Florida Property Tax Info

In Florida properties are assessed every year as of January 1. The tax assessor's office uses property resales during the last tax year as one of the primary basis for computing taxes. For the past three years property taxes have gone down.

In 2008 the Florida State Legislature passed a home owners protection bill that limits the amount that property taxes can be raised in any given year to five percent for non-homestead property. For homestead property the cap remained at three percent.

This legislation was designed to keep residential property owners from experiencing the huge tax increases that occurred several years ago because of the rapid unstable rise in property values.

This makes buying a residential property at this time even more attractive as a second home or investment. Not only are prices down but so are property taxes--and the amount property taxes can rise is capped.

If the property is your primary residence, then you are also eligible to receive an additional homestead deduction of up to $50,000. The first $25,000 of assessed value is 100 percent deductible. The second $25,000 is taxed at full value. For the third $25,000 you receive the full deduction on everything but school taxes.

In short the homestead deduction above means that on a primary residence with a property assessed value of $200,000, your property taxes would be assessed on only $150,000.

Finally, don't forget that Florida does NOT have a State income tax and the tax benefits for retired residents are excellent. Ask your financial advisor.