7 Things Florida Doesn’t Tax That Your Old State Definitely Did

A retired nurse from New Jersey signs the closing papers on a condo outside Sarasota.

Her accountant back home spent an hour listing what she’d still owe.

Six months in, half the tax bills she braced for never landed in her mailbox.

These are the taxes Florida skips that many northern states charge every single year.

Note: This is general information, not tax advice. Tax rules and dollar amounts are subject to change, so confirm the current details with a professional.

1. Your Paycheck

Florida doesn’t take a cut of what you earn at work.

The state constitution bans a personal income tax on residents, so lawmakers couldn’t slap one on even if they wanted to.

Clock into a shift in Jacksonville, draw a salary in Tampa, or freelance from a lanai in Cape Coral, and the state takes nothing off the top.

Your old state up North likely skimmed a few percent before your check ever hit the bank.

In Florida, that whole line on the pay stub sits blank.

A remote worker who moved down to St. Petersburg keeps the full salary their old state used to tax.

2. Your Social Security

Florida leaves your Social Security check alone.

The state taxes none of it, no matter how big the monthly deposit runs.

Not a dime.

Some states still reach into part of a retiree’s benefit, so the same check stretches further once you cross Florida’s line.

That math pulls many retirees south, and The Villages keeps adding rooftops because of it.

A couple living on two benefit checks in Fort Pierce keeps every dollar the federal government already let them keep.

3. Your Pension and 401(k)

Florida doesn’t tax the retirement income you spent decades building.

Your pension, your 401(k) withdrawal, and your IRA distribution all land untaxed by the state.

Many states with an income tax treat that money like a paycheck and charge it the same way.

A few of those states shield part of a pension, and others tax the full withdrawal.

Draw down a 401(k) at a kitchen table in Ocala, and Florida asks for nothing.

The retiree who made the same withdrawal back in their old state often watched a slice vanish before it reached the account.

4. Your Estate

Florida won’t tax the house or the savings you pass down.

The state carries no estate tax and no inheritance tax on what your heirs receive.

Die in Pennsylvania, and your children pay 4.5% of what they inherit, and the rate jumps to 15% for anyone outside the family.

New Jersey still taxes what you leave to a niece, a nephew, or a friend.

Your heirs in Florida split the estate without cutting the state a check first.

A retiree in Boca Raton can leave a paid-off condo to their children with no state tax on the handoff.

5. Groceries

Florida keeps sales tax off the groceries you take home to cook.

A gallon of milk, a bag of Vidalia onions, and a box of Cheerios all ring up with no state sales tax.

Hot and prepared foods are the exception, so the Publix deli sandwich still gets taxed while the raw ingredients beside it don’t.

Snowbirds stocking a rental kitchen in Clearwater fill the cart without watching the tax line grow.

Illinois taxed groceries at a 1% rate for years.

Even now that the state dropped it, Illinois towns can vote to keep charging the same 1% on your cart.

6. Your Prescriptions

Florida doesn’t tax the medicine your doctor prescribes.

Fill a prescription at a Walgreens in Fort Myers, and the drug itself scans with no sales tax.

The break reaches past prescriptions to many common household remedies, from cough drops to first-aid supplies.

Most states still tax over-the-counter drugs, so a bottle of Advil rings up higher at many registers outside Florida.

7. A Local Income Tax

Florida doesn’t let its cities tax your income either.

No county surtax on wages, no city payroll tax, and no school-district cut comes out of your pay.

None anywhere.

New York City residents owe the city its own income tax on top of the state’s, reaching 3.876%.

Nearly every town in Pennsylvania collects its own earned income tax on your wages, too.

In Florida, no city collects a dime of your paycheck.

How Much Retirees Keep

Florida’s missing income tax adds up faster than many transplants expect.

A retiree pulling $70,000 a year in New York would owe about $4,000 in state income tax, per Kiplinger.

Cross into Florida, and that bill drops to nothing.

Four thousand dollars.

That’s a property-tax payment, a season of golf, or two months of a beachside rental, kept in your pocket every year.

The savings stack up over a long retirement, which is why so many New York, New Jersey, and Illinois plates turn up in Florida parking lots by November.

Where Florida Gets It Back

Florida still needs revenue, so it leans on sales tax and property tax instead.

The state charges 6% on most purchases, and local surtaxes push the combined average to 7.02%, per the Tax Foundation.

Property tax covers much of the rest, running about 0.78% of a home’s value on average.

Then comes insurance.

The average Florida home premium hit $8,292 in 2025, the highest in the nation, according to Insurify.