Bill Text: FL S0804 | 2016 | Regular Session | Comm Sub

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Bill Title: Homestead Property Tax Exemptions

Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill

Status: (Failed) 2016-03-11 - Died in Finance and Tax [S0804 Detail]

Download: Florida-2016-S0804-Comm_Sub.html

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       Florida Senate - 2016                              CS for SB 804
       
       
        
       By the Committee on Military and Veterans Affairs, Space, and
       Domestic Security; and Senator Brandes
       
       583-02289-16                                           2016804c1
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to homestead property tax exemptions;
    3         amending s. 196.081, F.S.; revising a homestead tax
    4         exemption for the surviving spouses of certain
    5         veterans who died from service-connected causes while
    6         on active duty, to remove a specified condition of
    7         permanent residency; providing a homestead tax
    8         exemption to the unremarried surviving spouses of
    9         certain disabled veterans if the veteran or spouse
   10         owned property in another state and used such property
   11         in a manner that would have qualified for homestead
   12         exemption in this state as of a specified date, and
   13         specifying requirements for and conditions of the
   14         exemption; providing an effective date.
   15          
   16  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   17  
   18         Section 1. Subsection (4) of section 196.081, Florida
   19  Statutes, is amended, present subsections (5) and (6) of that
   20  section are renumbered as subsections (6) and (7), respectively,
   21  and a new subsection (5) is added to that section, to read:
   22         196.081 Exemption for certain totally and permanently and
   23  totally disabled veterans and for surviving spouses of veterans;
   24  exemption for surviving spouses of first responders who die in
   25  the line of duty.—
   26         (4) Any real estate that is owned and used as a homestead
   27  by the surviving spouse of a veteran who died from service
   28  connected causes while on active duty as a member of the United
   29  States Armed Forces and for whom a letter from the United States
   30  Government or United States Department of Veterans Affairs or
   31  its predecessor has been issued certifying that the veteran who
   32  died from service-connected causes while on active duty is
   33  exempt from taxation if the veteran was a permanent resident of
   34  this state on January 1 of the year in which the veteran died.
   35         (a) The production of the letter by the surviving spouse
   36  which attests to the veteran’s death while on active duty is
   37  prima facie evidence that the surviving spouse is entitled to
   38  the exemption.
   39         (b) The tax exemption carries over to the benefit of the
   40  veteran’s surviving spouse as long as the spouse holds the legal
   41  or beneficial title to the homestead, permanently resides
   42  thereon as specified in s. 196.031, and does not remarry. If the
   43  surviving spouse sells the property, an exemption not to exceed
   44  the amount granted under the most recent ad valorem tax roll may
   45  be transferred to his or her new residence as long as it is used
   46  as his or her primary residence and he or she does not remarry.
   47         (5)(a) The unremarried surviving spouse of a veteran who
   48  was honorably discharged with a service-connected total and
   49  permanent disability is entitled to the same exemption that
   50  would otherwise be granted to a surviving spouse as described in
   51  subsections (1)-(3) if, at the time of the veteran’s death, the
   52  veteran or the veteran’s surviving spouse owned property in
   53  another state which the veteran used in a manner that would have
   54  qualified for homestead exemption under s. 196.031 if the
   55  property was located in this state on January 1 of the year the
   56  veteran died. To qualify for the exemption under this
   57  subsection, the unremarried surviving spouse, subsequent to the
   58  death of the veteran, must hold the legal or beneficial title to
   59  homestead property in this state and permanently reside thereon
   60  as specified in s. 196.031 as of January 1 of the tax year for
   61  which the exemption is being claimed.
   62         (b) The surviving spouse must provide documentation as set
   63  forth in subsection (2) to the property appraiser in the county
   64  in which the property is located.
   65         (c) The tax exemption provided by this subsection:
   66         1. Is available until the surviving spouse remarries.
   67         2. May be transferred to a new residence in an amount not
   68  to exceed the amount granted from the most recent ad valorem tax
   69  roll as long as it is used as the surviving spouse’s primary
   70  residence and he or she does not remarry.
   71         Section 2. This act shall take effect January 1, 2017.