Notes
How do Florida income tax and the homestead exemption work if we move here?
Florida has no state income tax. Property tax, insurance, and community fees are the costs that actually surprise relocators. Homestead can lower the taxable value of your primary residence and cap how fast that value may rise once you qualify; it is not automatic on closing day.
Last reviewed September 21, 2026.
The Google answer is clean: Florida does not levy a personal state income tax, including on most retirement income that would be taxed in many northern states. That is why the phrase shows up in every relocation brochure. It is also why people are shocked by the first TRIM notice. You still pay federal income tax. You still pay property tax. You still pay sales tax on a long list of everyday things. The state simply does not take a slice of your paycheck the way New York or Oregon might.
Property tax in St. Johns County is a millage story, and millage is a stack of county, school, municipal, and sometimes special-district rates. We will not publish a frozen “typical bill” as if it were a constant. What relocators must know is that assessed value generally resets when a home sells. The tax the seller paid last year is not your tax. Homestead, once granted, is the main tool that then slows how fast the assessed value can climb.
According to the St. Johns County Property Appraiser, homestead (Florida Statute 196.031) decreases the taxable value of a permanent residence by at least $50,000 for those who qualify for the full benefit, and the amount is now adjusted for inflation. For the 2026 tax year the office published a homestead exemption total of $51,411. It is applied in two pieces: the first $25,000 against all property taxes, including school taxes; the remainder against assessed value in a higher band, not including school taxes. The application deadline the office listed for 2026 exemptions was March 2, 2026. Confirm the current year’s total and deadline on sjcpa.gov — do not close in December and assume January will sort itself out.
Homestead also brings the Save Our Homes cap: for a homesteaded property, assessed value may rise by no more than 3 percent or the change in the Consumer Price Index, whichever is less. That cap is why long-time owners sometimes pay far less than a new buyer of the identical floor plan. Portability can let you transfer a portion of that benefit when you move from one Florida homestead to another, subject to rules and caps. If you are arriving from out of state, you are starting fresh. That is not a trick. It is the statute.
Eligibility is about permanent residence: you must be a Florida resident making this your home, with the documentation the appraiser asks for. It is not a closing-table checkbox the title company can finish for you in five minutes. Read the county’s guidance, apply on time, and if a late-year closing puts you near the deadline, treat the calendar as part of the contract.
Run the tax estimate against your current budget along with insurance and fees. The missing income tax can still win the comparison. It should not be the only column. Questions about a specific closing week are better as a note than as a guess from a magazine.