Date Taxes Become Due Taxes become due and payable to the Collector on November 1st with a discount of 4% if paid in November, 3% in December, 2% in January and 1% in February. Taxes become delinquent April 1st. Taxes are levied on a calendar-year basis, being paid in arrears for the period January 1st - December 31st.
For more information on Taxes, please visit the web site of the HIGHLANDS COUNTY TAX COLLECTOR.
Florida Statute 196.011(1)(a) outlines eligibility. (1)(a) Except as provided in s. 196.081(1)(b), every person or organization who, on January 1, has the legal title to real or personal property, except inventory, which is entitled by law to exemption from taxation as a result of its ownership and use shall, on or before March 1 of each year, file an application for exemption with the county property appraiser, listing and describing the property for which exemption is claimed and certifying its ownership and use. The Department of Revenue shall prescribe the forms upon which the application is made. Failure to make application, when required, on or before March 1 of any year shall constitute a waiver of the exemption privilege for that year, except as provided in subsection (7) or subsection (8).
To qualify for homestead exemption:
New applications for all exemptions must be made in person. These applications may be made at the Property Appraiser’s Office or in your various local communities at a time and place designated by the Property Appraiser. The schedule indicating the time and place for filing exemption applications in Avon Park and Lake Placid is published each January in our local newspaper, or you may call the Property Appraiser’s office in January and be advised of this schedule.
According the Florida Statue 196.011(1)(a), the deadline to file for homestead exemption is March 1 of the year following the year of purchase. Florida statute 196.011 (8) explains the grace period if you are unable to apply by March 1.
(8) Any applicant who is qualified to receive any exemption under subsection (1) and who fails to file an application by March 1, must file an application for the exemption with the property appraiser on or before the 25th day following the mailing by the property appraiser of the notices required under s. 194.011(1). Upon receipt of sufficient evidence, as determined by the property appraiser, demonstrating the applicant was unable to apply for the exemption in a timely manner or otherwise demonstrating extenuating circumstances judged by the property appraiser to warrant granting the exemption, the property appraiser may grant the exemption. If the applicant fails to produce sufficient evidence demonstrating the applicant was unable to apply for the exemption in a timely manner or otherwise demonstrating extenuating circumstances as judged by the property appraiser, the applicant may file, pursuant to s. 194.011(1), a petition with the value adjustment board requesting that the exemption be granted. Such petition must be filed during the taxable year on or before the 25th day following the mailing of the notice by the property appraiser as provided in s. 194.011(1). Notwithstanding the provisions of s. 194.013, such person must pay a nonrefundable fee of $15 upon filing the petition. Upon reviewing the petition, if the person is qualified to receive the exemption and demonstrates particular extenuating circumstances judged by the value adjustment board to warrant granting the exemption, the value adjustment board may grant the exemption for the current year.
The brief period between the 26th day after Notices of Proposed Property Taxes have been mailed and the opening of the new year’s tax roll is the only time when applications are not accepted.
Every person who has the legal or equitable title to real property as of January 1, and maintains it as their permanent residence or as the residence of another legally or naturally dependent upon the owner may be entitled to homestead exemption. The first $25,000 applies to all property taxes, including school district taxes. The additional exemption up to $25,000 + % CPI, applies to the assessed value between $50,000 and $75,000 and only to non-school taxes. In addition, assessed value increases on your homestead property will not exceed the lower of 3% per year or average Consumer Price Index (CPI), exclusive of any additions or renovations to the homestead. If filing for the first time, be prepared to answer these and other questions:
If multiple people are applying for homestead, only one person needs to be present but that one person must have a copy of the driver’s license or identification card of all others applying. This copy can be electronic. Electronic copies must be available at the time of application and emailed to the office of the Property Appraiser.
In 1995 Florida implemented Amendment 10 to the state constitution. Known as the "Save Our Homes" amendment, this requires all property qualifying for homestead exemption to have assessed value increases limited to the lower of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) or 3%. This limitation applies only to the homestead property itself. Any non-homestead property is subject to a different limitation (see below)
Property receiving the homestead exemption is assessed at full market value the first year in which it receives this exemption. This year becomes the base year for capping future value increases. In the following years it has the exemption, the property is reassessed annually and any change from the prior years’ value cannot exceed the lower of CPI or 3%.
Any new improvements or additions to homestead property (excluding normal maintenance) are added to the property assessment after the limitation has been applied to the homestead property. The sale of a property with homestead exemption in force will trigger the removal of all limited value for the following tax roll. This brings the property assessment to full market value.
In those neighborhoods where dramatic increases have taken place in market value, such as water and golf front properties, and homestead exemption has been in effect for many years, this limited value can be quite substantial. The impact on a new property owner can be dramatic when this value limitation is removed.
As an example, consider the following, where we'll assume that the owner purchased a home in 2024 that had a homestead exemption in force since 2012 in a neighborhood with a rising market. Of course, the year 2024 shows the cumulative effect of the prior six years of limited assessed value increases. The new owner qualifies for homestead exemption for 2025:
As this example illustrates, the transfer of ownership can have a dramatic effect on the ad valorem property taxes, even when homestead exemption is applied due to the expiration of the limitation enjoyed by the previous owner. Many homes may not have such a substantial increase due to the amount of capped value, but this example serves to highlight the impact home buyers may experience. Buyers should be aware that this is a part of the cost involved in purchasing a previously homestead exempt property in Florida.
Beginning in 2007 if you received the homestead exemption on a home that you sold or otherwise abandoned and have purchased a new home by January 1 of the next year, you are eligible to take some or all of the benefit of "Save our Homes" to your new home. In order to receive this benefit, you must apply by March 1, to your property appraiser for your new homestead exemption and for the transfer of the "Save Our Homes" benefit. This will remove all homestead benefits from the prior homestead property.
The rental of an entire dwelling for more than 30 days for two consecutive years, which was previously claimed to be a homestead for tax purposes shall constitute an abandonment of said dwelling as a homestead.
To be entitled to wholly or partial-wholly exempt status from ad valorem taxation, property must be used exclusively or predominantly for charitable, religious, educational, governmental, literary or scientific purposes. All property used exclusively for exempt purposes shall be totally exempt from ad valorem taxation.
All property used predominantly for exempt purposes shall be exempt from ad valorem taxation to the extent of the ratio that such predominant use bears to the non-exempt use. No application for exemption may be granted for religious, literary, scientific or charitable use of property until the application has been found by the Property Appraiser to be non-profit as defined in F.S. 196.196, or upon appeal by the Value Adjustment Board or the courts. Educational institution means state, parochial, Church and private schools, colleges and universities conducting regular classes and courses of study required for eligibility to certification by, accreditation to, or membership in the State Department of Education of Florida, Southern Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools or the Florida Council of Independent Schools.
To file for Widow’s/Widower’s Exemption you must be a widow/widower prior to January 1st of the tax year. If the widow/widower remarries they are not qualified. Divorced persons do not qualify. You may be asked to provide proof of the spouse’s death.
Every Florida resident who is totally and permanently disabled qualifies for this exemption. If filing for the first time please present at least one of the following as proof of your disability:
Physician’s certificate forms are available from the Property Appraiser’s office or online from the Department of Revenue’s website DR-416 This exemption may be applied to any property owned by an eligible person including non-homestead.
Any veteran may qualify for a homestead property tax discount if the veteran has an honorable discharge from military service, is partially disabled with a permanent service connected disability that is combat related. The discount is equal to the percentage of the veteran’s permanent service connected disability as determined by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Required documents are a VA benefit statement and DD214.
Any honorably discharged veteran with a service-connected total and permanent disability, surviving spouses of qualifying veterans and spouses of Florida resident veterans who died from service-connected causes while on active duty as a member of the United States Armed Forces are entitled to an exemption on real estate used and owned as a homestead less any portion thereof used for commercial purposes. Persons entitled to this exemption must have been a permanent resident of this state as of January 1 of the year of assessment. Under certain circumstances the benefit of this exemption can carry over to the veteran’s spouse in the event of the veteran’s death. If filing for the first time, please bring a certificate from the United States Government or U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs as your proof of a service-connected disability or death of your spouse while on active duty.
Quadriplegics, Paraplegics, Hemiplegics, people who are legally blind and other totally and permanently disabled persons reliant on a wheelchair for mobility who also meet certain income requirements are eligible for total exemption. A sworn statement of gross income for the occupants of the homestead property must be filed annually with the Property Appraiser’s office in order to qualify for this exemption. If filing for the first time, in addition to the income statement, you will be required to submit two Florida Department of Revenue’s DR-416 form (Physician’s Certification Statement) from two separate licensed Florida physicians.
From the Florida Department of Revenue internet web site:
Additional homestead exemption for persons 65 and older In accordance with s. 6(f), Art. VII of the State Constitution, the board of county commissioners of any county or the governing authority of any municipality may adopt an ordinance to allow an additional homestead exemption of up to $50,000 for any person who has the legal or equitable title to real estate and maintains thereon the permanent residence of the owner, who has attained age 65, and whose household income does not exceed the current adjusted income limitation.Beginning January 1, 2001, the $20,000 income limitation shall be adjusted annually, on January 1, by the percentage change in the average cost-of-living index in the period January 1 through December 31 of the immediate prior year compared with the same period for the year prior to that. The index is the average of the monthly consumer-price-index figures for the stated 12-month period, relative to the United States as a whole, issued by the United States Department of Labor.
The Highlands County Commission has adopted an ordinance to grant an additional senior exemption of up to $15,000 for eligible property owners. This exemption only covers the portion of your property tax for the Highlands County Board of County Commissioners. It does NOT apply to any of the tax levied by the school board, water management district, or municipalities.
For example, if a property owner were to qualify for this exemption in Highlands County, the potential savings would be: $15,000 times 7.000 mills equals $106.50.
In order to qualify a statement of gross income for the household must be filed with the Property Appraiser’s office when application for the exemption is made. The statement of income should be a copy of the current IRS tax return for all occupants of the household or documentation of income received during the previous year for all occupants of the property. Generally, this will be a social security 1099 statement indication the prior year’s income.