Property Tax Exemptions You're Probably Not Claiming in Florida

Florida's homestead exemption isn't one number. It's a stack of them: some automatic, some your county has to opt into, and one that isn't law yet at all but is on the ballot this November and could change the math for every homeowner in the state. Here's what's actually true today, and what's still just a proposal.

The exemption almost everyone has heard of, mostly right

If you own and live in a Florida home as your permanent residence, you likely qualify for the Homestead Exemption. The first $25,000 of assessed value is exempt from every property tax, school taxes included. A second exemption, on the portion of assessed value between $50,000 and $75,000, is exempt from everything except school taxes, and this second piece now adjusts upward each year for inflation, so the exact combined number shifts slightly year to year. File once with your county property appraiser (form DR-501) by March 1, and it renews on its own for as long as you live there.

The bigger long-term benefit rides along with it. Once homesteaded, your home's assessed value can only rise by 3% a year, or the inflation rate if that's lower, no matter what the market does. Buyers who've owned a while can end up with an assessed value tens or even hundreds of thousands below what the home would sell for today. That gap is portable, too: sell and buy again in Florida, and you can carry up to $500,000 of it to the next home.

The one that depends entirely on your county

Here's what most people miss: Florida also allows counties and cities to adopt an additional exemption for homeowners 65 and older who meet an income limit, and some go further, offering full exemption from non-school taxes for long-term residents (25+ years in the same home) under a certain home value. Neither of these is automatic statewide. Your city or county has to have passed the ordinance, and you have to apply and requalify with income documentation. If you're 65 or older, this is worth a phone call to your property appraiser's office even if you've never heard your neighbors mention it. This one lives or dies at the county line.

Florida also runs separate exemptions for veterans with service-connected disabilities, which stack on top of the homestead exemption and scale with disability rating. The exact dollar amounts and qualifying criteria are specific enough that they're worth pulling directly from the state's veteran exemption forms rather than a rough summary here.

The one that isn't law yet

In June 2026, the Florida Legislature passed HJR 1F, a constitutional amendment that would raise the non-school homestead exemption from $50,000 to $150,000 in 2027 and to $250,000 in 2028, indexed to inflation after that. It does not touch school taxes, which stay where they are. Florida voters decide on November 3, 2026, and it needs 60% approval to pass, a higher bar than a simple majority.

There's a catch built in specifically for new arrivals: anyone who establishes Florida homestead after January 1, 2027 has to hold Florida residency for five years before getting the expanded exemption. Until then, they'd get the current $50,000 version. If you're planning a move to Florida anytime around that window, the exact timing of when you establish residency could matter more than usual this year.

None of this is in effect right now. It might never be. Watch it. Don't plan a purchase around it.

What to actually check

Confirm your county has your Homestead Exemption on file; it should show on your property appraiser's site. Ask specifically whether your city or county has adopted the senior or long-term-resident add-on, if you're 65 or older. And if you're relocating to Florida in the next year or two, keep an eye on the November ballot result before deciding when to establish residency.