Quick answer: Non-residents do not pay a higher property tax rate in Florida. They pay tax on a higher taxable value, because the homestead exemption and the Save Our Homes cap are reserved for permanent primary residences. What non-residents do get is the 10% annual assessment cap on non-homestead property, which covers county, municipal and independent district levies but not the school portion. And a furnished rental owes a second tax most owners have never heard of.
The rate is the same; the taxable value is not
This is the sentence that clears up most of the confusion. Florida property tax is levied as a millage rate applied to taxable value, and the millage is set by the county, the municipality, the school district and any independent districts. It does not vary by the owner’s residency or nationality.
What varies is what the taxable value is:
| Benefit | Who gets it |
|---|---|
| Homestead exemption | permanent primary residence only |
| Save Our Homes assessment limitation | permanent primary residence only |
| Portability of an accrued Save Our Homes benefit | Florida residents moving between Florida homesteads |
| 10% non-homestead assessment cap | everyone else, on non-school levies |
A second home, a seasonal property or an investment property is assessed at just value when it changes hands, and there is no exemption to reduce it. On an identical house next door to a long-homesteaded owner, the taxable value can be far higher, and the bill with it.
The cap non-residents do get
Under the constitutional amendment approved by Florida voters in 2008, made permanent by a further vote in 2018 and implemented through Florida Statutes 193.1554 and 193.1555, the assessed value of non-homestead property may not increase by more than 10% in a year.
Two limits on that protection matter:
It does not cover the school district portion of the bill. School levies are assessed against just value, so a rising market moves that part of the bill without the cap’s restraint.
It resets on a change of ownership or control. The cap limits year-on-year growth for a continuing owner; it does not carry across to a purchaser. A property whose assessment has been held below market for years will be reassessed when you buy it.
That second point is the source of the most common budgeting error in a Florida purchase, and it deserves its own section.
The seller’s tax bill is not your tax bill
A listing that quotes an annual tax figure is usually quoting the current owner’s figure. If that owner has held the property for years, with either the homestead cap or the 10% non-homestead cap holding the assessment down, their bill can be a fraction of what a new owner will pay on the same house.
The fix takes one enquiry. Ask the county property appraiser what the parcel would be assessed at without the seller’s exemptions and caps, and build your budget from that number.
Do the same for the itemised bill rather than the headline. A Florida tax bill can carry lines beyond the ad valorem tax:
| Line | What it is |
|---|---|
| Ad valorem taxes | millage applied to taxable value, by taxing authority |
| Community Development District assessment | repayment of infrastructure bonds in a master-planned community |
| Other non-ad valorem assessments | services such as solid waste, drainage or lighting, depending on the district |
The CDD line is the one buyers most often mistake for tax. It funds a community’s roads, drainage, utilities and amenities, it is not optional, and it runs for the life of the bond.
The second tax: tangible personal property
This one catches almost every non-resident who furnishes a rental, because most states do not have it.
Florida levies tangible personal property tax on furniture, appliances and equipment used in a rental or commercial property. A furnished holiday let contains exactly the kind of property the tax is aimed at.
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| The return | form DR-405, filed with the county property appraiser |
| The deadline | 1 April |
| The exemption | up to 25,000 dollars per return |
| The consequence of filing late | the exemption can be lost |
| The bills | issued in November with the property tax bills |
The exemption means many small furnished rentals owe nothing, and that is precisely the trap: the exemption is secured by filing on time, not by the value being small. An owner who never files has not quietly stayed below a threshold; they have failed to claim the exemption that would have covered them.
File the first return, establish the position, and confirm with the county property appraiser whether subsequent returns are required in your circumstances.
Timing: when the bill arrives and what it costs to pay late
| Date | What happens |
|---|---|
| 1 January | assessment date for the tax year |
| August | TRIM notice, the proposed tax notice, is mailed |
| November | tax bills are issued, with the early payment discount at its largest |
| 31 March | payment due |
| April onward | the taxes become delinquent |
Florida Statute 197.162 provides an early payment discount that decreases each month from November through February, with the net amount due in March. Confirm the current schedule and payment options with the county tax collector for your parcel.
The TRIM notice in August is the one document overseas owners most often ignore, and it is the one that matters most. It shows the proposed assessment and the proposed millage before the bill is final, and it carries the window in which an assessment can be challenged. A non-resident with mail forwarded slowly can miss it entirely, so arrange electronic delivery where the county offers it.
What non-residents pay that residents also pay
Nothing on this page changes the other costs of Florida ownership, and they are frequently larger than the tax:
Insurance, with wind and flood normally written separately on coastal property and priced on the specific address, elevation, roof age and construction. Premiums have repriced every year since 2022. See the insurance guide.
Association dues, and on a condominium the reserve funding position under the post-2022 regime, with milestone inspections at 25 years within 3 miles of a coastline and 30 years elsewhere, repeating every 10 years.
Letting taxes, where the property is let for periods of 6 months or less: state sales tax on transient rentals, any county discretionary surtax, and the county tourist development tax, which in some counties the owner must remit personally.
Structure is a separate question, and it belongs before purchase
Holding through an entity does not change the millage. It can change the liability position, the treatment of rental income, the FIRPTA position on a future sale and the US estate tax exposure, and those four consequences do not point the same way.
For a non-resident the estate exposure is usually the largest of them: Florida real estate is a US-situs asset, and a non-resident alien’s exclusion is far smaller than a US person’s unless a treaty provides otherwise.
Take US tax advice covering income tax, FIRPTA and estate exposure in one conversation, before purchase, because the structure chosen at the start determines the position years later. See LLC versus personal title and the estate tax guide for foreign owners.
Before you buy as a non-resident
- Ask the property appraiser what the parcel would be assessed at without the seller’s exemptions.
- Build the budget from that figure, not from the listing’s tax line.
- Get the full itemised tax bill for 3 years and identify every non-ad valorem line.
- Identify any CDD assessment and how long its bond runs.
- Arrange electronic delivery of the TRIM notice and the tax bill.
- If the property will be furnished and let, plan the DR-405 filing by 1 April.
- Obtain an ITIN early, before a filing or a closing depends on it.
- Get real insurance quotes and, on a condominium, the reserve funding percentage.
- Take structure advice covering income tax, FIRPTA and estate exposure together.
Where this leaves an owner
Florida taxes non-residents on the same terms as residents and then withholds two reliefs that only residents can claim. The result is a higher bill on an identical property, capped at 10% growth a year on the non-school portion, and a second small tax on the furniture if the property is let.
None of that is punitive and all of it is predictable. The mistakes are procedural: budgeting from a homesteaded seller’s bill, missing the TRIM notice, and never filing a DR-405. Each is avoidable with one enquiry made before the offer. See also the guide for foreign buyers and the Canadian buyers tax guide.
Frequently Asked Questions
No. The millage rate is the same for everyone in a given taxing district. What differs is the taxable value: the homestead exemption and the Save Our Homes assessment limitation apply only to a permanent primary residence, so a non-resident's property is assessed without them and its taxable value is higher on an identical house.
Yes. Under the constitutional amendment approved in 2008 and made permanent by voters in 2018, implemented through Florida Statutes 193.1554 and 193.1555, the assessed value of non-homestead property may not rise more than 10% in a year. The cap covers county, municipal and independent district levies but not the school district portion of the bill.
Because the seller's assessment was probably capped and yours resets. A homesteaded owner's assessed value may have been limited for years, so their bill can be a fraction of what a new owner pays on the same property. Ask the property appraiser what the parcel would be assessed at without the seller's exemption before you budget.
Potentially yes. Florida levies tangible personal property tax on furniture, appliances and equipment used in a rental or commercial property. A DR-405 return is filed with the county property appraiser by 1 April, and filing on time is what secures the exemption of up to 25,000 dollars per return. Miss the deadline and the exemption can be lost.
Bills are issued in November and are payable by 31 March of the following year, with an early payment discount that decreases each month from November under Florida Statute 197.162. Confirm the current schedule and any electronic payment options with the county tax collector for your parcel.
It does not change the property tax rate or the millage. It can change the assessment picture, the liability position, the income tax treatment of rent and the estate exposure, and those consequences differ from one another. Take US tax advice on the structure before purchase rather than after.
Get the real tax figure for the parcel before you offer
Send us the property you are considering. We will come back with what it would be assessed at without the seller's exemptions, the full itemised bill for 3 years including any CDD line, whether a DR-405 filing will apply, and the insurance and association costs alongside it.