PTO Bulletin 13-03 Pro s er Tax Oversi•ht Bulletin: PTO 13-03
To: Property Appraisers, Tax Collectors, Clerks of the Court, Value
Adjustment Board Clerks, Board of County Commissioners,
Taxing Authorities and Interested Parties
From: James McAdams
Date: July 31, 2013
Bulletin: PTO 13-03
FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE
PROPERTY TAX INFORMATIONAL BULLETIN
Ad Valorem Taxation
The 2013 Legislature enacted Chapter 2013-72, Laws of Florida, (SB 1830) effective
July 1,2013. The law:
• provides that a commercial mail delivery service postmark is also considered the filing
date for property tax returns filed by mail (See Section 1);
• adds procedures to allow the electronic transmission of: the TRIM notice;the tax
exemption renewal application;the tax exemption renewal application for real property
dedicated in perpetuity to conservation;the exemption denial notice; and,the value
adjustment board decision notice (See Section 2);
• requires the property appraiser to display the notice of final tax roll certification on the
property appraiser's website(See Section 3);
• provides that there is not a change of ownership for purposes of assessing property at just
value when the person is a lessee entitled to the homestead exemption under Section
196.041(1), Florida Statutes (See Section 4);
• changes the deadline to file in court after a portability denial from 15 to 60 days after the
value adjustment board decision,matching the deadline in Section 194.171(2), Florida
Statutes (See Section 4);
• adds aquacultural crops to the types of crops that have no value for property tax purposes
and are not taxable until maturity or a stage of marketability and have passed from the
producer or offered for sale (See Section 5);
• specifies that aquaculture includes algaculture in the list of agricultural purposes for
classification and assessment.(See Section 6);
• allows the property appraiser to waive, after vote of the county governing body,the
annual application requirement for the reduction in the assessed value of homestead
property for living quarters of parents or grandparents; requires an application to be filed
Bulletin PTO 13-03
Ad Valorem Taxation
July 31, 2013
Page 2 of 2
if the status has changed; requires that the property owner must notify the property
appraiser when they no longer qualify for the reduction; amends changes to penalties for
an owner not entitled to the reduction to be similar to penalties for a person not entitled to
the homestead exemption. (See Section 7);
• deletes the requirement that titleholders of homesteads must live on the homestead to
qualify for homestead exemption. (See Section 8);
• amends Section 196.075(2)(a), F.S.,to provide an exemption up to$50,000 to align with
the exemption provision in Section 6(d), Art. VII of the State Constitution
(See Section 9);
• removes the requirement that the veteran be a Florida resident at the time of entering the
military to be eligible for the disabled veteran discount(See Section 10);
• deletes the affordable housing tax exemption for property owned by certain Florida-based
limited partnerships and used for affordable housing for certain income-qualified persons;
specifies that this section applies retroactively to the 2013 tax roll (See Section 11);
• amends the educational property exemption to clarify that property used exclusively for
educational purposes is considered owned by an educational institution if the entity
owning 100 percent of the educational institution is owned by the natural persons who
own the property, or if the entity owning 100 percent of the educational institution and
the entity owning the property are owned by the identical natural persons.
(See Section 12);
The full text of the changes can be accessed at: http://faws.:flru.les.org/2013/72.
This bulletin is provided by the Department of Revenue for your general information. If you
wish to discuss this matter,you may send your questions to DOR1'T0@dor.state.f.us.