If you buy a home in Miami-Dade and make it your permanent residence, the homestead exemption removes up to $50,722 of taxable value for tax year 2025 and then caps future assessment increases at 3% a year — but only after you file, and only on the home you actually live in, according to the Miami-Dade Property Appraiser.
That distinction matters more in Miami-Dade than in most counties, where buyers routinely close on a primary home, a rental condo, or a second property in the same year. Each is taxed differently, and the gap widens every year the exemption is in place.
What is the homestead exemption worth in dollars?
The exemption comes in two tiers. The Miami-Dade Property Appraiser's office states that "the first $25,000 of this exemption applies to all taxing authorities," covering county, city and most special-district levies. A second tier, worth "an exemption amount of $50,722 for tax year 2025," applies only to properties assessed above $50,000 and "excludes School Board taxes." Because school taxes can run up to 40% of a typical Miami-Dade bill, the second tier's savings show up only on the non-school portion.
The $50,722 figure isn't fixed. It comes from a 2025 change, Amendment 5, that ties the second tier to inflation, so the Property Appraiser recalculates it each year using the Consumer Price Index. A buyer comparing this year's savings to a prior year's should check the current figure rather than assume it carries over.
How does the 3% cap change your bill after the first year?
The bigger long-term value is the Save Our Homes cap, which "limits the annual increase of the assessed value of the home to 3%, or the Consumer Price Index (CPI), whichever is lower." For 2025, CPI came in under 3%, so "the cap is 2.9%" for that tax year. In the year you first qualify — the base year — your assessed value is set equal to market value. Only in the following year does the cap start limiting how fast your assessed value, and therefore your tax bill, can rise, and it keeps applying "for as long as the property has a Homestead Exemption."
In a market where home values have climbed well above 3% in a given year, that gap between market value and capped assessed value becomes real, growing savings — the longer you hold the home, the wider it gets.
What if you buy a rental, a second home, or skip filing?
Property without a homestead exemption — a rental unit, a pied-à-terre, most new-construction condos before an owner moves in — falls under a separate rule. The Property Appraiser's office describes a "Non-Homestead Cap" that "limits increases in the annual assessment of non-homestead properties to 10%," more than triple the homesteaded rate. The two programs never overlap: a property gets one cap or the other, based on whether it carries a filed homestead exemption.
| Feature | Homesteaded primary residence | Non-homestead property |
|---|---|---|
| Annual assessment increase cap | 3%, or CPI if lower (2.9% for 2025) | 10% |
| Exemption on taxable value | Up to $25,000 on all levies, plus up to $50,722 (2025) excluding school taxes | None |
| Eligible property types | Owner-occupied primary residence only | Rentals, second homes, most investment condos |
For a buyer deciding between an owner-occupied purchase and an investment unit, that 3-percentage-point-versus-10-percentage-point gap compounds every year the market keeps appreciating — it's a structural, not incidental, cost difference between the two purchases.
How does portability work if you move within Miami-Dade?
Homeowners who sell a homesteaded property and buy another don't have to start their Save Our Homes benefit from zero. The Property Appraiser's portability rule lets an owner transfer "up to $500,000" of the accumulated assessed-value-to-market-value difference to a new homestead. To qualify, the new exemption must be established "within three assessment years after abandoning the Homestead Exemption on the previous property" — the office's own example notes that an exemption ending in March 2024 leaves until January 1, 2027, to requalify on a new home. The portability application itself carries a hard date: it "must be submitted by March 1."
That three-year window is easy to miss for someone who sells, rents for a while, and later buys again — waiting too long forfeits the accumulated cap and resets the new home's assessed value to full market value in its base year.
What do you need to file, and when?
Two ownership conditions apply as of January 1 of the tax year: "permanent residence on the property as of January 1" and "legal/equitable title as of January 1." The applicant, or a dependent relying on the exemption, must also be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident and a Florida resident as of that date. To document permanent residence, the Property Appraiser's office accepts proof such as "a valid Florida driver's license or ID card" and "Florida vehicle registration," along with other records like utility payments and bank statements tied to the address.
- Confirm you owned and occupied the property as your permanent residence as of January 1 of the tax year.
- Gather Florida ID, vehicle registration, and other proof of residence tied to the property address.
- File the homestead application with the Miami-Dade Property Appraiser's office.
- If porting a prior Save Our Homes benefit from another Miami-Dade or Florida homestead, file the separate portability application by March 1.
Is there extra relief for senior homeowners?
Miami-Dade also offers exemptions layered on top of the standard homestead benefit for older residents, though the Property Appraiser's office notes these are discretionary and vary by local government. The general Senior Exemption carries a household income cap of "$38,686 in the previous year, 2025, based on the figure set by the Florida Department of Revenue," and requires that at least one homeowner turn 65 by January 1. A separate Long-Term Resident Senior Exemption adds a property-value condition, applying only where the home has "a market value of less than $250,000," and that ceiling is checked "only in the first year" of eligibility.
Because eligibility and income thresholds are recalculated each year and administered locally, a homeowner approaching 65 should confirm the current-year figures with the Property Appraiser's office directly rather than budget around a number that may already have shifted.
None of this changes what a home is worth on the market — it changes what an owner-occupant pays to hold it versus what an investor or second-home buyer pays for an identical unit next door.
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