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Homestead exemption in Florida is a little different than you explained. First thing is that there are NO age requirements to earn it. You can be any age and qualify for it, you don't have to be retired. The property must be in your name and the home must be lived in by the owner to keep the exemption. For instance, I was in my late 30's when I bought my first home and qualified for the exemption. I sold that home and bought another home a year later and qualified for the exemption on that home. However, when I started renting my home out and moved in with a family member I no longer qualified for the exemption on my home. I didn't have to payback retroactively any additional taxes because I no longer qualified.
Of course, taxes can differ state to state, county to county and city to city. What applies in one tax district may differ in another. I am only sharing my experience as a longtime Floridan.
You are correct about the age issue. I was wrong about there being an age requirement. Homestead Exemption in Florida does not require any certain age criteria be met. I don't think I said anything about being retired, at least I couldn't find it in my last post.
However, the point I was making still stands, and that is that people who qualify for Homestead Exemption are NOT required to pay it back once they vacate the house... unlike the grossly unfair land use classification that was/is the subject of discussion.
This should not be so challenging to grasp.
"Legally entitled to take" because they AGREED to the LEGAL terms when taking it.
Don't want to pay the LEGALLY agreed tax later? Don't take the deferral. Take the exemption. "Exemption" is NOT what the OP was talking about and not what was represented in the letter the OP quoted from 2006.
Precisely. The homestead exemption in Florida doesn't have to be paid back, unlike the land use exemption in some states that retroactively goes back 3 years and taxes the seller based on a HIGHER classification than what the state said was appropriate at the time.
The "exemption" in Florida is an exemption that's good until the day the seller vacates the property. The state doesn't try to go back and collect 3 years of excess taxes at the higher rate. The Homestead Tax Deferral program is an entirely different voluntary program even though the names are similar.
The whole concept of "roll back taxes" seems unfair and unjust to me. ... ...penalty that is imposed without any evidence that any violation has been committed. All taxes that were rightly due and payable have been paid.
Like I said, I think it's stupid. I don't know for a fact, but I suspect rollback taxes were introduced at the same time and as a concession for the tax deferral. I.E - We'll give you lower taxes as a tax deferment, but in exchange we have the right to collect X number of years of taxes upon reclassifying zoning.
This continues to be a real estate nightmare. When the closing attorney's staff tried to record the deed, they found the land description wasn't correct. So, they went back yesterday to record. It was submitted, but not recorded yesterday (and my brother had driven more than an hour to pick up the checks when he was told they should be ready early afternoon). It's been a week since we traveled from our respective cities to the closing, and we still haven't received payment for selling 40+ acres of land!!! And, the buyer hasn't received title for something he paid for a week ago! This has been a nightmare. I had said I would get a wire transfer for my share, but worry now that the (in my opinion) incompetence I've witnessed will lead to a mistake in that process too!
Sigh. Thanks for letting me vent. My best regards to all of you real estate agents who represent your clients well.
Status:
"I didn't do it, nobody saw me"
(set 1 day ago)
Location: Ocala, FL
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Quote:
Originally Posted by newfie56
Finally!
Congratulations !! I hope you can finally put this behind you. Best wishes to you.
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Update: Still no payment
Payment received
