In November 2010, Florida voters approved the creation of this exemption known at the time as Amendment 2. House bill 1141 passed which defined the exemption language and has now made the exemption available for the 2011 tax year. A service member that currently receives a homestead exemption on their primary residence may apply and receive additional savings on their property taxes with this new exemption.
The exemption is available to service members who were deployed during the preceding calendar year on active duty outside the continental United States, Alaska, or Hawaii in support of:
The new exemption is based on the number of days the service member was deployed in one of the above listed operations in 2010. For example, if the service member was deployed for 183 days in 2010, that is half the year which would be 50%. The formula used to compute the percentage is the number of days deployed divided by 365 days in the year multiplied by 100 = the % exempted. The percentage exempted is then applied to the home's taxable value.
If the service member was deployed in separate calendar years, they must reapply for the exemption for the next year by March 1st.
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