Florida Property Tax Appeals
Work out how far your assessment sits above comparable sales, what a reduction would save at your local rate, and what each of the three routes to it costs — filing yourself, a flat-fee service, or a contingency service. Every county deadline is cited to the authority that sets it.
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Estimate only — not legal advice. This is the published math for Florida assessment appeals, shown as a range. Your actual outcome depends on facts, evidence, and decisions this page cannot see.
When your protest is due in Florida
Fla. Stat. §194.011(3)(d): a petition on valuation may be filed at any time during the taxable year on or before the 25th day following the mailing of the TRIM notice — the Notice of Proposed Property Taxes, usually sent in mid-August. A petition about a denied exemption, an agricultural or high-water-recharge classification, a historic-property classification or a deferral runs to the 30th day after the relevant notice instead. The rule is uniform statewide; only the TRIM mailing date differs by county, so the calendar date moves while the rule does not.
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The rule
Enter your notice date
Fla. Stat. §194.011(3)(d): a petition on valuation may be filed at any time during the taxable year on or before the 25th day following the mailing of the TRIM notice — the Notice of Proposed Property Taxes, usually sent in mid-August. A petition about a denied exemption, an agricultural or high-water-recharge classification, a historic-property classification or a deferral runs to the 30th day after the relevant notice instead. The rule is uniform statewide; only the TRIM mailing date differs by county, so the calendar date moves while the rule does not.
No weekend or holiday extension: Florida publishes no weekend or holiday extension for the 25-day petition deadline. §194.011, §194.013, Rule 12D-9.015(13), Form DR-486 and the Department's PT-101 were all checked and none contains one. The only Saturday/Sunday/holiday rule in the value adjustment board materials governs the 15-day evidence exchange, and it runs BACKWARD — the period ends at the end of the next PREVIOUS day that is not a weekend or holiday. Applying that to the filing deadline would be wrong in direction as well as in scope, so treat the 25th day as the 25th day and file early.Fla. Stat. §194.011(3)(d); Rule 12D-9.015(13), F.A.C.
The date above is this state’s published rule applied to what you entered. Confirm it against the notice itself and the authority’s own instructions — most jurisdictions require their form or portal, and a letter alone may not open a protest.
How the appeal runs
First-level appeals are heard by the county value adjustment board — two county commissioners, one school board member and two citizen members (Fla. Stat. §194.015) ↗.
- 01Ask the property appraiser for an informal conference first — many disputes end there.
- 02File a completed Form DR-486 with the clerk of the value adjustment board by the deadline, and pay any filing fee. An unpaid fee makes the petition invalid and it is rejected (§194.013(3)).
- 03The clerk acknowledges the petition and copies the property appraiser.
- 04The board notifies you of the hearing at least 25 days beforehand.
- 05Evidence is exchanged at least 15 days before the hearing, in both directions, for hearings held after September 1, 2025.
- 06The hearing is held, usually before a special magistrate.
- 07The magistrate issues a written recommendation and the board makes its final decision within 20 calendar days of the last day it was in session.
- 08A further appeal goes to circuit court.
Filing fee up to $50: Fla. Stat. §194.013(1) caps the fee the board may set at $50 per parcel — raised from $15 by ch. 2025-208 §8, effective July 1, 2025. Many county VAB pages and most secondary write-ups still print $15. Joint petitions are capped at $5 per parcel; the fee is waived for TANF recipients (§194.013(2)); and there is no fee at all for an appeal from a denied homestead exemption (§196.151) or a denied deferral (§197.2425).
Florida assesses at just value — Article VII §4 of the state constitution requires a just valuation of all property — so an assessed figure is comparable to a sale price. The valuation factors are listed at Fla. Stat. §193.011.
Fla. Stat. §194.011(3)(d)
Work out whether you are over-assessed with the assessment calculator, then organise the evidence with the appeal letter generator.
Verified 2026-08-03 against 2025 Florida Statutes §194.011 (petitions to the value adjustment board), §194.013 (filing fee, as amended by ch. 2025-208 §8 eff. 2025-07-01), §194.015 (composition of the board), with Department of Revenue PT-101 (R. 8/25) and Rule 12D-9.015, F.A.C. (effective 2025-07-01)
Source of record
- USA.gov — State and local taxes ↗Federal
- 2025 Florida Statutes §194.011 (petitions to the value adjustment board), §194.013 (filing fee, as amended by ch. 2025-208 §8 eff. 2025-07-01), §194.015 (composition of the board), with Department of Revenue PT-101 (R. 8/25) and Rule 12D-9.015, F.A.C. ↗State legislature
Run it against the official tool: Florida Department of Revenue — Value Adjustment Board ↗
🎓 Understand this tool
What it is
A calculator for the two numbers an assessment appeal actually turns on: how far your assessed value sits above comparable sales, and what a reduction would be worth at your local rate. It also puts the published cost of each route to that reduction beside the saving it would produce.
How it works
The comparison uses the MEDIAN of the comparable sales you enter rather than the average, because comparable sales are a small sample and one unusual transaction — a teardown, a family transfer, a distressed sale — drags an average badly. Assessing authorities reason in medians for the same reason. Where a state assesses at a fraction of market value rather than the whole, the assessed figure is divided by that ratio first so the two sides of the comparison are measured the same way. The saving is the reduction multiplied by the combined rate per hundred dollars of value, which is the form counties publish rates in.
Getting the most from it
- Take the assessed value and the rate straight off your notice and your bill — not from memory.
- Enter several recent sales of genuinely similar properties nearby. Three is a realistic minimum; one comparison is easy to dismiss.
- Leave out distressed sales, family transfers and teardowns. Including one weakens the rest of the list rather than lengthening it.
- Check your county deadline before doing anything else. A window that has closed ends the appeal whatever the numbers say.
Reading your result
A gap under about five percent is usually treated as within tolerance — valuation is approximate by design, and authorities expect to be roughly rather than exactly right. A larger gap is the argument, but it is an argument you still have to make with evidence. The saving figure assumes the reduction is granted in full, which is why it is shown as a range: meeting halfway is a common outcome.
What it can't tell you
This cannot tell you whether your comparables are genuinely comparable, whether your county assesses the way you think it does, how a particular review board tends to decide, or whether an appeal risks drawing attention to something else about the property. It does not file anything, and it is not a valuation. A licensed appraiser values property; a lawyer advises on appeals.
Frequently asked questions
Compare the assessed value against recent sales of genuinely similar properties nearby. If the assessment sits meaningfully above the median of those sales, that gap is the argument. A difference of a few percent is usually treated as within tolerance — valuation is approximate by design.
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