Ways to Potentially Reduce Property Taxes on Your Florida Home (2024)

Property tax burdens for Floridians can be a significant expense each year, even if they are rolled into the monthly mortgage payment. There are several ways to help reduce property tax burdens, and they are worth exploring.

Appealing your Home’s Taxable Value

Any homeowner can ask for their home to be reassessed to determine its taxable value. If the appeals board reduces the value of the home, the tax burden will be lowered, because the property tax is computed by multiplying the home’s taxable value by the current tax rate.

In order to increase your chances for a successful property tax appeal you will need to show that the tax appraiser made one of the following errors:

• Relying on incorrect or incomplete information, such as wrong square footage
• Setting the taxable value of your home higher than comparable homes in the area
• Making incorrect assumptions about the current market value of your home

Meeting Requirements for Property Tax Breaks

There are many tax breaks for property owners that most people aren’t aware of. You can possibly reduce your property tax burden for your Florida home if you meet one or more of the following requirements:

• Longtime residents/seniors may qualify for an exemption if they have lived in Florida for 25 years or more or are 65 years of age or older, AND who meet certain income thresholds AND have a home worth less than $250,000. Add-ons to a home that were specifically built for a parent or grandparent over the age of 62 may also be exempt from property tax
• Homestead exemptions may apply to up to $75,000 of your primary home’s value. Seniors may qualify for an extra exemption for an additional $50,000 of home value. There is an additional exemption of 15% for the next $300,000 of the primary home’s value. Deployed service members may also qualify for an additional homestead exemption based on the number of days deployed
• Surviving spouses of military servicemembers or first-responders who died in the line of duty or from service-related causes may qualify for another type of homestead exemption. Disabled veterans over the age of 65 whose disability was caused wholly or partly by combat may also qualify for an additional tax discount.
• Disabled civilians may qualify for a $500 exemption from Florida property taxes if they are blind, or totally or permanently disabled

More information on property tax breaks in Florida can be obtained from the Florida Department of Revenue.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not form a part of, replace, change or amend any terms, conditions, provisions or language within your Olympus Insurance policy. We encourage you to read your entire policy.