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State Guide
How to Appeal Your Property Taxes in Florida (2026 Guide)
If you own a home in Florida, your county property appraiser mails a TRIM notice — a "Notice of Proposed Property Taxes" — every August showing what the county says your property is worth and what your tax bill would be. That notice starts a short, strict clock to challenge the value before it's locked in for the year.
The Florida deadline: 25 days after your TRIM notice
Florida does not have one statewide appeal date. Instead, you file a petition with your county Value Adjustment Board (VAB) within 25 days after the property appraiser mails your TRIM notice — the deadline is printed right on the notice itself (Fla. Stat. §194.011(3)(d)).
Because TRIM notices go out in mid-to-late August, most county deadlines fall in early-to-mid September, but the exact date shifts by county and by the day your notice was mailed. Don't rely on a calendar date you saw last year: the only date that counts is the one on this year's TRIM notice, and missing it by even a day generally forfeits your VAB appeal for the year. Most counties charge a small VAB petition filing fee — capped by statute at $50 per parcel (Fla. Stat. §194.013, as raised effective July 1, 2025) — unlike states where board filings are free.
How Florida assesses your home
Your just value is 100% of market value — Fla. Const. Art. VII §4 and Fla. Stat. §193.011. But Florida layers a cap on top of that for homesteaded properties, which changes how an appeal actually helps you.
| Category | Florida |
|---|---|
| Assessment basis | Just value = 100% of market value (§193.011) |
| Appeal deadline | 25 days after your TRIM notice (§194.011(3)(d)) — rolling, ~early-to-mid September |
| Where you file | County Value Adjustment Board (VAB) |
| Assessment cap | Save Our Homes: homestead capped at lesser of 3% or CPI/yr; non-homestead 10% |
| Can the board raise your value? | Yes, narrowly — only to correct a factual error in your home's physical attributes (R. 12D-9.025) |
Under Save Our Homes (Fla. Const. Art. VII §4(d), Fla. Stat. §193.155), a homestead's assessed value can rise by only the lesser of 3% or CPI each year, so after a few years it usually sits well below just value. A comparable-sales appeal lowers your just value — but for a capped homestead, that only cuts this year's bill if the proven just value drops below your current capped assessed value. If a large Save Our Homes gap remains, the appeal mostly protects your future baseline (still worth doing, just not an instant cut).
Non-homestead property (rentals, second homes) is capped at 10% a year (§193.1554/§193.1555) — but that cap excludes school-district levies, so a lower just value on a non-homestead parcel always trims the school-tax portion of the bill right away.
Can the board raise your value? Only to fix a factual error
On your own petition to lower the value, the VAB can still raise your assessment, but only on a narrow ground. If the property appraiser discovers new evidence that would increase the assessment, the board must limit it to a correction of a factual error in the physical attributes of your home, and a change in the appraiser's judgment can't justify an increase. A raise on that ground comes with a revised notice and a new hearing (Fla. Admin. Code R. 12D-9.025). The appraiser's value starts with a presumption of correctness (Fla. Stat. §194.301); once that is overcome, the board sets a revised value on the evidence and isn't restricted to a value either side offers (Uniform Policies and Procedures Manual for Value Adjustment Boards). So check your property record before you file — if it undercounts your home, a petition can surface that. A lawsuit in circuit court (§194.171) is a separate step you choose later.
Building your case
Because just value is full market value, the winning evidence is the same as anywhere: recent, nearby comparable sales — homes like yours that actually closed, similar in size, age, and condition — not listing prices or online "Zestimate"-style guesses. A petition backed by three or four solid comps, with clear adjustments, is far harder for a VAB special magistrate to wave off than a complaint that the number "feels high."
Filing at the county level
Florida's appeals run through your county Value Adjustment Board, and the mechanics — your exact TRIM deadline, the petition form, the filing fee, and whether your county accepts online petitions — vary across all 67 counties. We're building out county-specific guides with the exact filing office and local notes for each. In the meantime, use PROppeal to pull licensed comparable sales for your address, check them against your assessed value the way a Florida VAB case is actually judged, and get a straight answer on whether your assessment is out of line — before your TRIM deadline arrives.
Sources
- Fla. Stat. §194.011(3)(d) — VAB petition due 25 days after the TRIM notice
- Fla. Const. Art. VII §4 & Fla. Stat. §193.011 — assessed at just (market) value
- Fla. Const. Art. VII §4(d) & Fla. Stat. §193.155 — Save Our Homes 3%/CPI homestead cap
- Fla. Stat. §194.301 — property appraiser's presumption of correctness; once it is overcome, the board or court establishes the assessment on competent, substantial evidence
- Fla. Stat. §194.013 — VAB petition filing fee (up to $50 per parcel)
- Fla. Stat. §194.171 — circuit courts' original jurisdiction over property tax contests; 60-day filing deadline; the tax admitted in good faith must be paid first
- Fla. Stat. §193.1554 — nonhomestead residential property (nine or fewer units): 10% annual limit, for all levies other than school district levies
- Fla. Stat. §193.1555 — nonresidential and other residential property: 10% annual limit, for all levies other than school district levies
- Fla. Admin. Code R. 12D-9.025 — on a petition to decrease the just value, newly discovered evidence that would increase the assessment is limited to correcting a factual error in the property's physical attributes; a change in the appraiser's judgment shall not justify an increase
- Florida Department of Revenue — Uniform Policies and Procedures Manual for Value Adjustment Boards (August 2025): in establishing a revised just value, the board or special magistrate is not restricted to any specific value offered by one of the parties
Property tax rules and deadlines vary by jurisdiction and can change — verify with your county before relying on this.