Florida property tax is an annual ad valorem tax collected by county governments based on the assessed value of your real estate as of January 1 each year. Because Florida has no state income tax, these county-level taxes fund schools, law enforcement, fire rescue, roads, and other local services. Your bill is the product of two numbers: your property’s taxable value, set by the County Property Appraiser, and the combined millage rate set by your county, city, school board, and any special districts. The statewide average effective rate runs around 0.78 percent of assessed value, but what you actually owe depends heavily on where you live and which exemptions you claim.
How Your Tax Bill Is Calculated
Every property in Florida is assessed as of January 1. Whatever you own on that date determines your obligation for the coming year. The County Property Appraiser identifies and values the property; the County Tax Collector handles billing and payment. These are separate constitutional offices.
The starting figure is the just value, Florida’s term for fair market value — essentially what a willing buyer would pay a willing seller. From there, the appraiser subtracts any exemptions you qualify for to arrive at your taxable value. That taxable value is what the millage rate applies to.
One mill equals $1 for every $1,000 of taxable value.1Florida Department of Revenue. A Florida Homeowner’s Guide: Millage Your bill will show several millage rates stacked together: the county commission, the school board, your city if you live inside one, and any special districts such as water management or hospital authorities. To calculate the tax, divide your taxable value by 1,000 and multiply by the total millage.
A home with a taxable value of $250,000 in a district with a combined rate of 18 mills would owe $4,500. Counties and municipalities are each capped at 10 mills for general operations, though voter-approved levies can exceed those limits.2Florida Legislature. Florida Code Chapter 200 – Determination of Millage School district millage is set separately.
Rates are adopted each year at public budget hearings, and every owner receives advance notice of the proposed numbers before they are final. When property values climb, taxing authorities sometimes lower millage, though nothing requires them to.
Homestead Exemption
If you own a home in Florida and make it your permanent residence, the homestead exemption is the single most valuable break available to you. The first $25,000 of assessed value is exempt from all property taxes, including school taxes. A second exemption applies to assessed value between $50,000 and $75,000, but this portion does not reduce school district taxes.3Palm Beach County Property Appraiser. The Homestead Exemption The second exemption adjusts for inflation and exceeded $25,700 for tax year 2025. Combined, they can remove more than $50,000 from your taxable value.
You must file the initial application with your County Property Appraiser by March 1 of the tax year you are claiming.4Florida Legislature. Florida Code 196.011 – Annual Application Required for Exemption After year one, most counties renew automatically as long as nothing has changed.
Rental activity can jeopardize the exemption. You can rent the entire home for up to 30 days per calendar year without a problem, but renting for more than 30 days per year in two consecutive years is treated as abandonment of homestead.5FindLaw. Florida Code 196.061 – Rental of Homestead to Constitute Abandonment Renting a spare room while you live there is allowed, though if a tenant has exclusive use of a defined portion of the house, your exemption may be partially reduced.
Save Our Homes Cap
The homestead exemption lowers your taxable value by a fixed dollar amount. The Save Our Homes cap, written into Article VII, Section 4 of the Florida Constitution, does something separate: it limits how fast your assessed value can grow. Once your homestead is in place, the assessed value cannot rise by more than 3 percent per year or the change in the Consumer Price Index, whichever is lower.6Florida Senate. The Florida Constitution – Article VII, Section 4 If CPI rose only 1.5 percent, your assessed value can grow by no more than 1.5 percent, even if the market value jumped 10 percent.
Over the years this creates a widening gap between your assessed value and what the home would actually sell for. Someone who bought in 2015 might own a home worth $450,000 today but carry an assessed value of only $280,000 because the cap restrained each annual increase. That accumulated difference is the Save Our Homes benefit, and it has cash value.
Portability When You Move
Florida lets you transfer some or all of your Save Our Homes benefit to a new homestead within the state. The maximum transferable amount is $500,000, and you have three tax years from January 1 of the year you gave up your prior homestead to establish a new one and claim the transfer.7Florida Legislature. Florida Code 193.155 – Homestead Assessments
If your new home’s just value is equal to or greater than the old one’s, you transfer the full dollar amount of the benefit, up to the cap. If the new home is worth less, the benefit is reduced proportionally. An old home with a $100,000 gap between just and assessed value, swapped for a new home worth half as much, carries $50,000 of benefit forward.
Portability requires a separate application filed with your new county’s Property Appraiser by March 1 on Form DR-501T, submitted alongside the homestead exemption application.8Florida Department of Revenue. Original Application for Homestead and Related Tax Exemptions Miss the application and the accumulated benefit is lost.
Other Exemptions and Caps
Beyond homestead, Florida offers targeted relief for several groups. Each requires a separate application by March 1.
- Residents age 65 or older may qualify for an additional homestead exemption of up to $50,000 in counties and municipalities that have adopted a local ordinance, subject to a household income limit. Some jurisdictions grant a full exemption for seniors who have lived on their homestead at least 25 years and own property with a just value under $250,000. These reduce only the adopting county or city millage, not school taxes.9Florida Department of Revenue. Property Tax Benefits for Persons 65 or Older
- An honorably discharged veteran with a service-connected disability of at least 10 percent can claim a $5,000 reduction in assessed value on any property they own in Florida, not just a homestead.10Florida Department of Revenue. Property Tax Benefits for Active Duty Military and Veterans
- A homestead owned by a person who is totally and permanently disabled and requires a wheelchair, or who is legally blind, is fully exempt from property tax.11Florida Legislature. Florida Code 196.101 – Exemption for Totally and Permanently Disabled Persons
- Land used primarily for bona fide agricultural purposes can be assessed on its agricultural income potential rather than market value. This Greenbelt classification requires the use to be in place by January 1 and an application by March 1.
Investment properties, second homes, and commercial real estate do not qualify for Save Our Homes, but they do get a separate protection: non-homestead assessments cannot increase by more than 10 percent per year, excluding the school board portion.12Florida Legislature. Florida Code 193.1554 – Assessment of Nonhomestead Residential Property The cap applies automatically with no application. For residential properties with nine or fewer units, a change in ownership generally resets the assessed value to full market value, and the 10 percent limit starts fresh from that new baseline.13Miami-Dade County Property Appraiser. Non-Homestead Cap
When Bills Arrive and How to Pay Less by Paying Early
The annual cycle starts with the Truth in Millage (TRIM) notice, mailed by the Property Appraiser in August. It is not a bill. It shows the proposed assessed value, the millage rates each taxing authority plans to charge, and the dates of public hearings.14Florida Department of Revenue. Truth in Millage (TRIM) The TRIM notice is also the clock-starter for any assessment appeal, so open it when it arrives.
Actual tax bills go out on or around November 1, and Florida rewards early payment on a sliding scale:15Florida Legislature. Florida Code 197.162 – Tax Discount Payment Periods
- Pay in November: 4 percent discount
- Pay in December: 3 percent discount
- Pay in January: 2 percent discount
- Pay in February: 1 percent discount
- Pay in March: no discount, no penalty
The final deadline to pay without penalty is March 31. On a $5,000 bill, paying in November saves $200.
If paying all at once is difficult, you can apply with the Tax Collector by April 30 of the prior year for a quarterly installment plan under Florida Statute 197.222. Payments are due June 30, September 30, December 31, and March 31, with discounts of 6 percent, 4.5 percent, 3 percent, and zero.16Florida Legislature. Florida Code 197.222 – Prepayment of Estimated Tax by Installment Method Miss the June payment and you are off the plan for the year.
What Happens If You Do Not Pay
Taxes unpaid by March 31 become delinquent on April 1. A mandatory minimum charge of 3 percent is added right away, along with advertising costs. From there, delinquent real property taxes accrue interest at 18 percent per year.17Florida Senate. Florida Code 197.172 – Interest Rate; Calculation and Minimum
On or before June 1, or 60 days after delinquency, the Tax Collector sells tax certificates on properties with unpaid taxes. A certificate is a lien bought by an investor who pays off the delinquent taxes and earns interest, up to 18 percent per year, from the owner. The certificate itself does not transfer ownership.
If a certificate stays unredeemed, the holder can apply for a tax deed two years after April 1 of the year the certificate was issued.18Florida Senate. Florida Code 197.502 – Application for Tax Deed by Certificate Holder The property then goes to public auction. You can redeem the certificate any time before the deed issues by paying back taxes plus accrued interest and costs.19Florida Legislature. Florida Code 197.472 – Redemption of Tax Certificates Waiting only increases the amount owed. Three years after the land is offered for public sale, if no buyer takes it, the property escheats to the county.
How to Appeal If Your Assessment Looks Too High
You have 25 days from the mailing of your TRIM notice to file a petition with the Value Adjustment Board.20Florida Legislature. Florida Code Chapter 194 – Administrative and Judicial Review of Property Taxes The window is tight.
Before filing, you can request an informal conference with the Property Appraiser’s office. The informal route is optional and does not waive your right to the formal VAB hearing, and it resolves many disputes quickly.21Florida Legislature. Florida Code 194.011 – Assessment Notice; Objections to Assessments Bring recent comparable sales, a private appraisal, or photos showing condition issues. The same evidence works at either level.
Filing fees for a VAB petition are modest, usually between $15 and $50 depending on the county. The petition must be signed by the owner or include a written power of attorney, which is valid for only one assessment year. If the VAB rules against you, you can still go to circuit court, though the cost of that step usually only makes sense for high-value property or a sizable discrepancy.