Miami-Dade Property Tax: Rates, Deadlines & Appeals (2026)

The 2026 Miami-Dade property tax assessment appeal deadline is Friday, September 18, 2026. File with the Miami-Dade Value Adjustment Board (VAB) online through the 2026 AXIA portal, or by mail/in person at Stephen P. Clark Center, Value Adjustment Board, 111 NW First Street, Suite 1720, Miami, FL 33128; the standard filing fee is $15 per folio.

Do not wait for your November tax bill. Your appeal is based on the 2026 TRIM Notice mailed by the Property Appraiser by August 24, and the deadline is 25 days after that notice is mailed.

How assessments work in Miami-Dade

Miami-Dade reassesses property every year for the January 1 assessment date. The Property Appraiser first estimates market value as of January 1 using comparable sales, cost, and—in income-producing cases—income data. Then the office calculates assessed value and taxable value after caps and exemptions.

For a typical owner-occupied home, the biggest local tax rule is Florida’s Homestead Exemption and Save Our Homes cap. After the first year a property has homestead, annual increases in assessed value are generally capped at the lower of 3% or CPI, excluding new construction and certain changes. If you move within Florida, portability may let you transfer up to $500,000 of the difference between market and assessed value to a new homestead.

Your 2026 TRIM Notice is the key document. It lists proposed taxes, values as of January 1, exemptions, assessment reductions, non-ad valorem charges, and budget hearing dates. The Property Appraiser says TRIM Notices are sent to all owners by August 24 and that owners who still disagree after review have 25 days to file with the VAB. For 2026, the Clerk/VAB page gives the concrete deadline: September 18, 2026.

Miami-Dade tax rates are not set by the Property Appraiser or the VAB. Rates are set by the County, School Board, municipalities, Children’s Trust, South Florida Water Management District, and other taxing authorities. The Property Appraiser’s 2025 adopted millage table shows, for example, City of Miami code 0100 total 2025 millage of 19.9878 mills and Unincorporated County code 3000 total 2025 millage of 16.9317 mills. One mill equals $1 per $1,000 of taxable value.

Whether you should appeal

Appeal if you can show the January 1, 2026 value is too high, an exemption or portability benefit is missing, or the property record has a concrete error. Good evidence in Miami-Dade usually means recent comparable sales near your neighborhood, proof of condition problems, photos dated near January 1, repair estimates, insurance documentation, a private appraisal, or records showing incorrect square footage, building features, pool, additions, or land classification.

Be careful with homesteaded homes. If your market value is reduced but your assessed value is already far lower because of Save Our Homes, the reduction may not lower this year’s tax bill. The appeal must affect the taxable value used by your taxing authorities to create real savings.

A realistic example: assume a City of Miami single-family home has a contested taxable value of $650,000 and you prove the correct taxable value should be $610,000. Using the 2025 City of Miami code 0100 total adopted millage of 19.9878, a $40,000 taxable-value reduction saves about $799.51 in ad valorem taxes: $40,000 ÷ 1,000 × 19.9878. After the $15 VAB filing fee, the first-year net savings would be about $784.51. Non-ad valorem charges—solid waste, lighting, CDDs, PACE, and similar flat assessments—generally do not go down just because the value is reduced.

I did not find an official Miami-Dade homeowner success-rate table or median reduction report published by the Clerk, VAB, Property Appraiser, or Tax Collector. The Clerk’s VAB search lets you look up petitions, but it is not presented as a countywide success-rate summary.

Step-by-step how to file

1. Review the TRIM Notice immediately. Check market value, assessed value, taxable value, exemptions, property characteristics, and the exact appeal deadline printed on the notice. If you receive a corrected second TRIM Notice, the Property Appraiser says the deadline at the bottom of the second notice may be extended.

2. Try the informal review, but protect the deadline. Miami-Dade encourages owners to complete the Assessment Review Form or schedule an appointment with the Property Appraiser. This can fix obvious errors without a hearing, but it does not extend the VAB deadline.

3. Choose the right form. For most homeowners challenging value or a denied exemption, use DR-486, Petition to the Value Adjustment Board – Request for Hearing. For a portability dispute, use DR-486PORT, Petition to the Value Adjustment Board – Transfer of Homestead Assessment Difference – Request for Hearing. For multiple units/parcels/accounts, use DR-486MU as the attachment where applicable. Late-filed exemption/agricultural petitions require first filing the late application with the Property Appraiser and giving proof to the VAB.

4. File by September 18, 2026. Online filing is through the Miami-Dade VAB AXIA 2026 portal. You need the folio number and will pay the nonrefundable filing fee by card. The portal instructs you to keep your transaction number and password so you can check status and upload evidence.

5. Filing by mail or in person. Send or deliver the petition and fee to: Stephen P. Clark Center, Value Adjustment Board, 111 NW First Street, Suite 1720, Miami, FL 33128. Checks should be payable to Clerk of the Value Adjustment Board. Miami-Dade’s local procedure is strict: “filed” means received by the Clerk, not postmarked. A petition postmarked before the deadline but received after it is late.

6. Email/fax caution. The 2026 AXIA page lists vabemail@miamidade.gov, phone 305-375-5641, and fax 305-375-5274 for the VAB. However, the Clerk’s public filing instructions list online, mail, and in-person filing—not email as a primary initial filing method. Use email only for questions or if the Clerk specifically confirms it is acceptable for the document you are sending.

What happens after

The proper appeal authority is the Miami-Dade Value Adjustment Board. The Clerk of the Court and Comptroller is the Clerk of the VAB. The VAB itself is independent from the Property Appraiser and appoints special magistrates to hear cases. Value cases are heard by appraiser special magistrates; exemption and classification disputes are heard by attorney special magistrates.

For 2026, Miami-Dade says VAB hearings are being conducted telephonically, with hearings generally scheduled weekdays beginning at 8:30 a.m. The Clerk must provide written notice of hearing at least 25 calendar days before the hearing. Evidence rules matter: at least 15 days before the hearing, you must provide the Property Appraiser your evidence list, summaries, and copies of documents you plan to use. Separately, Miami-Dade requires evidence you want admitted to be uploaded into AXIA by 9:00 a.m. Eastern the day before the hearing.

You also have a non-oral option. DR-486 lets you check that you will not attend but want your evidence considered; in that situation, the form says you must submit duplicate copies of evidence to the VAB clerk, and the ruling occurs under the same statutory guidelines as if you appeared.

If your case is still pending when taxes approach delinquency, pay attention to the required payment rule. For value and portability cases, you generally must pay all non-ad valorem assessments and at least 75% of the ad valorem taxes before delinquency, or the VAB can deny the petition. Miami-Dade real estate taxes are normally payable November 1 through March 31 and become delinquent April 1.

After the hearing, the special magistrate makes a recommendation and the VAB renders the decision. If the VAB reduction results in a refund, Miami-Dade says refunds usually take six to eight weeks from the time the hearings are held, though timing can vary.

Local tips

Use Miami-Dade’s own tools before paying for help: Property Search, Comparable Sales, Tax Comparison, Tax Visualizer, TRIM online access, and the tax estimator. Match your evidence to the January 1 valuation date; a sale in late 2026 may be less persuasive than a comparable sale close to January 1, 2026.

Check exemptions before you appeal value. Miami-Dade lists homestead, senior, disability, widow/widower, deployed military, veteran, first responder, portability, and granny-flat benefits. The 2026 exemption guide lists the low-income senior household adjusted gross income limit as less than $38,686, and the $5,000 widow/widower, civilian disability/blind, and veteran disability benefits are easy to miss. Homestead and most new exemption applications are generally due March 1, but if a denial or missed filing is the issue, the VAB process may still be relevant.

Finally, do not file a VAB petition just because you dislike the tax rate. The VAB cannot change millage rates, budgets, or non-ad valorem assessments. Use the TRIM-listed budget hearings for rate objections; use the VAB for value, exemption, classification, portability, and certain deferral/penalty disputes.

Miami-Dade Property Tax Rate

FY 2025-26 adopted Miami-Dade County millage: Countywide Operating 4.5740 mills; Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Service District 2.3965 mills where applicable; Miami-Dade Public Library System 0.2812 mills; Unincorporated Municipal Service Area (UMSA) 1.9090 mills in unincorporated areas; Countywide voter-approved debt 0.4171 mills. The County’s adopted “sum of operating and debt millages” is 9.5778 mills, but the total bill millage varies by municipality, school, regional, and special taxing districts. One mill equals $1 per $1,000 of taxable value. The FY 2025-26 adopted budget example shows a $200,000 home in UMSA with $150,000 taxable value paying $1,436 to the County at 9.5778 mills, and $2,538 total to all authorities at 16.9317 mills.

Source: https://www.miamidade.gov/resources/budget/adopted/fy2025-26/budget-in-brief.pdf

When Are Property Taxes Due in Miami-Dade?

Real estate property taxes are payable November 1 each year and may be paid through March 31 of the following year without penalty; they become delinquent April 1. Miami-Dade offers a Quarterly Installment Payment Plan. The current Tax Collector page says 2026 applications are no longer accepted and 2027 applications will be accepted starting in November 2026; the state-law installment schedule shown is June 30, September 30, December 31, and March 31. Early-payment discounts: 4% if paid in November, 3% in December, 2% in January, 1% in February, and no discount in March; if a discount period ends on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday, the due date is extended to the next business day for online or in-person payments.

This is not the same as the assessment appeal deadline above. The appeal deadline is your window to contest your assessed value; the payment due date is when the resulting tax bill must be paid. Missing one does not affect the other, but missing either has real consequences — one forfeits your right to appeal for the year, the other can trigger penalties and interest.

Source: https://mdctaxcollector.gov/discounts-for-early-payment

Property Tax Exemptions in Miami-Dade

• Basic Homestead Exemption — A person who owns and resides on Florida real property on January 1, makes it their permanent residence, and files an application.. Up to $50,000; the first $25,000 applies to all property taxes, and the added $25,000 applies to assessed value over $50,000 and only to non-school taxes. Yes; application required. Apply by March 1 annually.. (Source: https://www.miamidade.gov/pa/library/exemption-application-requirements.pdf)
• Save Our Homes (SOH) assessment limitation and portability — Homestead property owners; portability may apply if moving from one Florida homestead to another within the last two years.. Beginning the year after homestead is received, assessed value cannot increase by more than the lesser of CPI change or 3% each year; eligible homeowners may be able to transfer SOH savings to a new Florida homestead. Yes; application/claim required for applicable homestead benefits. Apply by March 1 annually.. (Source: https://www.miamidade.gov/pa/library/exemption-application-requirements.pdf)
• Low-Income Senior Citizen Exemption — Age 65 or older as of January 1, with adjusted gross income for all household members below $38,686 for the 2026 income limit.. Yes; application required. Apply by March 1 annually.. (Source: https://www.miamidade.gov/resources-pa/library/guidelines/exemption-requirements.pdf)
• Long-Term Resident Senior Citizen Exemption — Must be eligible for the Low-Income Senior Citizen Exemption, permanently reside on the property for at least 25 years, and the property’s market value must be less than $250,000 in the first year.. Additional exemption for the amount of the assessed value of the property, applied to qualifying long-term low-income senior homestead property under Miami-Dade County Code section 29-9. Yes; application required. Apply by March 1 annually; supporting income documentation by June 1 for the claimed year under the county ordinance.. (Source: https://www.miamidade.gov/govaction/matter.asp?file=true&fileAnalysis=false&matter=122414&yearFolder=Y2012)
• Widow/Widower Exemption — Un-remarried widow or widower as of January 1.. $5,000 exemption. Yes; application required. Apply by March 1 annually.. (Source: https://www.miamidade.gov/resources-pa/library/guidelines/exemption-requirements.pdf)
• Civilian Disability / Blind Exemption — Civilian total and permanently disabled or blind as of January 1.. $5,000 exemption. Yes; application required. Apply by March 1 annually.. (Source: https://www.miamidade.gov/resources-pa/library/guidelines/exemption-requirements.pdf},{)

How to Look Up Your Property Record in Miami-Dade

You can look up your property's official record at https://www.miamidade.gov/propertysearch/. Official Miami-Dade Property Appraiser property search by address, owner name, subdivision, or folio for ad valorem tax assessment/tax roll information.