Filing a Florida property tax appeal for the first time? This complete beginner guide covers TRIM notices, VAB petitions, deadlines, evidence, and exactly what to expect. TaxAppeal USA: $89 ready-to-sign kit.
Every August, your county property appraiser mails a Truth in Millage (TRIM) notice to every property owner in Florida. This is not your tax bill — it is a proposed assessment. It shows your property's just value (the appraiser's estimate of market value), your assessed value (which may be lower if Save Our Homes applies), your exemptions, and your estimated tax bill. The moment it arrives, find the deadline printed on the notice — that is your filing deadline.
Appeal if comparable homes in your neighborhood have sold recently for less than your just (market) value. If three or more similar properties sold for 5% or more below your assessed just value in the past year, you have a reasonable case. Do not appeal if your just value appears to match or fall below recent sales — the evidence simply will not support it. Also check whether Save Our Homes is already protecting you: if your assessed value is already significantly below your just value, reducing just value further may not affect your tax bill.
The formal appeal document is called a DR-486 petition. You file it with your county Value Adjustment Board (VAB) within 25 days of the TRIM mailing date. The petition includes your property information, the value you believe is correct, and a brief statement of your grounds. You must also pay the county VAB filing fee (typically $15-$50) when you submit. The petition must be physically received by the VAB by the deadline — a postmark is not sufficient.
After your petition is filed, you will receive a hearing date from your county VAB. The hearing is conducted by a special magistrate — a licensed real estate professional or attorney appointed by the board. You present your comparable sales evidence — the evidence package TaxAppeal prepared and you mailed with your petition is already on the record, but TaxAppeal cannot appear for you and is not your representative. The property appraiser may also present their evidence supporting the original value. The magistrate then makes a recommendation, which the VAB adopts or modifies.
TaxAppeal USA was designed specifically for homeowners filing for the first time. Enter your property address and we check whether a petition will lower your bill after Save Our Homes and your exemptions; if it won't, we tell you and don't sell you one. If it will, you pay $89 and we pull your property data from your county appraiser, identify the strongest comparable sales in your neighborhood, fill in a complete DR-486 petition, and mail you a ready-to-sign kit with a return envelope addressed to your county's VAB. You sign it, add a cheque for the county's filing fee (paid by you, to the county), and mail it the day it arrives. A PDF copy of the full kit is also emailed to you the same day. No forms to fill out yourself — you read and sign the finished petition. No office visits required.
We check first. If an appeal will lower your bill, we mail you a ready-to-sign kit for $89 flat. You sign it and mail it, and you keep 100% of your savings.
TaxAppeal USA is a self-service document-preparation service. We prepare a ready-to-sign appeal kit and mail it to you; you sign it and mail it to the county yourself. In every state we serve, including Florida, we are not property tax consultants, agents, or representatives, we do not provide tax or legal advice, and we do not file appeals or represent customers before any appraisal district, board of assessors, board of equalization, value adjustment board, or review board. Every appeal, protest and petition is prepared for the property owner, signed by the owner, and mailed by the owner in the owner’s name. In Florida your petition is signed by you as the property owner under section 194.011(3), Florida Statutes, and the county’s Value Adjustment Board filing fee is paid by you directly to the county. TaxAppeal USA does not sign as your representative, does not appear before the Board, and does not present evidence or argument at a hearing.