How property taxes are prorated at closing in Florida
Why the seller credits you their share of the year's tax at closing, how it's worked out, where it shows, and why it isn't your next bill.
The short answer
Florida bills property tax for the whole calendar year in late October or November2. So at a closing before then, the seller usually hasn't paid any of that year's tax. The seller's share, from January 1 to closing, is credited to you at closing7, and you pay the whole bill when it comes. Until the bill is out, the split works from an estimate6.
On this page
Florida property taxes are billed near the end of the year they pay for, and paid from November on23. So when you buy before the bill comes, the seller usually hasn't paid that year's tax, and the two of you split it at closing. That split is called a proration.
This guide explains why the split reaches you as a credit, how it's worked out, where it shows on your Closing Disclosure, and why the seller's bill is a poor guide to your own. Every rule links to the statute or agency page it comes from.
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Why you get a tax credit at closing
You get a credit because you'll pay the whole year's tax bill, the months the seller owned the home included. The seller pays you their part at closing.
Florida taxes a home for the calendar year. The property appraiser values it as of January 11, and the tax collector sends the bill for that year in late October or November2. It's due from November 1, or later if the tax collector gets the year's figures from the property appraiser late36.
The tax is a lien on the home from January 1 until it's paid4, so it stays with the home when the home sells. Florida law holds owners responsible for knowing that taxes are due and for paying them before April 1 of the next year4.
At a closing before the bill, then, the seller usually hasn't paid anything toward the months they owned. With a mortgage, the Closing Disclosure shows the seller reimbursing you now for taxes you'll pay later7. That's your credit.
A seller on the tax collector's installment plan is the exception. They pay the year's tax in four parts, the first two due June 30 and September 30 of that year6. Ask the closing agent how those payments are counted.
Close after the seller has paid the year's bill, and it runs the other way. You repay the seller for the days after closing, shown as an adjustment for items the seller paid in advance78.
How the seller's share is worked out
The seller's share is the year's tax times the part of the year the seller owned the home. In three steps:
- Count the seller's days, from January 1 up to closing. Your contract says whether the closing day counts as the seller's or yours.
- Divide by the number of days in the year.
- Multiply by the year's tax.
Before the bill is out, the year's tax isn't known. In a typical year, local governments don't finalize their tax rates until October6, so a split before the bill works from an estimate. Your contract says which figure to use.
The year's tax, assumed$6,000
Days in 2026365
Closing dayJune 15
SellerYou
Days owned165200
Share of the year45.2%54.8%
Share of the tax$2,712$3,288
The seller's share, a tax credit to you at closing$2,712
The other 200 days are yours. You don't pay for them at closing. You pay for them, and for the seller's days, when you pay the bill.
The seller's share and yours of an assumed $6,000 tax for 2026, by closing day, Jan 1 to Dec 1. The seller's share, latest $5,490. Your share, latest $510.
| Closing day | The seller's share | Your share |
|---|---|---|
| Jan 1 | $0 | $6,000 |
| Feb 1 | $510 | $5,490 |
| Mar 1 | $970 | $5,030 |
| Apr 1 | $1,479 | $4,521 |
| May 1 | $1,973 | $4,027 |
| Jun 1 | $2,482 | $3,518 |
| Jul 1 | $2,975 | $3,025 |
| Aug 1 | $3,485 | $2,515 |
| Sep 1 | $3,995 | $2,005 |
| Oct 1 | $4,488 | $1,512 |
| Nov 1 | $4,997 | $1,003 |
| Dec 1 | $5,490 | $510 |
What your contract decides
The split itself comes from your purchase contract. It answers questions like these:
- Which figure stands in for the year's tax before the bill is out.
- Whether the November discount comes off that figure first.
- Whether the closing day counts as the seller's or yours.
- Whether the split is worked out again once the real bill comes.
Ask before you close
Your licensed Comped agent and the closing agent can walk you through how your contract handles each one. This guide explains how a split works in general and isn't a reading of your contract.
Where it shows on your Closing Disclosure
It's on page 3, under Adjustments for Items Unpaid by Seller7. The Closing Disclosure comes from your lender, with most home loans9. Your lender must give it to you three business days before closing7, so you can check it then. A commission credit from your agent is another credit on the same form.
Paying cash? There's no Closing Disclosure9. Ask your closing agent where the split shows on your closing statement.
| When you close | Where it shows | Your cash to close |
|---|---|---|
| Before the year's bill comes out | Page 3, in Paid Already by or on Behalf of Borrower at Closing, under Adjustments for Items Unpaid by Seller, as County Taxes or City/Town Taxes with the dates covered87 | Goes down. The seller reimburses you now for taxes you'll pay later78 |
| After the seller has paid the year's bill | Page 3, in Due from Borrower at Closing, under Adjustments for Items Paid by Seller in Advance87 | Goes up. You repay the seller for the days after closing78 |
| With an escrow account, either way | Page 2, Initial Escrow Payment at Closing7 | Goes up by the deposit, which isn't part of the split. It sets up your escrow account's starting balance7 |
“The prorated amount of any unpaid taxes due from the seller to reimburse the consumer at the real estate closing, and the time period corresponding to that amount, labeled “County Taxes””
Paying the November bill
You pay the whole year's bill, and paying early takes up to 4% off5.
January 1
The tax year starts
The home is valued as of this day, and the tax is a lien on it until it's paid.
August
Proposed taxes
The property appraiser mails the Notice of Proposed Property Taxes.
October
Rates are set
In a typical year, local governments finalize the year's tax rates.
November 1 (key date)
Taxes are due
The tax collector sends the bill in late October or November. Paid in November, it's 4% less.
December to February
Smaller discounts
3% off in December, 2% in January and 1% in February.
March 31
The last day to pay on time
No discount in March.
April 1 (key date)
Unpaid taxes are delinquent
Interest starts. Later if the bill went out late.
| Paid in | Discount | You pay |
|---|---|---|
| November | 4% | $5,760 |
| December | 3% | $5,820 |
| January | 2% | $5,880 |
| February | 1% | $5,940 |
| March | 0% | $6,000 |
Illustrative. November's 4% also applies within 30 days after the bill is sent. A discount period that ends on a weekend or legal holiday runs to the next working day, if you pay at the tax collector's office5. Taxes unpaid on April 1, or 60 days after the bill was mailed if that's later, are delinquent3.
If your mortgage has an escrow account, your servicer pays the bill from it on your behalf10. Without one, you pay the county tax collector yourself2.
Why next year's bill can be higher
The bill you split, and pay in November, carries the seller's tax breaks. Their exemptions stay with the home for the rest of the year you buy it, and so does their Save Our Homes benefit, the gap a homestead's capped value builds up below its market value2.
From the next January 1, the home is assessed at just value, its market value, and the seller's exemptions come off112. Your bill starts from there, with only the exemptions you qualify for.
So a seller who had homestead and owned the home for years can have a bill well below what yours will be2. The split reflects their cost. To see yours, estimate your property taxes after you buy.
If the home will be your permanent residence, own it on January 1 and apply by March 1 to have homestead on that year's bill122. Here's how to file for homestead after you buy. With an escrow account, your monthly payment changes when your taxes do10.
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Amendment 3, put to Florida's voters in 2026
If approved, Amendment 3 raises the homestead exemption for non-school taxes to $150,000 in 2027 and $250,000 in 2028. People who weren't Florida residents on December 31, 2026 get the exemption that applied before it, and the increase from their fifth year of homestead13. Read what the 2026 homestead amendment would change.
Questions buyers ask
Florida bills property tax for the calendar year in late October or November, so at a closing earlier in the year the seller usually hasn't paid any of that year's tax. You'll pay the whole bill when it comes. The credit is the seller's share, from January 1 to closing, worked out from an estimate when the bill isn't out yet. It lowers the cash you bring to closing.
If you close before the year's bill comes out, the seller usually pays their share to you as a credit at closing, and you pay the bill when it comes. If the seller already paid the year's bill, it runs the other way, and you repay the seller for the days after closing. If the bill is out but unpaid when you close, your closing agent handles it.
The year's bill carries the seller's exemptions and Save Our Homes benefit, which stay with the home for the rest of the year you buy it. So a split of that year's tax reflects the seller's tax breaks. From the next January 1, the home is assessed at just value without their exemptions, and your own bill can be much higher.
Your purchase contract decides whether the split is worked out again once the real bill comes. Ask your agent or the closing agent before you close, so you know whether either side could owe the other later. Either way, you pay the full bill to the county tax collector, or your servicer pays it from escrow.
Your mortgage servicer pays it from your escrow account on your behalf. The money comes from part of your monthly payment. When your taxes change, your escrow payment and your monthly payment change with them. Without escrow, you pay the county tax collector yourself, and paying in November takes 4% off.
The tax collector sends the bill in late October or November, and it's due from November 1. Paying in November takes 4% off, December 3%, January 2% and February 1%. Unpaid taxes become delinquent on April 1 of the next year, or later if the bill was mailed late.
Sources
Primary sources only: the statutes, rules and agency documents each figure comes from.
- 1.Fla. Stat. §192.042, Date of assessment
The Florida Senate · flsenate.gov · checked
- 2.PT-107, Property tax information for first-time Florida homebuyers
Florida Department of Revenue · floridarevenue.com · checked
- 3.Fla. Stat. §197.333, When taxes due; delinquent
The Florida Senate · flsenate.gov · checked
- 4.Fla. Stat. §197.122, Lien of taxes; application
The Florida Senate · flsenate.gov · checked
- 5.Fla. Stat. §197.162, Tax discount payment periods
The Florida Senate · flsenate.gov · checked
- 6.Florida property tax calendar (typical year), PT-902017
Florida Department of Revenue · floridarevenue.com · checked
- 7.Closing Disclosure explainer
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau · consumerfinance.gov · checked
- 8.12 CFR §1026.38, Content of disclosures for certain mortgage transactions (Closing Disclosure)
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau · consumerfinance.gov · checked
- 9.12 CFR §1026.19, Certain mortgage and variable-rate transactions
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau · consumerfinance.gov · checked
- 10.What is an escrow or impound account?
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau · consumerfinance.gov · checked
- 11.Fla. Stat. §193.155, Homestead assessments
The Florida Senate · flsenate.gov · checked
- 12.Fla. Stat. §196.031, Exemption of homesteads
The Florida Senate · flsenate.gov · checked
- 13.Amendment 3, Increased homestead exemption; lower cap on increases in non-homestead property assessments
Florida Division of Elections · constitutionalinitiatives.dos.fl.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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