total millage rates vary across Florida based on county budgets, school district needs, city overlays, and special districts. The numbers below are illustrative ranges from recent years -- always verify with the specific tax bill or TRIM notice for any property you are evaluating.

Within any county, your specific millage depends on whether you are inside city limits, inside a CDD (Community Development District), inside an MSTU (Municipal Service Taxing Unit), and which school and water management districts you fall under. The TRIM notice breaks all of this out.

Non-Ad Valorem Assessments: The Bills That Are Not Really Tax

Property tax in Florida is collected on a single annual bill that arrives in November. But that bill often includes more than just ad valorem (value-based) tax. The other line items are non-ad valorem assessments, and they can add hundreds or even thousands of dollars per year.

Common non-ad valorem charges:

• CDD fees -- Community Development District bonds and operating costs in master-planned communities. Can run $1,500-$4,000+ per year for 20-30 years until bonds are retired.
• Solid waste / garbage -- Annual residential collection fee, typically $200-$400.
• Fire / EMS -- In counties that fund fire-rescue through assessments rather than millage, can be $150-$600 per year.
• Stormwater -- Drainage system maintenance, typically $50-$200.
• Streetlights -- Subdivision-specific, usually small ($20-$60).
• PACE financing -- Property Assessed Clean Energy loans for solar, hurricane shutters, or HVAC, secured to the property and paid through the tax bill. Can be substantial.

When evaluating a Florida home, look at the full tax bill (front and back) on the county tax collector website, not just the ad valorem portion. CDD fees in particular are easy to miss and can make a community look more affordable than it really is.

Worked Example: $400,000 Home in Hillsborough County

Let's walk through what a $400,000 purchase actually looks like on the property tax line. Assume Hillsborough County, inside Tampa city limits, no CDD.

That works out to roughly 1.85% of purchase price in year one, before any portability is applied. If you ported $100,000 of SOH benefit from a previous Florida homestead, your assessed value would drop to $300,000 and your taxable value to $250,000 (county) / $275,000 (school), pulling annual tax down to about $5,250 -- a $2,000+ annual savings.

If the seller had been homesteaded for ten years and was paying tax on an assessed value of $230,000, their bill might have been around $4,200. As the new owner, you would be paying $7,300+ in year one for the same house. That is the SOH reset in action, and it is the single biggest budgeting trap for buyers moving in from out of state.

What Buyers Should Actually Do

If you are shopping for a Florida home, here is the practical checklist:

1. Pull the seller's TRIM notice and current tax bill from the county property appraiser and tax collector websites. This is public information for every Florida parcel.
2. Note the seller's just value vs. assessed value. If the gap is large, your bill will jump.
3. Recalculate based on your purchase price as the new just value. Apply the $50,000 homestead exemption (assuming you will occupy and file).
4. Apply portability if you have it. Get a portability estimate from the property appraiser's office or website.
5. Add non-ad valorem assessments (CDD, fire, garbage, stormwater) to the ad valorem estimate.
6. Budget for a 50-100% increase from the seller's current bill in year one for non-distressed sales. For new construction, the year-one bill is usually based on land only and the year-two bill is much higher once the structure is added to the rolls.
7. File for homestead by March 1 after closing. Do not skip this -- you forfeit the exemption and SOH cap for that tax year if you miss the deadline.
8. Save your closing disclosure. Some lenders set up escrow based on the seller's old tax bill, which leads to a large escrow shortage in year two. Verify your escrow projection includes the reset bill.

Special Situations

New Construction

For homes built mid-year, the assessed value reflects only what existed on January 1. A house under construction on January 1 is typically assessed as land plus partial structure. Your year-one tax bill will be artificially low. Year two, with the full structure on the rolls, can triple or quadruple the year-one bill. Always estimate based on the completed home's value, not the year-one assessment.

Inherited Homestead

If you inherit a homesteaded property from a parent and continue to occupy it as your permanent residence, special rules can preserve the SOH cap. Florida statutes provide for "continuation" of homestead in certain inheritance scenarios, but the rules are technical -- consult the county property appraiser or a Florida estate attorney.

Snowbirds and Part-Time Residents

To claim Florida homestead, you must occupy the property as your permanent residence. Spending six months in Florida is not enough if you maintain a homestead-equivalent in another state. Florida property appraisers actively check voter registration, driver's license, vehicle registration, and out-of-state homestead claims. Improperly claimed homestead can result in back taxes plus a 50% penalty plus 15% annual interest, going back up to ten years.

LLCs and Trusts

Property held in an LLC generally cannot claim homestead. Property held in a revocable living trust where the beneficiary occupies as a permanent residence generally can, but the trust must be properly drafted and you must file the appropriate paperwork. Talk to a Florida estate attorney before transferring your homestead into any entity.

Key Dates to Remember

• January 1 -- Assessment date. Your status (ownership, residency) on this date drives the entire tax year.
• March 1 -- Deadline to file homestead exemption and portability for the current tax year.
• August (mid-month) -- TRIM notices mailed.
• September (typically 25 days after TRIM) -- Deadline to file VAB petition challenging assessed value.
• September -- Public hearings on proposed millage rates.
• November 1 -- Tax bills mailed.
• November / December / January / February -- Pay early for discount: 4% in November, 3% in December, 2% in January, 1% in February.
• March 31 -- Last day to pay without penalty. Tax certificates auctioned in June for unpaid bills.

Where to Get Authoritative Answers

This guide is general education, not tax advice. Property tax rules have edge cases and the consequences of getting them wrong (especially around homestead claims) can be expensive. For your specific situation:

• County property appraiser -- The authoritative source for your parcel's just value, assessed value, exemptions, and SOH benefit. Every Florida county has a dedicated website with parcel search.
• County tax collector -- Issues the bill, collects payment, and runs tax certificate auctions for delinquent properties.
• Florida Department of Revenue -- Statewide rules, forms (DR-501, DR-501T, DR-486), and the official statutes (Chapter 196 for exemptions, Chapter 193 for assessments).
• Licensed Florida CPA or tax attorney -- For trust transfers, complicated portability scenarios, inheritance, business property, or VAB appeals with significant dollars at stake.

Bookmark your county property appraiser's website. Once you own Florida property, that site will tell you your TRIM details, exemption status, sales history of comparable properties for appeals, and your current SOH benefit. It is the single most useful tool for managing your Florida property tax over time.