FAQ: Amendment 1 in Florida
Questions about Amendment 1?
The Florida Department of Revenue and the local county property appraiser web sites (see below) are the best source for up-to-date information, including documents and forms related to portability, the additional homestead exemption and the tangible personal property tax exemption.
Here’s a quick overview:
· Increased homestead exemption. Homeowners will receive automatically. No action is necessary.
· Portability is retroactive to Jan. 1, 2007. Owners who sold their homestead last year and bought a new home that qualifies as a homestead as of Jan. 1, 2008, must apply by March 1, 2008, to their county property appraiser to transfer their Save Our Homes benefit.
A portability application form is available at most of the county property appraisers web sites.
· LAKE COUNTY http://www.lakecopropappr.com/
· ORANGE COUNTY www.ocpafl.org
· OSCEOLA COUNTY http://www.property-appraiser.org/
· SEMINOLE COUNTY http://www.scpafl.org/scpaweb05/index.jsp
· VOLUSIA COUNTY http://webserver.vcgov.org/index.html
· $25,000 exemption for tangible personal property. This tax applies
to businesses and certain owners of mobile homes. It does not apply to homestead property. In order to receive the exemption, taxpayers subject to the tax must file a tangible personal property return with their property appraiser by April 1, 2008.
· 10% annual assessment cap for non-homestead property. The 10% cap does not apply until next year. No action is necessary in 2008.
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Amendment 1 – Frequently Asked Questions
Q: When will the changes from Amendment 1 show up on tax bills?
A: For those who are eligible, benefits from portability, the additional homestead exemption and the $25,000 exemption for tangible personal property will show up on 2008 tax bills.
Q: How does a person apply for portability?
A: The homesteaded property owner should turn in a completed application to the office of the property appraiser in the county where the new homestead is located. A list of all county property appraiser web sites is available from the Florida Department of Revenue at:
http://dor.myflorida.com/dor/property/appraisers.html
Q: Who's eligible for portability this year?
A: Any person who establishes a new Florida homestead for 2008 and filed to give up the previous homestead sometime after Jan. 1, 2007. In other words, a person who relocated from a homestead last year and is claiming a new homestead for 2008 is eligible. The deadline for 2008 homestead and portability applications is March 1. The portability benefit would show up on the 2008 tax bill.
Q: Who's eligible for portability after that?
A: Any Florida homesteaded property owner who establishes a new homestead for 2009 or any subsequent year—as long as the person had another valid homestead within two years of establishing the new one.
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Q: How much is the portability benefit worth?
A: Any homesteaded property owner can transfer up to $500,000 of portability benefit to a new homestead. A person moving to a more expensive home transfers the dollar amount. A person moving to a less expensive home transfers the percentage value.
Q: I don’t plan to move. What happens to the 3 percent cap on property tax assessments I got every year under Save Our Homes?
A: You’re still protected. Save Our Homes doesn’t go away.
Q: Is there an application for the additional homestead exemption?
A: No. The additional exemption will be granted automatically to anyone qualifying for a base $25,000 homestead exemption. It applies only if a property's assessed value exceeds $50,000.
Q: How much is the additional exemption?
A: The exemption is $25,000, but it does not apply to property taxes assessed for local schools. In other words, no additional exemption will be applied to a property's assessed value for the purposes of levying school taxes.
Q: Do business owners and mobile-home owners with tangible personal property have to apply for the exemption?
A: To receive the exemption, they must file their 2008 returns. If the value of tangible personal property is under $25,000, they will not have to file again the following year.
Q: When does the 10 percent cap on annual assessment increases for most non-homesteaded properties go into effect?
A: It goes into effect in 2009. There will also be an application. Keep checking your county property appraiser web site for details. A list of all county property appraiser web sites is available from the Florida Department of Revenue at:
http://dor.myflorida.com/dor/property/appraisers.html
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