How much does the Homestead Exemption save in Florida?

The exemption removes up to $50,000 from your primary home's assessed value, which in Palm Beach usually means about $750 to $1,000 less tax in the first year. The bigger savings come over time: the Save Our Homes cap limits how much your assessed value can rise each year.

Can a foreign buyer claim the Homestead Exemption?

Only if the home is your permanent Florida residence and you have status to reside in the U.S. (for example, a permanent resident). Anyone buying as an investment or keeping their residence in another country does not qualify; that property is taxed as a second home, with a 10% annual assessment cap instead of 3%.

What is the deadline to apply for the exemption?

You must own and occupy the home as your permanent residence as of January 1, and file with the Palm Beach County Property Appraiser by March 1 of that year. You apply only once, and it renews automatically.

What is the Save Our Homes cap?

It is a protection that, once you have the Homestead Exemption, limits the increase in your home's assessed value to 3% a year or inflation, whichever is lower. Over time it creates a large gap between what your home is worth on the market and what you actually pay tax on.

Tips July 17, 2026

The Homestead Exemption: how to pay less property tax when you move to Palm Beach

Florida's Homestead Exemption explained: how much you save, who qualifies, how the Save Our Homes cap protects your bill, and a real-numbers example in Delray Beach.

Marcela and her husband closed on their Delray Beach home in October, thrilled. In March she wrote to me, worried: “Paola, is it true I can pay less tax? My neighbor has been here twenty years and pays half what I do for a bigger house.” Yes, it’s true — and the tool that explains it is called the Homestead Exemption. It is one of the biggest tax gifts Florida gives to anyone who makes this place home, and almost nobody arriving from abroad learns about it in time. Today we’ll walk through all of it: what it is, how much you save, who qualifies, and how to file without missing the deadline.

What the Homestead Exemption is (and isn’t)

The Homestead Exemption is a reduction on the assessed value of your primary home — the number the county uses to calculate your property tax, not the price you paid. For those who have it, it removes up to $50,000 from that value before the tax rate is applied.

It works in two layers: the first $25,000 applies to all taxes, including the school tax; the second $25,000 applies to value between $50,000 and $75,000, but not to the school tax. It sounds tangled on paper; in practice it’s an automatic discount you’ll see every year on your Tax Collector bill.

What it is not: it is not a discount on the purchase price, it does not reduce your closing costs, and it is not the same for everyone. It depends on the home being your permanent residence. If you’re building the budget for your purchase, I broke down the day-of-closing costs separately in this closing-costs guide; today’s exemption is what you pay afterward, year after year.

The real prize: the Save Our Homes cap

Here’s the secret that explains why Marcela’s neighbor pays half. The exemption itself saves a few hundred dollars a year. But filing for it triggers a second, far more powerful protection: Save Our Homes.

Save Our Homes limits how much your home’s assessed value can rise each year to 3% or inflation, whichever is lower — no matter how much the market climbs. In a place like Palm Beach, where values have run hard, that difference becomes enormous over the years. Your neighbor who bought in 2005 has a “frozen” assessment that grew just 3% a year while market value soared. That’s why they pay less: not a better lawyer, just more time with the exemption.

The lesson for anyone arriving today: file for the exemption in your first year. Every year you wait is a year of protection you don’t get back.

A real example: a $600,000 home in Delray Beach

Let’s make it concrete, with general mid-2026 figures. You buy a $600,000 home in an area like Lake Ida in Delray Beach, and it will be your permanent residence. The combined tax rate in Palm Beach runs around 2% of assessed value (it varies by municipality and by the special districts in each area).

Without the exemption, on a $600,000 assessed value: roughly $12,000 a year.
With the Homestead Exemption, you subtract $50,000: you’re taxed on $550,000, about $11,000–$11,250 — a direct first-year saving near $750–$1,000.

That first saving is nice, but modest. The magic shows up by year five: if the market rises 8% a year but your assessment can only rise 3% thanks to Save Our Homes, by then you’re taxed on a value well below what your home is worth. That’s where the “half” savings Marcela mentioned lives. Want to estimate your full monthly payment, taxes and insurance included? That’s what our mortgage calculator is for.

Do you qualify? The key question for Latin American buyers

This is where the most people in our community trip up, so let’s be clear. For the Homestead Exemption, the home has to be your permanent residence in Florida — where you live, vote, and register your car. That means:

Qualifies: the family moving to Palm Beach who has status to reside in the U.S. (permanent resident / green card, and in certain cases visas that allow residency). If Florida is home, this exemption is yours.
Does not qualify: anyone buying as an investment, keeping their residence in another country, or spending only seasons here. That property is taxed as a second home, with a 10% annual assessment cap (not 3%).

That’s why it pays to decide early what kind of buyer you are, because it changes your tax bill for years. If you’re still shaping your move to Florida, I break it down step by step in the moving-to-Florida guide, and if you’re comparing where to put down roots, the Delray Beach guide gives you price and lifestyle context by neighborhood.

How to apply, step by step

The good news: it’s a free, one-time filing. You file with the Palm Beach County Property Appraiser, not with your agent or your lender.

Own and occupy the home as of January 1. The snapshot that counts is January 1 of that tax year. If you close in November and move in, you qualify for that cycle.
File before March 1. That’s the firm deadline. You can do it online or in person with the County Property Appraiser.
Have your residency documents ready: Florida license, voter registration or residency card, and proof the home is your permanent address.
Forget the rest. Once approved, it renews automatically each year. You only act again if you move — and that’s where portability comes in, letting you carry up to $500,000 of your accumulated Save Our Homes benefit to your next Florida home.

And the standing disclaimer: this is general orientation, not tax or legal advice. The exact figures depend on your municipality, your assessed value, and your immigration situation. Before counting on a specific saving, confirm it with the County Property Appraiser and, if your case is complex, with an accountant who knows international tax — and if you don’t have one in Florida, I can recommend several who work in Spanish.

Don’t leave this money on the table

Marcela’s house didn’t change between October and March. The only thing that changed is that she filed her exemption on time — and with it she locked in not just this year’s saving, but the Save Our Homes cap that will protect her for the whole decade. It is, literally, the most profitable form she’ll fill out as an owner.

If you’re moving to Delray, Boca, Boynton, or anywhere in Palm Beach — or you already closed and didn’t know about this — write to me and we’ll go through your calendar together: the closing date, the March 1 deadline, and what you need ready so you don’t lose a single cycle. Buying well is only half of it; the other half is not giving away taxes the law lets you save.

Frequently asked questions

How much does the Homestead Exemption save in Florida?: The exemption removes up to $50,000 from your primary home's assessed value, which in Palm Beach usually means about $750 to $1,000 less tax in the first year. The bigger savings come over time: the Save Our Homes cap limits how much your assessed value can rise each year.
Can a foreign buyer claim the Homestead Exemption?: Only if the home is your permanent Florida residence and you have status to reside in the U.S. (for example, a permanent resident). Anyone buying as an investment or keeping their residence in another country does not qualify; that property is taxed as a second home, with a 10% annual assessment cap instead of 3%.
What is the deadline to apply for the exemption?: You must own and occupy the home as your permanent residence as of January 1, and file with the Palm Beach County Property Appraiser by March 1 of that year. You apply only once, and it renews automatically.
What is the Save Our Homes cap?: It is a protection that, once you have the Homestead Exemption, limits the increase in your home's assessed value to 3% a year or inflation, whichever is lower. Over time it creates a large gap between what your home is worth on the market and what you actually pay tax on.