Property taxes after you buy a home in Florida
Why the seller's tax bill isn't yours, and how to work out what you'll pay from the price, the exemptions and your district's rate.
The short answer
Don't plan on the seller's tax bill. Florida limits how fast a home's assessed value can rise, and the limit ends when the home sells, along with the seller's exemptions1. On the next January 1 the county values the home afresh, roughly at a recent price less a cost-of-sale adjustment, and your tax is that value, less your own exemptions, times your district's millage.
- The first one after you buy is when the home is valued afresh, without the seller's cap1
- January 1
- Homestead exemption for every tax, school taxes included5
- $25,000
- More off non-school taxes in 2026, on value between $50,000 and $76,4116
- $26,411
- The cost-of-sale adjustment in 64 of Florida's 67 counties, so a recent price less about 15% is a rough guide to the county's value4
- 15%
On this page
Most listings show last year's property tax. That number is the seller's. If they've owned the home for years, and especially if it was their homestead, their assessed value may sit far below the home's market value, and so does their bill.
This guide explains why, how the county will value the home once it's yours, and how to estimate the bill yourself. Every rule links to the statute or the Florida Department of Revenue document it comes from.
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Why the seller's bill isn't yours
Florida taxes a home on its assessed value, and caps how much that value can rise from one year to the next. On a homestead, the Save Our Homes cap holds the rise to 3% or the change in the Consumer Price Index, whichever is lower1. A home with no homestead, such as a second home or a rental, has a 10% cap on every tax except school taxes, which follow the full value each year2.
Over the years the market value pulls ahead of the capped value. When the home sells, the cap ends, and so do the seller's exemptions. On the January 1 after the sale the property appraiser assesses the home at just value, its market value, and any cap you get starts again from there12.
“Except as provided in this subsection or subsection (8), property assessed under this section shall be assessed at just value as of January 1 of the year following a change of ownership.”
The assessed value and just value of an illustrative homestead, 2012 to 2028, 2012 to 2028. Assessed value, which is taxed, latest $629,456. Just value, latest $647,790.
| January 1 | Assessed value, which is taxed | Just value |
|---|---|---|
| 2012 | $255,000 | $255,000 |
| 2013 | $262,650 | $270,300 |
| 2014 | $270,530 | $286,518 |
| 2015 | $278,645 | $303,709 |
| 2016 | $287,005 | $321,932 |
| 2017 | $295,615 | $341,248 |
| 2018 | $304,483 | $361,722 |
| 2019 | $313,618 | $383,426 |
| 2020 | $323,026 | $406,431 |
| 2021 | $332,717 | $430,817 |
| 2022 | $342,699 | $456,666 |
| 2023 | $352,980 | $484,066 |
| 2024 | $363,569 | $513,110 |
| 2025 | $374,476 | $543,897 |
| 2026 | $385,710 | $576,531 |
| 2027 | $611,122 | $611,122 |
| 2028 | $629,456 | $647,790 |
Check the gap before you offer
Your county property appraiser's page for the home shows its just value and its assessed value. When the two are far apart, the seller's bill tells you little about yours.
What the county will say it's worth
Just value is the appraiser's estimate of what the home was worth on January 1. Florida law lists eight things the appraiser must weigh, and the eighth is what a seller nets from a sale after the usual costs of selling3.
“The net proceeds of the sale of the property, as received by the seller, after deduction of all of the usual and reasonable fees and costs of the sale, including the costs and expenses of financing…”
So when appraisers use recorded sales to value homes, they take the costs of selling off the prices first. Each county reports the adjustment it uses to the Department of Revenue on form DR-493. For single-family homes and condos, 64 of the 67 counties use 15%; Broward and Orange use 10%, and Alachua 5% to 15%4.
Just value comes from the appraiser's model of the whole market, not from your price alone. Still, in a 15% county a recent price less about 15%, about 85% of it, is a fair first guess. One home's value can land above or below that, and prices can move before January 1, so Comped's own estimates allow five points either way.
The homestead exemption
If you own the home on January 1 and live in it as your permanent residence, you can claim the homestead exemption for that year5. It has two parts:
- $25,000 off the assessed value for every tax, school taxes included5.
- Up to $26,411 more in 2026, off the value between $50,000 and $76,411, for every tax except school taxes. The amount is adjusted for inflation each year6.
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
Together they take up to $51,411 off the value for non-school taxes and $25,000 off it for school taxes. A homestead also gets the Save Our Homes cap from then on1.
You apply to your county's property appraiser by March 1 of the first year you qualify7. Buy in 2026, move in before January 1, 2027, and the deadline is March 1, 2027. What to bring and how portability works are in when to file for homestead after you buy.
Missed March 1? You can still file within 25 days after the property appraiser mails the TRIM notice. The appraiser may accept a late application for extenuating circumstances; if not, you can petition the county's value adjustment board7.
Coming from another Florida homestead?
Portability can move up to $500,000 of the Save Our Homes benefit from your old homestead to the new one, if you had a homestead exemption on January 1 of any of the three years before. If the new home is worth less than the old one, a share of the benefit moves1.
How to estimate the bill
Property tax rates are set in mills. A mill is one one-thousandth of a dollar, so one mill is $1 for every $1,000 of taxable value8. Each home sits in a tax district whose millage adds up the county, the city, the school board and any special districts.
School taxes get a smaller exemption than the rest, so work them out separately:
- Start from just value, about the price less your county's cost-of-sale adjustment.
- Take off the exemptions: $25,000 for school taxes and up to $51,411 for the rest, with homestead.
- Multiply each taxable value by its millage and divide by 1,000.
- Add the parcel's non-ad valorem assessments, such as solid waste or stormwater. They aren't based on millage, and they come on the same bill9.
Price$500,000
Just value, less 15% for costs of sale$425,000
SchoolOther taxes
Homestead exemption−$25,000−$51,411
Taxable value$400,000$373,589
Millage6.2879.9322
Tax$2,515$3,711
Tax for the year, before non-ad valorem assessmentsAbout $6,200
| Tax district | Homestead | None |
|---|---|---|
| Palm Beach, unincorporated (district 00071), 16.2192 mills | $6,200 | $6,900 |
| Miami-Dade, unincorporated (district 3000), 16.8983 mills | $6,500 | $7,200 |
Illustrative. Calculated by the code behind Comped's estimates: just value at 85% of the price ($425,000), the 2026 homestead exemptions, and each district's 2026 millage1011. Rounded to $100; excludes non-ad valorem assessments.
In that Palm Beach district, homestead takes about $670 a year off the bill. Millage differs by city and district, so look up the district on your county property appraiser's site.
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When you'll see the new number
For a home you buy in 2026, the first bill on your own value comes in 2027. The tax for 2026 is still on the seller's value; how it's split with the seller at closing is set by your contract.
| When | What happens |
|---|---|
| January 1, 2027 | The home is valued at just value. Own it and live in it on this date to qualify for homestead that year15. |
| March 1, 2027 | The homestead application is due at the property appraiser7. |
| Summer 2027 | The TRIM notice, the Notice of Proposed Property Taxes, shows the new value and the proposed taxes. It isn't a bill. Its mailing deadline runs from the county's certification of values1213. |
| November 1, 2027 | The tax bill is due. Paying in November takes 4% off, December 3%, January 2% and February 1%1415. |
| April 1, 2028 | Unpaid 2027 taxes become delinquent, or later if the bill was mailed late15. |
The 2026 homestead amendment
Amendment 3, put to Florida's voters on November 3, 2026
Amendment 3, "Increased homestead exemption; lower cap on increases in non-homestead property assessments" (CS/HJR 1-F), raises the homestead exemption for non-school taxes if approved. Like every amendment to Florida's Constitution, it takes 60% of the votes cast to pass1718. Its outcome and what it means for a buyer are in Amendment 3 and Florida's homestead exemption, explained.
If approved, school taxes keep the $25,000 exemption, and the exemption for every other tax becomes $150,000 from January 1, 2027 and $250,000 from January 1, 2028, counted from the first dollar of value16.
Someone who didn't have a permanent residence in Florida on December 31, 2026 would get $50,000 off non-school taxes until their fifth year of homestead, and the full amount from then on16.
It would also lower the cap on homes without homestead, such as second homes and rentals, from 10% to 5% a year for non-school taxes, from January 1, 2027. The Save Our Homes cap and portability stay as they are16.
Without it, the non-school exemption is $51,411 at most in 2026, so for a homestead the difference is large. Comped's estimates follow whichever law is in force.
Questions buyers ask
Usually not. The seller's assessed value was capped for as long as they owned the home, and their exemptions were theirs. Both end with the sale. On the next January 1 the home is assessed at its just value, often close to a recent price less the county's cost-of-sale adjustment.
By March 1 of the first year you qualify, with your county's property appraiser. You qualify for a year if you own the home and live in it as your permanent residence on January 1 of that year. A late application is possible within 25 days after the TRIM notice is mailed.
It takes $25,000 off the assessed value for every tax, and up to $26,411 more (2026) for non-school taxes. On a $500,000 home in Palm Beach County's unincorporated tax district 00071, that's about $670 a year at 2026 rates.
No. The cap ends when the home sells. If you're moving from another Florida homestead, portability can carry up to $500,000 of your own Save Our Homes benefit to the new home.
A change to Florida's Constitution put to voters on November 3, 2026 (CS/HJR 1-F). If approved, it raises the homestead exemption for non-school taxes to $150,000 in 2027 and $250,000 in 2028, and lowers the non-homestead cap from 10% to 5%. It takes 60% of the votes cast to pass. Our guide to Amendment 3 covers it in full.
Sources
Primary sources only: the statutes, rules and agency documents each figure comes from.
- 1.Fla. Stat. §193.155, Homestead assessments
The Florida Senate · flsenate.gov · checked
- 2.Fla. Stat. §193.1554, Assessment of nonhomestead residential property
The Florida Senate · flsenate.gov · checked
- 3.Fla. Stat. §193.011, Factors to consider in deriving just valuation
The Florida Senate · flsenate.gov · checked
- 4.Form DR-493 for the 2026 roll, all counties: adjustments for costs of sale
Florida Department of Revenue · floridarevenue.com · checked
- 5.Fla. Stat. §196.031, Exemption of homesteads
The Florida Senate · flsenate.gov · checked
- 6.Additional homestead exemption adjustment, revised January 2026
Florida Department of Revenue · floridarevenue.com · checked
- 7.Fla. Stat. §196.011, Annual application required for exemption
The Florida Senate · flsenate.gov · checked
- 8.Fla. Stat. §192.001, Definitions
The Florida Senate · flsenate.gov · checked
- 9.Fla. Stat. §197.3632, Uniform method for non-ad valorem assessments
The Florida Senate · flsenate.gov · checked
- 10.Palm Beach County taxing authority codes and millage, 2026
Palm Beach County Property Appraiser · pbcpao.gov · checked
- 11.2026 adopted millage rates
Miami-Dade County Property Appraiser · miamidadepa.gov · checked
- 12.Fla. Stat. §200.069, Notice of proposed property taxes
The Florida Senate · flsenate.gov · checked
- 13.Fla. Stat. §200.065, Method of fixing millage
The Florida Senate · flsenate.gov · checked
- 14.Fla. Stat. §197.162, Discounts for early payment
The Florida Senate · flsenate.gov · checked
- 15.Fla. Stat. §197.333, When taxes due; delinquency
The Florida Senate · flsenate.gov · checked
- 16.CS/HJR 1-F (2026), enrolled text
The Florida Senate · flsenate.gov · checked
- 17.Amendment 3, General Election, November 3, 2026
Florida Division of Elections · constitutionalinitiatives.dos.fl.gov · checked
- 18.Fla. Const. Art. XI §5, Amendment or revision election
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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