Homestead exemption in Florida: who qualifies and how to apply

What is the homestead exemption?

Short answer: a reduction in the taxable value of the home you own and live in as your permanent home. It also turns on a yearly cap, called Save Our Homes, on increases in your assessed value.

The exemption has two parts, set in Florida Statutes 196.031:

The additional exemption was $25,000 until a 2024 change to the Florida Constitution. Since the 2025 tax year, it is adjusted each year for inflation: $25,722 for 2025 and $26,411 for 2026. The second part applies only to the assessed value above $50,000, so a home assessed below about $76,400 gets only part of it.

Who qualifies for homestead in Florida?

Short answer: a person who, on January 1, owns the home (legal or beneficial title) and lives in it as their permanent residence. If you are not a US citizen, you also need a status that lets you stay in the US permanently, such as a green card.

The main rules:

• January 1 is the key date. You must own the home and live in it as your permanent home on January 1 of the tax year. If you buy in June 2026 and move in, you apply for the 2027 tax year.
• One homestead only. The Florida Constitution allows only one exemption per person or family unit. You cannot get homestead in Florida if you claim a residency-based exemption or tax credit in another state.
• Permanent residence is a fact the property appraiser decides. Florida Statutes 196.015 lists what it can look at: a recorded declaration of domicile, where your children go to school, your job, your Florida driver license, your Florida car tag, your voter registration, the address on your federal tax return, your bank statements, and utility bills at the home.

For non-citizens, each county states its rules:

• Miami-Dade: the owner must be "a U.S. citizen or permanent U.S. resident and Florida resident as of January 1".
• Broward: non-citizens must show proof of permanent residency, asylum or parolee status, or other "PRUCOL" status, or proof that they are the parent of a US citizen minor child who lives with them.
• Palm Beach: proof of permanent residency (Alien Registration Card) if you are not a US citizen.

Under Florida rule 12D-7.007, a person on a temporary visa cannot meet the permanent residence requirement. If your status is unusual, call the property appraiser before you file.

When is the deadline to apply?

Short answer: March 1 of the tax year. For the 2027 tax year, the deadline is Monday, March 1, 2027.

• On time. Florida law says that not applying by March 1 waives the exemption for that year. Broward says the timely filing period for 2027 is March 3, 2026 to March 1, 2027.
• Late. You can still file a late application within 25 days after the property appraiser mails the proposed tax notice (the TRIM notice, in August). The property appraiser can accept it for extenuating circumstances. If it does not, you can petition the value adjustment board, with a $15 fee. Broward lists September 20, 2027 as its late-file deadline for 2027.
• After the first year. You do not apply again every year. The county renews the exemption each year as long as you still qualify. Miami-Dade mails an automatic renewal receipt in late December, and Broward mails a receipt in early January. Tell the property appraiser if you move out, rent the home or change the owners on the deed.

How do I apply in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach?

Short answer: online, on the website of your county property appraiser. You need your Florida driver license or ID, Social Security numbers, and proof that you live at the home.

Non-citizens add proof of status, such as the permanent resident card. Each county can also take applications in person. If you bought the home with a spouse, both of you should be on the application.

What should I do before I apply?

Short answer: move in before January 1, change your driver license and voter registration to the new address, and keep proof.

1. Record the deed in your name. Your closing agent does this at closing.
2. Move in and make it your only permanent home before January 1.
3. Get a Florida driver license or ID card with the home address.
4. Register your car in Florida and register to vote at the address, if you can.
5. Change the address on your bank accounts and tax return.
6. Apply online between January 1 and March 1. Some counties accept applications earlier.
7. Watch for the TRIM notice in August to check that the exemption appears.

What is the Save Our Homes cap?

Short answer: once your home has homestead, its assessed value can rise each year by no more than 3% or the change in inflation, whichever is lower. The cap was 2.7% for 2026 and 2.9% for 2025.

Market value and assessed value can split apart over time. If your home's market value jumps 8% in a year, your assessed value can still rise only by the cap. Your taxes are based on the assessed value, minus your exemptions. The Department of Revenue sets the cap each year: 2.7% for 2026, 2.9% for 2025, and 3.0% for 2024, when inflation was 3.4%.

The cap ends when the home changes owners. On January 1 of the year after a sale, the property appraiser resets the assessed value to the full market value. This is why a buyer's tax bill is often much higher than the seller's. Check the county's tax estimator with the purchase price, not the seller's current tax.

What is portability?

Short answer: when you move from one Florida homestead to another, you can bring up to $500,000 of your Save Our Homes savings with you. You must set up the new homestead within 3 years and file Form DR-501T.

Your "savings" is the difference between your old home's market value and its assessed value. How much moves with you depends on whether you buy a more expensive or a cheaper home:

• Bigger or equal home: new assessed value = new market value minus your savings, up to $500,000.
• Smaller home: new assessed value = new market value ÷ old market value × old assessed value. The savings is still capped at $500,000.

Example: your old home has a market value of $700,000 and an assessed value of $450,000, so your savings is $250,000.

• You buy a $800,000 home: new assessed value = $800,000 minus $250,000 = $550,000.
• You buy a $350,000 condo: new assessed value = $350,000 ÷ $700,000 × $450,000 = $225,000.

You file Form DR-501T with your new homestead application by March 1. You qualify if you had homestead on January 1 of any of the 3 years before.

What about homes that are not my homestead?

Short answer: second homes, rentals and homes owned by people who live abroad get no homestead exemption. Their assessed value can still rise only 10% a year, but that cap does not cover school taxes.

Florida Statutes 193.1554 caps yearly increases in the assessed value of non-homestead homes and condos (up to 9 units) at 10%, for all taxes except school taxes. School taxes are based on the full market value. This cap also resets when the home is sold. In practice, a non-homestead owner pays more tax on the same home than a homestead neighbor, and the gap grows each year that prices rise faster than inflation.

What changes for foreign owners and second-home owners?

Short answer: if Florida is not your permanent home, or you do not have a qualifying immigration status, you cannot get homestead. If you get it and then rent the home out, you can lose it.

• Foreign owners who live abroad. No homestead. Your home is taxed as non-homestead, with the 10% cap for non-school taxes. Our guide for foreign buyers shows the typical yearly costs.
• Owners on temporary visas. Rule 12D-7.007 says a temporary visa holder cannot meet the permanent residence requirement. Broward lists some other statuses it accepts.
• Second homes. Only one homestead is allowed. A home in Florida that you use part of the year, while your main home is elsewhere, is non-homestead.
• Renting your homestead. If you rent the home for more than 30 days per calendar year for 2 years in a row, Florida treats it as abandoned. Miami-Dade gives this example: renting 35 days in year one and 31 days in year two means you no longer qualify.
• Penalty for a wrong homestead. If the county finds that you were not entitled to the exemption, it can put a lien on the home for the unpaid taxes of any year within the past 10 years, plus a 50% penalty for each year and 15% interest a year.

What other exemptions can homestead owners get?

Short answer: extra exemptions for some seniors, widows and widowers, people with disabilities, and veterans. You apply with the same office.

• Seniors 65 and older with limited income: up to $50,000 more, where the county or city has chosen to offer it. The income limit is adjusted each year. A long-term resident version exists for homes worth less than $250,000 where the owner has lived for at least 25 years.
• Widows and widowers, blind people, and totally and permanently disabled people: $5,000 each.
• Total disability: a quadriplegic's homestead is fully exempt. Some wheelchair users and legally blind owners with limited income also qualify for a full exemption.
• Veterans: $5,000 for a service-connected disability of 10% or more, and a full exemption for a service-connected total and permanent disability. The full exemption can pass to the surviving spouse.

What is Amendment 3 on the November 3, 2026 ballot?

Short answer: a change to the Florida Constitution that would raise the homestead exemption for non-school taxes to $150,000 in 2027 and $250,000 in 2028, and lower the cap for non-homestead homes from 10% to 5%. It needs 60% of the vote.

The ballot summary from the Florida Division of Elections says Amendment 3:

• "increases the homestead exemption, for all non-school taxes, to $150,000 in 2027" "and $250,000 in 2028, and adjusts for inflation thereafter."
• Lets counties and cities raise it up to the full assessed value. Special districts can do the same with a local vote.
• Gives people who are not Florida residents on December 31, 2026 the current exemption at first, with the higher one "beginning with the fifth year of exemption".
• "reduces the annual cap on assessment increases for non-homestead properties from 10% to 5%."
• Requires counties and cities to use property taxes for public safety, schools, infrastructure and a few other purposes, unless local officials approve other spending.
• "takes effect January 1, 2027."

Florida constitutional amendments need at least 60% of the votes cast on the measure. Check the result after November 3, 2026 before you budget for 2027. If you are moving to Florida, note the rule about people who are not residents on December 31, 2026.

How much does homestead save? A worked example

Short answer: on a $500,000 condo in the City of Miami, homestead saves about $851 in 2026 taxes. The cap then keeps the gap growing when prices rise.

The example uses the 2026 adopted rates for the City of Miami: 19.9544 mills in total (each mill is $1 per $1,000 of taxable value), of which 6.6230 mills are school taxes and 13.3314 mills are other taxes. It does not include fixed fees such as trash.

Year 1: 2026, market value $500,000

The homestead owner saves about $851 in the first year.

Year 2: market value rises to $540,000

• Homestead owner: the assessed value can rise only by the cap. At 2.7%, it goes to $513,500. With the same rates and exemptions, the tax is about $9,396.
• Non-homestead owner who bought at the same time: the assessed value goes to $540,000 (under the 10% cap). The tax is about $10,775.

The gap is now about $1,380 a year. These numbers use 2026 rates for both years to show the effect of the caps. Real rates change each year.

If Amendment 3 passes

In 2027 the non-school exemption would be $150,000 instead of about $51,000. On the same condo, that takes about $99,000 more off the non-school taxable value. At the 2026 non-school rate of 13.3314 mills, that is about $1,314 less tax a year, if rates and local choices stay the same. For people who are not Florida residents on December 31, 2026, the higher amount would start only in their fifth year of exemption.

What is the TRIM notice?

Short answer: the notice of proposed property taxes the county mails in August. It shows your market value, assessed value, exemptions and taxable value. It is not a bill.

Check that your homestead appears on it. If the value or the exemption looks wrong, the notice tells you the deadline to ask the value adjustment board for a review. The actual tax bill comes in November, with a discount of up to 4% for paying early.