Learn How to Benefit from Property Tax exemptions in Florida?
If you are a Florida resident you can save quite a bit on your property taxes, want to know how? Well today I am going to tell you all about the Save Our Homes Program.
If you own a home in Florida, you can declare residency if you reside in that property for at least 183 days a year. Since Florida doesn’t have an income tax the state tries to make up for it with property taxes which averages around 2% of your home’s value. That’s a significant amount of money, so you will want to do whatever you can to keep your property taxes low and there are several things you can do.
Florida Property Tax Guide
TIP #1: Make sure that your home’s initial assessment is as low as possible
Do not assume that the tax bill was paid on your new home by the previous owner because it will reflect in your property taxes going forward. On January 1st following your home purchase, the County Property Appraiser will reassess your property home valuation. You will get officially notified of that value in the mail sometime in August that same year, this is called a TRIM notice. Your initial assessed value will likely be about 85% of what you paid for your property.
TIP #2: Apply for your Homestead Benefits!
Filing for Homestead exemption provides lots of benefits. One of those benefits is that your Assessed Value, which is the value on which your tax bill is based, cannot increase each year any more than the consumer price index or 3% or whichever is LESS.
Your homestead benefits also allow you to receive EXEMPTIONS. To file for your Homestead exemption just go onto your county’s property appraiser site after you purchase your home and download the forms, you can also fill it out online. I’ve provided links below.
https://www.sjcpa.us/exemptions/
https://www.sjcpa.us/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Homestead-and-Other-Exemptions.pdf
TIP #3: Florida Portability
You do need to apply for separately a year following your homestead application
Is it a really good benefit Florida residents are eligible for? Portability is the difference between your property’s assessed value and the market value (which is what your home would sell for) and allows you to transfer it from one Florida homestead to your next. Basically, you want your market value to be as high as possible. Most people think that they want their Market Value to be as low as possible but this is not necessarily true. You don’t pay taxes on your Market Value. You pay them on your Assessed Value. Open the PDF link below for UNDERSTANDING HOMESTEAD PORTABILITY.
https://www.sjcpa.us/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Understanding-Homestead-Portability.pdf
TIP #4: If something is wrong, Fix it!
If you need an adjustment to a value, whether it’s because you believe your initial assessment was too high or because your Market Value is too low and it’s keeping you from getting as much portability as you should have called your property appraisers office to start the process.
In conclusion, we all want to save money so if you already live in Florida or are planning to move here take advantage of these benefits.
Now homeowners insurance is going up as well so check out this next video for ways to save there.
I provided the links above to have instant access to everything you need to get started.
If you have any questions, send them my way and I’ll provide you the information to get the answers you need. I’m always happy to help!
