Hillsborough County Property Appraiser: Veteran Exemptions

The exemptions are the State's; the Florida entries explain them. The Hillsborough County Property Appraiser grants them in the county. Filing. Applications are taken all year; the statutory deadline is March 1 (the next business day if it falls on a weekend or holiday), and late applications are accepted until the 25th day after the August Notice of Proposed Property Taxes is mailed. File the homestead application (DR-501), online or on paper, with a current letter from the federal government or VA showing the percentage and award date. A veteran 65 or older claiming the combat-related discount sends the most recent VA rating decision showing the disability is combat related and the DD-214, on form DR-501DV, by March 1. The total and permanent and $5,000 exemptions renew automatically. Where the Appraiser's page is narrower than the law. Surviving spouse of a total and permanent veteran. The page says the exemption "is inherited by the surviving spouse so long as she/he had been married to the veteran for at least 5 years at the time of the ex-service member's death and remains widowed". Section 196.081(3) carries the exemption to the spouse who holds title and lives on the homestead until remarriage or sale, and lets the spouse move it to a new home, with no length-of-marriage condition. A spouse married fewer than five years should cite the statute. The $5,000 disability exemption. The page offers it for "any service connected disability of less than 100%" on the homestead application. Section 196.24 gives $5,000 of property value to an honorably discharged Florida resident disabled 10% or more, so a veteran rated 100% but not permanent and total qualifies, and the statute does not tie it to the homestead. The page also does not state the 10% floor. Help with the DD-214 or the combat rating comes from the county's Veteran Community Services at 813-635-8316.