Did you buy a home last year? If so, NOW’s the time to file for your Homestead Exemption (and portability). Do not ignore me or you’ll be real mad and your property taxes will be real high! The deadline is March 1st but no need to stress because you can do it online!
Links to county homestead exemption filing here:
What’s Homestead Exemption?
Homestead exemption is a $50,000 tax exemption from the property’s assessed value. It is available on your primary home (and you must be on the title) on January 1 of the taxable year. The first $25,000 is entirely exempt. The second $25,000 is to be applied to the value between $50,000 and $75,000, and does not include school taxes. For example: If a home’s assessed value is $75,000 or more, the owner would receive the full $50,000 exemption benefit. If the property value is between $50,000 and $75,000, he or she would receive a pro-rated exemption amount. (Example: If the property value is $65,000, the additional exemption would be $15,000, for a total exemption amount of $40,000 (the original $25,000 plus the prorated amount of $15,000). The exemption results in approximately a $500 – $800 property tax savings to Florida residents.
If you like math (who does that – besides my husband) here’s are several examples for you!
Portability plus homestead examples:
A home with a market value of $162,000 (and an assessed value of $104,000 due benefits accrued yearly under the 3 percent cap) is eligible for $25,000 homestead exemption for the first $25,000 in property value and an additional $25,000 homestead exemption for the value of the property from $50,000 to $75,000. Thus, the home in this instance receives $50,000 in homestead exemption benefits. Under this scenario, the taxable value of the home is $54,000 (assessed value minus the $50,000 homestead exemption). The property now has a cap value of $58,000, which is the just/market value minus the assessed value.
Portability works for homeowners who either are purchasing a larger property or who are downsizing to a smaller property. In the previous example, if the homeowner purchases a larger home with a just/market value of $300,000, portability allows for a reduction in taxable value by the $58,000 cap value accrued on the previous home as well as the $50,000 in homestead exemption benefits, thus reducing the taxable value to $192,000.
If the homeowner in the first example purchases a smaller home with a just/market value of $125,000, they will receive a percentage of the $58,000 cap value, which is calculated by taking the just/market value of the new/smaller home ($125,000) and dividing it by the just/market value of the old home ($162,000) and multiplying that figure by the assessed value of the old home ($104,000). In this instance, the new cap value is $44,753. It is from this figure that the $50,000 homestead exemption is subtracted to arrive at a taxable value of $30,247.
HOW TO CHALLENGE YOUR ASSESSED VALUE, click here!
