Florida’s homestead portability rule can be a valuable moving-day benefit: it lets qualifying homeowners carry forward some or all of the gap between their prior home’s just value and assessed value. That gap is the accumulated benefit created by the Save Our Homes assessment cap. It is not the homestead exemption itself, which does not move with you.
In plain English, portability may reduce the assessed value of your new Florida homestead, which can in turn reduce its property taxes. The actual dollar savings will depend on your local millage rates, exemptions and assessments.
Who can use Florida portability?
You generally need to establish a new Florida homestead and have received a homestead exemption on your prior Florida homestead on January 1 in one of the three immediately preceding years. The new property must qualify as your permanent residence for homestead purposes as of January 1 of the tax year for which you are applying.
The key clock is tied to January 1, not simply to the day you closed or sold. For a 2026 portability application, a prior Florida homestead exemption on January 1, 2023, January 1, 2024 or January 1, 2025 can potentially satisfy the look-back rule. You can move between counties; portability is statewide.
Your old home must be abandoned as a homestead and reassessed appropriately after abandonment. If you keep the former home rather than selling it, tell the prior county’s property appraiser in writing that you are abandoning that homestead when you apply for the new one. Do not try to claim two homesteads at once.
What to file: DR-501 plus Form DR-501T
Apply with the property appraiser in the county where your new home is located. File the regular Original Application for Homestead and Related Tax Exemptions, Form DR-501, and attach the Transfer of Homestead Assessment Difference, Form DR-501T.
DR-501T asks for the new home’s address and parcel ID, the previous homestead’s address and parcel ID, the date you sold it or stopped using it as your homestead, and details about the owners moving—or staying—behind. All applicants and co-applicants sign the form under penalty of perjury. If the old home was in another county, the new county’s property appraiser coordinates with the previous county to verify the assessment information. Submit the forms to the county property appraiser, not directly to the Florida Department of Revenue.
The usual deadline—and the 2026 date to know
The regular filing deadline is March 1. Because March 1, 2026 fell on a Sunday, the timely filing deadline for the 2026 tax year moved to Monday, March 2, 2026.
Missed it? There can be a limited late-filing path. A qualified applicant may ask the property appraiser for approval through the 25th day after the county mails its TRIM notice, but must show why a timely filing was not possible or present other extenuating circumstances. A denial can be taken to the county Value Adjustment Board. This is not automatic, so contact your county property appraiser promptly rather than waiting for the tax bill. Check current local instructions before you go, since counties set their own application procedures and document requests.
How the math works
First, find the old home’s Save Our Homes difference:
Old home just value − old home assessed value = portability amount
The maximum transferable difference is $500,000. But the calculation changes depending on whether the new home is worth at least as much as the old one.
- Example: moving up. Your former homestead had a just value of $400,000 and assessed value of $250,000. Its portability amount is $150,000. If your new home’s just value is $600,000, the full $150,000 can transfer, producing a starting assessed value of $450,000 before applicable exemptions.
- Example: downsizing. Your former homestead had a just value of $500,000 and assessed value of $350,000. Your new home has a just value of $300,000. Instead of subtracting the full $150,000, Florida uses a ratio: $300,000 ÷ $500,000 × $350,000 = $210,000. The new home’s starting assessed value is $210,000, creating a $90,000 assessment reduction.
Couples and ownership changes can make the calculation less straightforward. Spouses who jointly owned and lived in the former homestead are generally treated as having received the exemption even if only one spouse filed. But when owners split up and establish separate homesteads, the benefit is generally divided by ownership share. When two people with separate prior homesteads combine into one new home, the new household generally receives only the larger available benefit, not both added together. Married couples dividing a jointly titled prior homestead may be able to designate shares on Form DR-501TS before filing portability paperwork.
Before you file
- Save the prior home’s most recent assessment information, parcel ID and ownership records.
- Confirm the new home was your permanent residence on January 1 for the tax year claimed.
- File DR-501 and DR-501T together with the new county property appraiser.
- Review the TRIM notice when it arrives to make sure the portability reduction appears.
Practical takeaway: Portability is often too valuable to leave to closing-day assumptions. File early, keep records for both homes, and ask your new county property appraiser to confirm the estimated transferred assessment difference before you budget around it.
