Happy New Year! If you are a property owner in Pinellas County, you may be interested in these upcoming deadlines.

January 1

January 1 is an important date as Florida Property Appraisers determine the value of your home as of this date every year based upon sales of similar properties from the prior year. It is also the date used to determine residency status for exemption purposes. So if you purchased a property in 2020, you may benefit from some exemptions that could save you hundreds in tax dollars. Please note, if your newly purchased property benefited from a former owner's exemption, that benefit was removed on January 1, 2021, resetting the property's assessed value to just/market value.

March 1

You must apply for your own Homestead Exemption by March 1, 2021. Once you receive Homestead Exemption, we automatically renew it each year unless your residency status changes.

Other exemptions you may qualify for include widow(er), senior, disability and veterans, to name a few. Our website details the qualification requirements for each. Property owners who have a homestead will receive a "renewal receipt" listing exemptions we plan to renew in 2021. If ownership and occupancy have not changed, you simply save the receipt for your records. However, if you added someone to the deed, moved, or rented the property during 2020, you should indicate that change on the receipt, sign it, and return it to our office so that we can make the proper adjustments.

April

If you're a business owner, or own rental property, you may need to file your Tangible Personal Property Return and/or an Income and Expense Form. Those are due on April 1, and April 15, respectively. We sympathize with the struggles many businesses have experienced through 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We highly encourage you to provide 2019 and 2020 financial information when filing your Tangible Return for our consideration of your 2021 valuation, especially if you had adverse economic impact due to the 2020 pandemic. We also encourage those that have been adversely impacted to complete the special survey found on our homepage to aid in our 2021 valuation process. The results of this survey will provide valuable information for us to communicate to our state legislators regarding potential legislative relief.

If you ever have questions regarding your property value or taxes, we are happy to assist you; please contact the Pinellas County Property Appraiser's Office at (727) 464-3207, mike@pcpao.gov or visit us at www.pcpao.gov.  All of us at the Property Appraiser's office thank you for allowing us to serve you and wish you and yours a joyous and healthy New Year!