Florida short-term rentals: what Amendment 3 changes and what to do

It takes effect January 1, 2027. Your 2026 bill doesn't change; the first bills under it go out in November 2027.

For a rental, the 5% cap only matters when values rise faster than 5% a year, and it never applies to school taxes. The big change is for homes their owners live in, which makes the homestead question below worth more.

If you live in the home and rent it out, Florida treats renting all or substantially all of it for more than 30 days a year, two years in a row, as abandoning the homestead. Renting a room while you live there is different; tell the Property Appraiser, who may remove the share of the home used as a rental.

When the homestead ends, so do its exemptions and its cap: the next year's assessed value starts at the full just value. Keeping a homestead exemption you no longer qualify for can bring up to 10 years of back taxes, a 50% penalty and 15% interest a year. The owner is responsible for telling the Property Appraiser when the use changes.

Example: a home with a $460,000 just value and an assessed value capped at $180,000

Uses the 2026 rate of 18.17 per $1,000 in one unincorporated Pinellas district, the homestead's assessed value up 3% for 2027, and a flat just value. Surface water and other flat charges aren't included.

Florida values every property as of January 1, so each year's value rests on the previous year's sales. Appraisers must account for the costs of selling, so just values usually run 15% or more below sale prices. Compare your just value with what similar homes sold for, less about 15%.

On a homestead, a lower just value saves nothing unless it falls below the capped assessed value. On a full-time rental, every dollar of just value is taxed. In the first Pinellas County home we tested, the county's value was already 13% below what nearby sales supported, so an appeal had nothing to win. We'll tell you that when it's true.

• Mid-August: the TRIM notice (Notice of Proposed Property Taxes) shows the new value and the petition deadline. You can ask the Property Appraiser for an informal conference, but it doesn't extend the deadline.
• Within 25 days of the TRIM mailing: file a petition to the county Value Adjustment Board on Form DR-486. Counties can charge up to $50. Pinellas County's 2026 deadline was September 11, so the next window opens in August 2027.
• 15 days before the hearing: give the Property Appraiser your evidence; they must give you theirs too.
• Before April 1: pay all non-ad valorem assessments and at least 75% of the property tax, or the petition is denied.

Furniture, appliances and other contents of a home that's rented or available for rent on January 1 are tangible personal property. Report them to the county Property Appraiser on Form DR-405 by April 1. If their assessed value is $25,000 or less, you owe nothing on them, but only if the return is filed on time. Filing late adds 5% a month, up to 25%; never filing adds 25%, and the county estimates a value for you.

Stays of six months or less carry Florida's 6% transient rental tax, the county's discretionary surtax and the county's tourist development tax. In Pinellas County that adds up to 13%, charged on the rent and required fees such as cleaning. Airbnb collects all three on its Pinellas bookings, and Vrbo collects the county tourist tax. Bookings you take directly are yours to collect and file. No 2026 law changed who collects these taxes.

Florida requires a vacation rental license from the Department of Business and Professional Regulation. Some counties and cities add their own: unincorporated Pinellas County, for example, requires a Short-Term Rental Certificate of Use ($450 a year plus a $150 inspection) for homes rented more than three times a year for stays under 30 days.