Florida Senate - 2016 SB 804 By Senator Brandes 22-00489A-16 2016804__ 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to homestead property tax exemptions; 3 amending s. 196.081, F.S.; exempting the unremarried 4 surviving spouses of certain deceased veterans from 5 payment of ad valorem taxes for certain homesteads in 6 this state, irrespective of the state in which the 7 veteran’s homestead was located at the time of death, 8 if certain conditions are met; providing an effective 9 date. 10 11 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 12 13 Section 1. Present subsections (5) and (6) of section 14 196.081, Florida Statutes, are renumbered as subsections (6) and 15 (7), respectively, and a new subsection (5) is added to that 16 section, to read: 17 196.081 Exemption for certain totally and permanentlyand18totallydisabled veterans and for surviving spouses of veterans; 19 exemption for surviving spouses of first responders who die in 20 the line of duty.— 21 (5)(a) The unremarried surviving spouse of a veteran who 22 was totally and permanently disabled upon death is entitled to 23 the same homestead exemption that would otherwise be granted to 24 a surviving spouse of a veteran as described in subsections (1) 25 (4) if the veteran, at the time of his or her death, owned 26 homestead property in another state in the United States and had 27 received a partial or full homestead exemption on that property 28 on January 1 of the year the veteran died. To qualify for the 29 tax exemption, the unremarried surviving spouse, subsequent to 30 the death of the veteran, must purchase and hold the legal or 31 beneficial title to homestead property in this state and 32 permanently reside thereon as specified in s. 196.031. 33 (b) The surviving spouse must provide to the property 34 appraiser in the county in which the property is located 35 documentation that verifies the partial or full homestead 36 exemption that applied to the veteran’s property in the other 37 state. 38 (c) The surviving spouse must provide documentation as set 39 forth in subsection (2) or paragraph (4)(a), as appropriate, to 40 the property appraiser in the county in which the property is 41 located. 42 (d) The tax exemption provided by this subsection: 43 1. Is effective beginning with the 2016-2017 fiscal year. 44 2. Applies until the surviving spouse remarries. 45 3. May be transferred to a new residence, in an amount not 46 to exceed the amount granted from the most recent ad valorem tax 47 roll, as long as it is used as the surviving spouse’s primary 48 residence and he or she does not remarry. 49 4. Does not provide a basis for relief from an assessment 50 of taxes not paid or create a right to a refund of taxes paid 51 before January 1, 2017. 52 Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2016.