Florida Homestead Exemption Filings
Attorney Jeffrey D. Weinstock of Buckingham Boca Raton offers the following concerning the Florida homestead exemption:
Florida homestead is one that has received much press in recent years. In Florida, homestead can mean several things. There is a "constitutional" homestead protection which exempts the entire value of one’s personal residence from the claims of most creditors as long as the residence is limited to ½ acre within a municipality or, if outside a municipality, up to 160 contiguous acres.
In addition, there are other financial benefits to filing for and receiving a homestead exemption on your permanent residence. The homestead exemption would entitle most homeowners to a reduction of $25,000 from their property’s tax assessed value. In addition, the homeowner is entitled to an additional exemption of up to $25,000 on the assessed valuation greater than $50,000 for all levies other than school district levies.
Of greater benefit (especially when property values are increasing) is the cap on increases in future real property taxes. Florida’s Constitution limits the annual increase in the tax-assessed value of homestead property by the lower of 3% per year or the increase in the consumer price index. When the residential real estate market in Florida is appreciating rapidly, this limitation can also substantially reduce your property tax liability.
Florida law prohibits a person who is receiving a tax exemption similar to the homestead exemption in another state from also receiving a Florida homestead exemption. The actual language of the Florida Constitution provides that “not more than one exemption shall be allowed any individual or family unit or with respect to any residential unit.” There are conflicting opinions as to what constitutes a “family unit” with respect to homestead.
If a husband and wife own jointly titled property in Florida as well as another state and they were receiving a homestead exemption in that state, they would not also be entitled to a homestead exemption in Florida. Florida property appraisers have been more assertive recently in determining whether applicants for the homestead exemption are also obtaining exemptions in another state which allows the property appraiser to deny the application for the Florida homestead exemption.
In addition, it appears that there have been increased efforts to identify ineligible exemptions and levy fines as a result. Although it may not be surprising to learn that there are criminal penalties for providing false information for the purpose of claiming a homestead exemption, there are also significant penalties associated with benefiting from an ineligible homestead exemption, which permits a county property appraiser to file a notice of tax lien against any property owned by that person in the county. In addition, the property owner must pay the property taxes plus a penalty of 50 percent of the unpaid taxes for each year and 15 percent interest per year.
Since there may be different situations and many variations in the manner in which one can have property titled, if you have any questions about whether or not you may be eligible for a homestead exemption in Florida, please contact one of our Florida attorneys.
