Florida Portability & Save Our Homes Explained - A Benefit That Can Save You Money.
Homeowner Education · Northeast Florida
There's a Florida property tax benefit that quietly saves homeowners hundreds — sometimes thousands — of dollars a year. Most people have never heard of it, and many leave it on the table simply because no one told them it existed. It's called portability.
If you're thinking about selling, I want you to understand this before you list. And if you recently bought a home, I want to urge you to file for your Homestead Exemption — not only for what it saves you every year, but for what it protects when you eventually sell and buy again anywhere in Florida.
This is one of those things that costs nothing to learn and can be worth a great deal. So let's walk through it plainly.
First, the Foundation: Homestead & Save Our Homes
If you own and occupy your Florida home as your permanent residence as of January 1, you're eligible for the Homestead Exemption. It removes $25,000 from your assessed value, and can provide up to another $25,000 off assessed value over $50,000 (that second portion doesn't apply to school taxes).
But here's the part most people miss. Filing for homestead also triggers the "Save Our Homes" (SOH) cap, which limits how much your assessed value can increase each year to 3% or less — no matter how fast the market climbs.
This is where the real money is
Over years of rising values, a gap forms between what your home is actually worth (just/market value) and what you're taxed on (assessed value). That gap is your Save Our Homes benefit — and it can grow into tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Portability is what lets you take that benefit with you.
What Portability Actually Is
Portability, passed as a constitutional amendment in January 2008, allows a property owner to transfer some or all of the Save Our Homes benefit from a previous homestead to a newly established homestead — lowering the assessed value of the new home.
A few things to hold onto:
- It is not a transfer of your homestead exemption. You must file for homestead on the new home and file separately for portability.
- It works anywhere in Florida — county to county, coast to coast.
- You must have (or be filing for) homestead on the new residence to qualify.
On that three-year window: effective January 1, 2021, you may transfer the benefit if you had the homestead exemption on your old home in either of the three tax roll years preceding the year you establish the new homestead. Put simply — you can only go two tax years without a homestead exemption and still transfer your cap.
Upsizing vs. Downsizing
How much you can transfer depends on the value of the home you're buying compared to the one you're leaving:
| Upsizing | Downsizing | |
|---|---|---|
| The situation | New home's just (market) value is more than your previous home's | New home's just value is less than your previous home's |
| What transfers | The entire Save Our Homes benefit | A percentage of the accumulated benefit |
| Maximum | $500,000 | $500,000 |
A simplified example
Say you've owned your home for years. Today it's worth $400,000, but thanks to the Save Our Homes cap you're only assessed at $250,000. That $150,000 difference is your portability benefit.
You sell and buy a new Florida home at $450,000. Because you're upsizing, the full $150,000 transfers — so instead of being assessed at $450,000, you start at roughly $300,000, before your homestead exemption is applied on top of that.
That's the difference between paying taxes on $450,000 and paying taxes on far less — every single year you own the home. This example is simplified for illustration; your actual tax bill depends on your county's millage rates and your specific values.
How to Find Your Portability Benefit Amount
This is the question I get most: "How do I know what mine is worth?" The good news is you can look it up yourself in a few minutes — it's public record.
- Go to your county Property Appraiser's website. In Duval County, use the Property Search tool.
- Search for your property by address, owner name, or parcel number.
- On your property record, find two numbers: Just (Market) Value and Assessed Value.
- Subtract them. Just Value − Assessed Value = your Save Our Homes benefit — the amount potentially available to port.
- You can also find both figures on your TRIM notice (Notice of Proposed Property Taxes), mailed each August.
- Save your Parcel ID / PIN from that prior homestead — you'll need it to complete the portability application.
When you're ready to file, portability uses Form DR-501T (Transfer of Homestead Assessment Difference), submitted along with your homestead application (DR-501). Duval County homeowners can review details on the Property Appraiser's Portability page, file homestead through the online exemption system, or call (904) 255-5900. If you're in Clay, St. Johns, or Nassau County, your own Property Appraiser's office offers the same forms and lookups.
Married couples, take note
Spouses abandoning a jointly titled homestead may designate shares of the assessment difference using Form DR-501TS (Designation of Ownership Shares of Abandoned Homestead). To qualify, you must be married on the date the jointly owned property is abandoned.
If You Just Bought a Home — Please Read This
If you purchased a home and it's your permanent residence, file for your Homestead Exemption. I say that to every single buyer I work with, and I'll say it here too.
Filing does two things for you:
- It saves you money every year — up to $50,000 off your assessed value.
- It starts your Save Our Homes clock. Every year that cap holds your assessed value down, you're quietly building a benefit — one you can carry with you to your next Florida home.
In other words, the exemption you file this year isn't just about this year. It's the seed of the savings you'll take into your next chapter. And if you don't file, that benefit never begins to grow.
Mark your calendar: the deadline to file timely for both homestead and portability is March 1. Late applications are accepted through the 25th day following the mailing of the Notices of Proposed Property Taxes in August — but don't cut it close. Set a reminder now.
What's Changed — and What's on the Horizon
Florida's homestead rules haven't stood still, and two changes are worth knowing about — one already in effect, one you'll vote on.
Already law: Amendment 5 (effective January 1, 2025)
Approved by Florida voters in November 2024, Amendment 5 ties the second $25,000 of the homestead exemption to annual inflation for non-school levies. Each year the Florida Department of Revenue calculates the adjustment based on the Consumer Price Index, and it only moves when the adjustment is positive — so your exemption can grow, but it won't drop below $50,000. For 2026, that inflation adjustment brings the exemption to roughly $51,411. Confirm the current figure with your Property Appraiser, since it resets annually.
Important clarification: the Florida Department of Revenue has been explicit that Amendment 5 has no relation to the Save Our Homes 3% cap. Your portability benefit is calculated the same way it always has been — this change affects the exemption amount only.
On the ballot: the November 2026 property tax amendment
Florida voters will decide on a proposed constitutional amendment that would raise the homestead exemption to $150,000 in 2027 and $250,000 in 2028, indexed to inflation after that. It requires 60% approval to pass. The proposal also limits annual assessment increases
