DeSoto County Property Appraiser: Veteran Exemptions

The exemptions are the State's; the Florida entries explain them. The DeSoto County Property Appraiser, David A. Williams, CFA, publishes them on an exemptions page, an important dates page and a general information page. What it lists. "$5000 Disabled Veteran (Section 196.24, F.S): Any ex-service member who is a permanent resident of Florida and is disabled at least 10% in war or by service-connected misfortune is entitled to a $5000 exemption", on "a certificate from the United States Government". The "Service-connected total and permanent disability exemption (Section 196.081, 196.24 F.S.)" for "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", on the homestead, on a certificate from the U.S. Government or VA. The "Disabled Veterans Homestead Property Tax Discount" for a veteran 65 or older with an honorable discharge and a permanent, combat-related service-connected disability, equal to the VA percentage, on form DR-501DV. And the deployed military exemption under section 196.173, on form DR-501M. Where the pages are wrong or narrower than the law. - Under the total and permanent exemption the page says the unremarried surviving spouse is entitled if "on the date of the disabled ex-service member's death, had been married to the disabled ex-service member for at least 5 years". Section 196.081(3) carries the exemption to the surviving spouse who holds title and lives on the homestead, until remarriage or sale, and section 196.24 gives the $5,000 to the unremarried surviving spouse, neither with a length-of-marriage test. A spouse married fewer than five years should apply. - It cites the combat discount to "Section 193.461, F.S.", the agricultural classification statute; the discount is section 196.082. - The general information page says "There is additionally a $500 exemption for widows, widowers, the disabled and the blind", and the office's "Explanation of Available Exemptions" sheet (revised 12/02) prints "$500" for the widow's, widower's, disability and blind exemptions; the exemptions under section 196.202 are $5,000, as the exemptions page itself says. - For the deployment exemption it lists having "received a homestead exemption last year"; section 196.173 asks that the servicemember receive a homestead exemption on the property, so a servicemember who has a homestead this year and was deployed last year should apply. - It does not name the section 196.091 wheelchair veteran exemption or say that, under sections 196.081 and 196.24, a veteran may apply before the VA letter arrives and be refunded from the application date. Ask for both. When and where. "Exemption applications due: March 1st", with applications taken from January 1. The forms page says "You must apply for Homestead Exemption in person at our office", while the Online Exemptions Portal takes homestead and additional exemptions, veterans' among them, through the parcel search. Office: 815 N. Mills Avenue, Suite 101, Arcadia; 863-993-4866; weekdays 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.; [email protected]; appointments to file exemptions can be booked online.