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 be aware of is the recently enacted Property Tax Portability Amendment that affects Homestead property.
So what is Florida property tax portability?
A new Florida law allows residents who move from one primary residence to another to bring built-in property tax benefits on the assessed value of their existing home along with them to their new home. This can mean up to a $500,000 decrease in the taxable value of the new home and a huge annual savings on property taxes.
Florida primary residences are protected to a maximum percentage increase in appraised value each year by the “Save Our Homes” homeownership legislation.
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 would be 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 homestead in Florida that has an appraised value of $200,000 and a fair (market) value of $350,000. $350,000 – $200,000 = $150,000 in Tax Benefit. You buy a new house for $400,000. The $150,000 SOH tax benefit is applied to the fair (market) value of new homes to create a lower assessed 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 great prices for beachfront property on the coast, a drastic change in Property taxes may not be a cause for concern. about. Homeowners who sell a home to move into another full-time will find that the taxes on their new property are adjusted to reflect the savings from their old home.