When to file for homestead after you buy in Florida
The January 1 and March 1 dates that decide your first homestead year, what to bring, how to apply late, and what moves with you from an old homestead.
The short answer
File with your county property appraiser by March 1 of the first year you own and live in the home as your permanent residence on January 112. Buy and move in during 2026, and you file by March 1, 2027. Miss it, and you can apply within 25 days after the August TRIM notice of proposed taxes is mailed, if the appraiser or the value adjustment board accepts your reason23.
On this page
Florida's homestead exemption lowers the taxable value of the home you live in, and you have to apply for it. It doesn't pass from the seller to you. The seller's exemption stays on the home until the end of the year you buy, and then it's removed3.
This guide covers the dates that decide your first year, what the application asks for, how to apply late, and what you can carry over from a Florida homestead you're leaving. Each rule links to the statute or the Florida Department of Revenue document it comes from.
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When to file for homestead
File by March 1 of the first year you own the home and live in it as your permanent residence on January 112. Buy and move in during 2026, and your first homestead year is 2027. The deadline is March 1, 2027.
January 1 is the date that counts. The application asks you to confirm your facts as of that day6. It's also the day the property appraiser values every home at just value, its market value73.
You may not have to wait for January to apply. Florida law lets a property appraiser accept an application for the next year after March 1 of this one2. Ask yours whether you can file as soon as you close. Either way, the deed has to be recorded in the county's records before the exemption is granted1.
January 1, 2027 (key date)
Own it and live in it
Whoever owns and lives in the home on this day can claim it for 2027. The home is also valued afresh, without the seller's cap.
March 1, 2027 (key date)
Application due
Form DR-501 goes to your county property appraiser, with DR-501T if you're moving from another Florida homestead.
By July 1, 2027
The appraiser decides
A denial comes with the reasons, and you can appeal it to the county's value adjustment board.
August 2027
The TRIM notice
The Notice of Proposed Property Taxes. It isn't a bill. It lists the exemptions on your home, so check that homestead is there.
25 days after TRIM
Last day to apply late
With a reason the appraiser accepts, or by a petition to the value adjustment board, with a $15 fee.
November 2027
Your first bill with homestead
Paying it in November takes 4% off.
Closing before or after January 1
Which side of January 1 you close on decides your first homestead year. Close by December 31 and move in, and you can claim it for the coming year. Close in January or later, and you wait until the next January 11.
| By December 31, 2026 | During 2027 | |
|---|---|---|
| First January 1 you own it | January 1, 2027 | January 1, 2028 |
| First homestead year | 2027 | 2028 |
| Apply by | March 1, 2027 | March 1, 2028 |
| 2027's tax is figured on | The home's just value, less your homestead exemption53 | The home as it was on January 1, with any exemptions and cap the seller had3 |
The home is valued at just value on the first January 1 after you buy. The seller's exemption and cap stay with it until then53.
If you buy before that year's bill is paid, your first bill can carry the seller's exemptions and cap3. For how that year's tax is shared with the seller, read how property taxes are split at closing.
What homestead takes off your taxes
Homestead takes $25,000 off your home's assessed value for every tax, school taxes included, and up to $26,411 more in 2026 for every tax except school taxes14. Assessed value is the county's value after any cap and before exemptions3.
School taxes
$0 to $25,000: Exempt
$25,000 to more: Taxed
Every other tax
$0 to $25,000: Exempt
$25,000 to $50,000: Taxed
$50,000 to $76,411: Exempt
$76,411 to more: Taxed
On a $500,000 home in Palm Beach County's unincorporated area, homestead takes about $670 a year off the tax at 2026 rates. That's calculated by the code behind Comped's estimates, from the district's 16.2192 mills11. The exemptions are fixed dollar amounts, so the saving there is about the same for any home assessed above about $77,00014. To work out the whole bill, see what you'll pay in property taxes after you buy.
Homestead also brings the Save Our Homes cap. From the year after your first homestead year, the assessed value can rise by no more than 3% or the change in the Consumer Price Index, whichever is lower53. Over time the home's just value can pull ahead of its capped assessed value, and that gap is your Save Our Homes benefit23. Your first homestead year starts at just value, unless you bring a Save Our Homes benefit from an old homestead (below)5.
Amendment 3, put to Florida's voters on November 3, 2026
It takes at least 60% of the votes cast to pass1315. If approved, the exemption for non-school taxes would rise to $150,000 in 2027 and $250,000 in 20281214. Someone who wasn't a Florida resident on December 31, 2026 would then get $25,000 off school taxes and $50,000 off the rest, about the exemption before it, for their first four years of exemption14. Read what the amendment would change.
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What you need to apply
The application is Form DR-501. It's on your county property appraiser's website, and many appraisers take it online616. Find your county property appraiser17.
| Item | What the form asks |
|---|---|
| Your deed | Its date, and its recording details (book and page, or instrument number)6. |
| Social Security numbers | Yours and your spouse's. They're required. If one is missing, the appraiser contacts you, and you have until April 1 to complete the application2. |
| Florida driver license or ID card | Its number and date. The appraiser may also ask for proof you gave up another state's license616. |
| Florida vehicle registration | The tag number6. |
| Florida voter registration | The number, if you're a U.S. citizen, registered at the home's address618. |
| If you're not a U.S. citizen | Your immigration number or resident alien card number6. |
| Other proof you live there | Where you lived before Florida, and the date that ended. A recorded declaration of domicile, your employer, the address on your last federal tax return, your children's school, and bank statements and utility bills at the home18616. |
| Moving from another Florida homestead | Form DR-501T, filed with the application19. |
No single item decides it. The property appraiser weighs them and makes the decision, and you can appeal a denial to the county's value adjustment board1868.
Counties ask for these a little differently. Palm Beach wants a Florida driver license or ID and the Social Security numbers, plus one more proof such as a vehicle registration, voter registration or utility bill. It takes applications online, in person or by mail20. Miami-Dade asks for one of a similar list, and takes applications online, by email or in person21. Check your county's page before you file.
If you're not a U.S. citizen
You don't have to be a citizen. A Florida rule says someone who in good faith makes the home their permanent home can claim homestead, citizen or not. Someone here on a temporary visa can't22. Palm Beach asks non-citizens for proof of permanent residency, such as a resident alien card20. Miami-Dade requires an owner to be a citizen or a permanent U.S. resident21.
If you're moving from another state
You can't claim Florida's homestead while you claim a property tax break in another state that requires you to live there1.
Moving from another Florida homestead
If you had a Florida homestead exemption on January 1 of any of the last three years, you can bring part or all of its Save Our Homes benefit to your new homestead5. This is called portability, and up to $500,000 can move523.
The old home's Save Our Homes benefit is measured on January 1 of the year you left it. Move to a home with a just value at least as high, and all of it moves, up to the limit. Move to one with a lower just value, and a share moves, in proportion to the two just values5.
- New home, just value $200,000$75,00050% of it
- New home, just value $300,000$112,50075% of it
- New home, just value $400,000$150,000All of it
- New home, just value $550,000$150,000All of it
Old home's just value, January 1 of the year you left$400,000
Old home's assessed value, the same day$250,000
Its Save Our Homes benefit$150,000
Moving upMoving down
New home's just value$550,000$300,000
Save Our Homes benefit that moves−$150,000−$112,500
New home's assessed value$400,000$187,500
The most any move can carry$500,000
To claim it, file Form DR-501T with your homestead application by March 11923. If the old home was in another county, your new county's appraiser gets its figures from the old county's appraiser5.
You have three years, counted from January 1 of the year you gave up the old homestead, whatever the sale date23. Leave one in 2026, and the new home must be your homestead by January 1, 20295.
Miss March 1, and you can petition the value adjustment board within 25 days after the TRIM notice, for a $15 fee. You can also claim portability in a later year. It then counts only from the year it's approved, with no refund for the years before5.
If you miss the March 1 deadline
Apply anyway, within 25 days after the property appraiser mails the TRIM notice, the Notice of Proposed Property Taxes that comes in August22493.
“…must file an application for the exemption with the property appraiser on or before the 25th day following the mailing by the property appraiser of the notices required under s. 194.011(1).”
A late application isn't granted on its own. The appraiser may grant it if you show you couldn't apply on time, or other extenuating circumstances2.
If the appraiser isn't satisfied, you can petition the county's value adjustment board by the same 25-day deadline. The fee is $15, and it isn't refunded. The board may grant the exemption for that year if it finds your circumstances warrant it. If you can clearly show a postal error made you miss March 1, the board must grant it2.
Once that window closes, the exemption is lost for that year2. Apply by March 1 for the next one.
Check your TRIM notice
It lists each exemption on your home. If homestead is missing, call your county property appraiser. The notice also gives the last day to file a petition9.
Keeping your homestead
Once you have homestead, your county may renew it each year without a new application, as long as you still qualify. Florida law lets a county drop the yearly application after the first one2. Palm Beach and Miami-Dade renew it automatically2021.
Tell the property appraiser if anything changes, such as a sale, a move or a rental22516. Renting out all or nearly all of the home counts as giving it up as a homestead. Renting after January 1 doesn't cost you that year's exemption, unless the home is rented for more than 30 days a year two years in a row25.
An exemption you weren't entitled to can cost the taxes it saved for up to 10 years, plus a 50% penalty and 15% interest a year. If the appraiser's own clerical mistake caused it, there's no penalty or interest. Back taxes for up to 5 years can still be due, unless you told the appraiser before the appraiser told you26. Knowingly giving false information to get homestead is a first-degree misdemeanor, punishable by up to a year in jail, a fine of up to $5,000, or both276.
For your own case, such as a home in a trust or a co-owner who lives elsewhere, ask your county property appraiser. Only the appraiser can decide whether a home qualifies16.
Questions buyers ask
Possibly. Florida law lets a property appraiser accept an application for the next year after March 1, so ask yours whether you can apply soon after you close. Either way, you must own the home and live in it as your permanent residence on January 1, and the exemption starts with that year's taxes. The deadline is March 1.
From the next January 1. Homestead goes to whoever owns the home and lives in it on January 1, so a home you bought after January 1, 2026 can be your homestead from 2027, if you apply by March 1, 2027. For 2026, the seller's exemption and Save Our Homes benefit stay on the home.
No. The seller's exemption and Save Our Homes benefit stay with the home only until the end of the year you buy it. On the next January 1 they're removed, and the home is valued at its market value. To get homestead, you file your own application with the county property appraiser by March 1.
You can still apply within 25 days after the property appraiser mails the TRIM notice in August. The appraiser may grant a late application if you show you couldn't apply on time or had other extenuating circumstances. If not, you can petition the value adjustment board by the same deadline, for a $15 fee. After that, the exemption is lost for that year.
Not in counties that renew it automatically, such as Palm Beach and Miami-Dade. Florida law lets a county drop the yearly application once an exemption is granted. You must tell the property appraiser if you sell, move out or rent the home, and a new home needs a new application.
Three years, counted from January 1 of the year you gave up your old Florida homestead. Leave it in 2026, and the new home must be your homestead by January 1, 2029. File Form DR-501T with your homestead application by March 1. Up to $500,000 of your Save Our Homes benefit can move.
Sources
Primary sources only: the statutes, rules and agency documents each figure comes from.
- 1.Fla. Stat. §196.031, Exemption of homesteads
The Florida Senate · flsenate.gov · checked
- 2.Fla. Stat. §196.011, Annual application required for exemption
The Florida Senate · flsenate.gov · checked
- 3.Property Tax Information for First-Time Florida Homebuyers (PT-107)
Florida Department of Revenue · floridarevenue.com · checked
- 4.Additional homestead exemption adjustment, revised January 2026
Florida Department of Revenue · floridarevenue.com · checked
- 5.Fla. Stat. §193.155, Homestead assessments
The Florida Senate · flsenate.gov · checked
- 6.Form DR-501, Original Application for Homestead and Related Tax Exemptions
Florida Department of Revenue · floridarevenue.com · checked
- 7.Fla. Stat. §192.042, Date of assessment
The Florida Senate · flsenate.gov · checked
- 8.Fla. Stat. §196.151, Homestead exemptions; approval, refusal, hearings
The Florida Senate · flsenate.gov · checked
- 9.Fla. Stat. §200.069, Notice of proposed property taxes
The Florida Senate · flsenate.gov · checked
- 10.Florida property tax calendar (typical year), PT-902017
Florida Department of Revenue · floridarevenue.com · checked
- 11.Palm Beach County taxing authority codes and millage, 2026
Palm Beach County Property Appraiser · pbcpao.gov · checked
- 12.Amendment 3, Increased homestead exemption; lower cap on increases in non-homestead property assessments
Florida Division of Elections · constitutionalinitiatives.dos.fl.gov · checked
- 13.Election dates, General Election 2026
Florida Division of Elections · dos.fl.gov · checked
- 14.CS/HJR 1-F (2026), enrolled text
The Florida Senate · flsenate.gov · checked
- 15.Fla. Const. Art. XI §5, Amendment or revision election
The Florida Senate · flsenate.gov · checked
- 16.Property Tax Information for Homestead Exemption (PT-113)
Florida Department of Revenue · floridarevenue.com · checked
- 17.Local officials: county property appraisers
Florida Department of Revenue · floridarevenue.com · checked
- 18.Fla. Stat. §196.015, Permanent residency; factual determination by property appraiser
The Florida Senate · flsenate.gov · checked
- 19.Form DR-501T, Transfer of Homestead Assessment Difference
Florida Department of Revenue · floridarevenue.com · checked
- 20.The homestead exemption
Palm Beach County Property Appraiser · pbcpao.gov · checked
- 21.Homestead exemption
Miami-Dade County Property Appraiser · miamidadepa.gov · checked
- 22.Fla. Admin. Code R. 12D-7.007, Homestead exemptions: residence requirement
Florida Administrative Code · flrules.org · checked
- 23.Save Our Homes Assessment Limitation and Portability Transfer (PT-112)
Florida Department of Revenue · floridarevenue.com · checked
- 24.Fla. Stat. §194.011, Assessment notice; objections to assessments
The Florida Senate · flsenate.gov · checked
- 25.Fla. Stat. §196.061, Rental of homestead to constitute abandonment
The Florida Senate · flsenate.gov · checked
- 26.Fla. Stat. §196.161, Homestead exemptions; lien imposed on property of person claiming exemption although not a permanent resident
The Florida Senate · flsenate.gov · checked
- 27.Fla. Stat. §196.131, Homestead exemptions; claims
The Florida Senate · flsenate.gov · checked
General information about Florida law, not legal or tax advice. For your home, ask your county's property appraiser, a tax professional or your Comped agent.
What changed
When a law, a rule or a county's figures change, we update the guide and note it here.
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