Florida property tax answers · Updated July 2026
How do I fill out Form DR-486?
The short answer
Form DR-486 is Florida's statewide Value Adjustment Board petition. You complete the taxpayer information (name, mailing address, parcel ID from your TRIM notice), check the box for the action you contest (for a value appeal, real property value), sign in the taxpayer signature part, and file it with your county Clerk of Court with the $15 fee within 25 days of the TRIM mailing date. About 50 counties take it through the Axia e-filing portal.
The form, part by part
- Taxpayer information: your name, mailing address, phone, and email, plus the parcel ID and physical address of the property. The parcel ID is printed on your TRIM notice and on your county property appraiser's website.
- What you are petitioning: for a standard over-assessment case, you are contesting the real property value shown on the TRIM notice and requesting a decrease.
- Hearing time estimate: most residential value hearings take about 15 minutes. The form asks how long you expect to need.
- Taxpayer signature: sign yourself, or complete the representative part if someone (an attorney or agent) will appear for you. Representing yourself is normal and common at residential VAB hearings.
- Filing: submit to the Clerk of Court in the property's county with the $15 per-parcel fee. Roughly 50 of Florida's 67 counties run filings through the Axia e-filing portal; the rest take paper, email, or a county portal. Your county's route is listed on our county pages.
The two rules that void late or sloppy petitions
First, the deadline is a receive-by deadline. The Clerk must have the petition in hand within 25 days of the TRIM notice mailing date, Florida Statute 194.011. A postmark on day 25 does not save it. Second, the petition reserves your hearing but does not argue your case, the evidence does. Magistrates decide on comparable properties: similar homes assessed or selling for less than your assessed value. File the DR-486 on time, then spend your energy on the comparables you will present.
The blank form is free at floridarevenue.com (form DR-486, revision R. 12/25 for the 2026 cycle), and filing it yourself costs $15. What the $49 kit adds is the work around the form: your DR-486 arrives pre-filled with your parcel data, attached to a comparable-property table drawn from the state assessment roll, a petition letter citing the statute grounds, and the filing route for your specific county. You sign, file, and keep 100% of whatever you save.
Get your DR-486 pre-filled, with the evidence attached
Check your address free first, about 30 seconds, no signup. If your home shows over-assessed against similar properties, the $49 kit arrives by email with Form DR-486 pre-filled, a comparable table from the state assessment roll, and step-by-step filing instructions for your county's VAB. Sign it, pay the county's $15 fee, and you are filed.
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