Taxation & Estate Planning

"SAVE OUR HOMES" PORTABILITY DEADLINES [FLORIDA]

By Charles Rubin

On January 29, 2008, Florida voters approved a constitutional amendment that allows owners of Florida homesteads to transfer all or a part of their Save Our Homes homestead exemption caps from an old homestead to a new homestead. The Florida Department of Revenue has provided information on procedures that must be followed if a taxpayer wants to transfer his or her exemption to a new homestead. Some taxpayers will need to act quickly to qualify.

If a taxpayer had a 2007 exemption on their home, and acquired a new homestead by January 1, 2008 to which they want to transfer their old cap, they will need to apply for the transfer with their local tax appraiser by March 1, 2008.  It appears that merely obtaining a homestead exemption on the new residence is not enough - a transfer of the Save our Homes benefit must also be applied for.

In future years, these applications will have to be submitted by March 1 of the year following that calendar year in which the new homestead is acquired. To qualify for a transfer, a taxpayer will have to have had a homestead exemption for the old residence in either of the two preceding years.

Cite: http://dor.myflorida.com/dor/property/

Full post as published by Rubin on Tax on February 11, 2008 (boomark / email).