Florida homestead exemption for property taxes
 

Hello,

We've recently moved to Florida on a 3 year E1 visa. We owned our home here for several years and have been paying pretty high taxes because it wasn't our main residence until now. So, I'm now in the process of applying for our homestead exemption which lowers the taxes considerably because it's now our main residence.

Somewhere deep in the application process it says we need a notice of domicile which we can obtain pretty easily. Then, even deeper down it says we need to be permanent residents and that's the killer. Of course we're not permanent residents, we're here on a 3 year E1 visa.

Has anyone come across this and found a way around it or are we - once again stuffed by - seemingly arbitrary - rules.

Thanks

Re: Florida homestead exemption for property taxes
 

No exemption for you I'm afraid::frown:

A person in the US under an E-, H-, L- or R-class visa is not eligible for homestead, pursuant to Rule 12D-7.007(3), Florida Administrative Code.

Rule 12D-7.007(3) says "A person in this country under a temporary visa cannot meet the requirement of permanent residence or home and, therefore, cannot claim homestead exemption."

https://www.flrules.org/gateway/ruleNo.asp?id=12D-7.007

Re: Florida homestead exemption for property taxes
 

Thanks for the clarification. I thought as much. Another several $000 per annum added to the cost of living here.