Florida Totally and Permanently Disabled Veteran Homestead Exemption

Section 196.081 exempts the homestead from taxation when the veteran was honorably discharged with a service-connected total and permanent disability, and a letter from the United States government or VA certifies that the veteran is totally and permanently disabled. The veteran has to be a permanent resident of Florida on January 1 of the tax year, or have been a permanent resident on January 1 of the year of death. The Department of Veterans Affairs describes the same test. This is the whole homestead tax, not a dollar slice of value, and the statute states no income cap. The letter is prima facie evidence. An applicant can file before the letter arrives. When the letter comes in, the exemption dates back to the original application, and excess taxes can be refunded for up to the four-year limit in section 197.182. If the veteran or surviving spouse buys another Florida homestead between January 1 and November 1, the statute provides a prorated refund of the tax paid on the new home once the exemption is granted for the next tax year. If the veteran dies first, the spouse keeps the exemption while holding title and living on the homestead, until remarriage or a sale. A spouse who sells can transfer an exemption no larger than the amount on the most recent tax roll to a new primary residence, if the spouse does not remarry. A separate full exemption covers the homestead of the surviving spouse of a veteran who died from service-connected causes while on active duty, when VA certifies that death. That spouse can also carry it to a new residence on the same terms. File with the county property appraiser. A different statute, section 196.101, can exempt a homestead for a quadriplegic, or for a paraplegic, hemiplegic, wheelchair user, or legally blind person who is totally and permanently disabled. That exemption has a household income cap and is not this veteran exemption. Section 295.16 is also separate. It waives a county or city permit fee for ramps, wider doors, and similar work that makes the veteran's own residence habitable or safe. The person has to be a totally and permanently disabled Florida resident with an honorable discharge, and has to hold the department identification card under section 295.17, a VA finding of a service-connected 100% rating for compensation, or a 100% rating plus disability retirement pay. On the ballot November 3, 2026. The Legislature's June 2026 special session passed CS/HJR 1-F, which the Division of Elections lists as Amendment 3, "Save Our Homes from Excessive Property Taxes". It needs 60 percent of the vote. If approved, from January 1, 2027 it exempts the first $250,000 of every homestead's value from all levies other than school district levies, requires a general law scheduling full elimination, and makes anyone who establishes Florida residency after January 1, 2027 wait five years for the increased exemption. The resolution reprints the combat-related discount in Article VII, section 6(e) without changing its terms. It changes nothing for a homestead already fully exempt under section 196.081. For a veteran on the $5,000 exemption or the combat discount it would lower the tax those benefits apply to. Until the vote, and unless it passes, the figures in this entry govern.