Florida Homestead real estate tax portability explained

For those who have made a home in Florida and are considering moving to a new home in Florida, one of the most important things to consider is the recently enacted Property Tax Portability Amendment affecting Homestead property.

So what is Florida Property Tax Portability?

A new Florida law allows residents who are moving from one primary residence to another to carry property tax benefits accumulated on the assessed value of their existing home along with them to their new home. This can mean a decrease of up to $ 500,000 in the taxable value of the new home and a huge annual savings in property taxes.

Florida’s primary residences are protected up to a maximum percentage increase in appraised value each year by the housing legislation known as “Save Our Homes.”

Without the portability provision, if you moved, you would lose all of the appraised value savings created by Save Our Homes and your new home was appraised at current market value. The Portability Amendment literally made tax savings “portable,” so you can now transfer up to $ 500,000 of your increased Save Our Homes benefit to your new home.

EXAMPLE: You sell your current property in Florida that has an estimated value of $ 200,000 and a fair (market) value of $ 350,000. $ 350,000 – $ 200,000 = $ 150,000 in tax benefit. Buy a new home for $ 400,000. The $ 150,000 SOH tax benefit is applied to the fair (market) value of the new homes to create a lower appraised value.

So if you own a home in Florida and are thinking of downsizing to a condo or if you’ve been living inland and want to take advantage of the great prices of beachfront properties on the coast, you may find that a Dramatic change in property taxes is not something to worry about. about. Homeowners selling a home to move into another full-time will find that their new property taxes are adjusted to reflect the savings from their old home.