SB 78 Florida Senate · 2026 Regular Session

Home Hardening Products

Summary

Home Hardening Products; Providing a sales tax exemption for home hardening products used on eligible residential property; specifying a limitation on exemptions; requiring property owners to submit an application to the Department of Revenue in order to be eligible; providing requirements for the department in issuing refunds, etc.

Issues: ✓ Budget & Taxes

Bill status died 1 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2026

Committee Review

Floor Vote

Governor

Introduced Jan 13, 2026 Last action Mar 13, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

S 78 Filed → S 78 c1 · 9 edits

MAJOR

The bill was revised from a broad exemption model to a refund-based system with stricter eligibility requirements. The original version exempted sales tax at the point of purchase, while the committee substitute requires property owners to apply for refunds after paying taxes, limiting the benefit to $500 per eligible property within a two-year purchase period.

Scope change

The bill now applies only to site-built dwellings with homestead exemptions valued at $700,000 or less, and limits refunds to one property per owner.

ELIGIBILITY

Changed from automatic tax exemption at point of sale to a refund system requiring property owners to submit applications with receipts and sworn statements.

Added eligibility requirement that property must be a site-built dwelling with a homestead exemption and a just value of $700,000 or less.

REQUIREMENT

Added requirement that owners may only submit one application for one eligible residential property.

Added departmental requirements to process applications within 30 business days and issue refunds within 30 business days of approval.

TIMELINE

Added specific purchase period (July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2028) and refund application deadline (between July 1, 2026 and June 30, 2028).

Changed effective date from July 1, 2026 to upon becoming law.

FISCAL

Added $500 per property cap on the refund amount for home hardening products.

ENFORCEMENT

Added requirement for owners to submit sworn statements under penalty of perjury and attach receipts as evidence of tax payment.

TECHNICAL

Added authority for the department to adopt emergency rules to implement the refund system.

Floor votes

How they voted

No floor votes recorded yet.

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Jan 13, 2026

Introduced

upper

Nov 19, 2025

Upper · Passed

Pending reference review under Rule 4.7(2) - (Committee Substitute)

upper

Nov 10, 2025

Upper · Passed

On Committee agenda-- Community Affairs, 11/18/25, 3:30 pm, 37 Senate Building

upper

Oct 6, 2025

Committee

Referred to Community Affairs; Finance and Tax; Appropriations

upper

1 primary · 1 co-sponsor