Your county tax collector mails the 2026 tax bill on or about November 1. Pay it that month and Florida law gives you 4% off. Wait until March and you pay the full amount — same bill, same property, four percent apart for doing nothing but paying early.
The discount schedule
Florida sets the early-payment discount by statute and it steps down a point a month. Pay in November and you save 4%. December is 3%. January is 2%. February is 1%. In March you pay the gross amount, and taxes become delinquent on April 1.
On a $6,000 tax bill the November discount is $240. On a $14,000 bill in a high-millage county it is $560. It applies to the whole bill, including the non-ad-valorem assessments most Florida homeowners carry for solid waste, fire or stormwater.
The discount is based on when the tax collector receives payment, not when you mailed it. A cheque postmarked November 30 that arrives December 2 gets the December rate.
This is not the same as your TRIM notice
The notice you received in August was the TRIM notice — Truth in Millage. It is a proposed-tax estimate showing your assessed value, exemptions and the millage rates local governments were considering. It is not a bill and you cannot pay it.
The November bill is the final one, and the amount can differ from the TRIM estimate if a taxing authority adopted a different millage than proposed at its September hearings. If the two differ by more than you expected, compare the millage lines rather than the totals — that is usually where the difference sits. Our Florida property tax estimator lets you check the arithmetic for your county.
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If you are closing between now and March
Taxes are prorated at closing. The seller is charged for the portion of the year they owned the property and the buyer is credited for it, or the bill is paid in full at closing out of seller proceeds. Which of those happens depends on whether the bill has been issued yet and whether the closing agent pays it.
The trap is the discount. If a file closes in November and the closing agent pays the tax bill at settlement, the 4% is captured and the parties share the benefit through the proration. If the file closes in early December and nobody paid in November, that 4% is simply gone — and neither party usually notices until they compare the settlement statement to the bill.
Ask your closing agent directly whether the tax bill is being paid at closing and at which discount rate. See how property tax proration works at a Florida closing.
The installment plan almost nobody uses
Florida offers a quarterly installment plan for property taxes. You apply through your county tax collector by April 30 for the following tax year, and the bill is then split into four payments due in June, September, December and March, with a discount applied to the earlier installments.
It is worth knowing about if your taxes are not escrowed and a single November payment is hard to absorb. It is not automatic and it is not retroactive — missing the April 30 window means waiting a full year. If your mortgage escrows taxes, your servicer pays the bill and typically captures the November discount for you; check your escrow analysis rather than assuming.
And this year, Amendment 3 is on the same ballot
The bill arriving in November is calculated under the current homestead exemption. Amendment 3, which Florida voters decide on November 3, 2026, would raise the non-school homestead exemption to $150,000 in 2027 and $250,000 in 2028.
If it passes it does not touch the bill in your hand. The change would first appear on the August 2027 TRIM notice and the tax bill mailed in November 2027. You can see what it would mean for your own property, using your county’s actual non-school millage, with our Amendment 3 savings calculator.
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Frequently Asked Questions
When are Florida property taxes due?
Bills mail on or about November 1 and are payable through March 31. Taxes become delinquent April 1. Paying earlier earns a discount: 4% in November, 3% in December, 2% in January, 1% in February, and no discount in March.
How much is the Florida early payment discount?
4% if paid in November, 3% in December, 2% in January, and 1% in February. The discount applies to the full bill including non-ad-valorem assessments. On a $6,000 bill, paying in November saves $240.
Is the discount based on postmark or receipt?
On when the tax collector receives the payment, not the postmark. A payment mailed at the end of November that arrives in December receives the December discount rate.
Is the November bill the same as my TRIM notice?
No. The TRIM notice mailed in August is a proposed-tax estimate and cannot be paid. The November bill is the final tax bill, and the amount can differ if a taxing authority adopted a different millage rate at its September hearings.
Can I pay Florida property taxes in installments?
Yes. Florida offers a quarterly installment plan, but you must apply through your county tax collector by April 30 for the following tax year. It is not automatic and cannot be applied retroactively.
Does Amendment 3 lower my November 2026 tax bill?
No. If approved on November 3, 2026, the increased homestead exemption takes effect January 1, 2027 and would first appear on the August 2027 TRIM notice and the November 2027 tax bill.