Florida is famous as a debtor-friendly state, and it earned that reputation. Between the Florida Constitution and Chapter 222 of the Florida Statutes, Florida residents can protect their homes, their wages, their retirement accounts, their annuities, a vehicle and more from creditors who win lawsuits against them.
Almost none of that applies to the Internal Revenue Service. I see the surprise on people’s faces every time. Let’s put the two lists side by side so you know exactly what you are working with.
The Florida list, in brief
Florida’s protections come from two sources.
The Florida Constitution. Article X, Section 4 protects a homestead from forced sale, subject to acreage limits and a few exceptions, and protects personal property to the value of $1,000.
Chapter 222 of the Florida Statutes. Among other things:
- Fla. Stat. 222.11 protects a head of family’s wages. See my guide on the head-of-family wage exemption and the IRS.
- Fla. Stat. 222.14 protects the cash surrender value of life insurance and the proceeds of annuity contracts. See life insurance, annuities and the IRS.
- Fla. Stat. 222.21 protects qualified retirement plans and IRAs. See Florida retirement accounts and the IRS.
- Fla. Stat. 222.25 protects a debtor’s interest up to $5,000 in a single motor vehicle, professionally prescribed health aids, a federal earned income tax credit refund, and, for a debtor who does not claim or receive the homestead benefit, up to $4,000 in personal property.
Florida also has an anti-abuse rule. Fla. Stat. 222.29 says a Chapter 222 exemption is not effective if it results from a fraudulent transfer under Chapter 726.
Why none of it binds the IRS
The IRS collects federal taxes under federal law. Under the Supremacy Clause, a state cannot exempt property from federal tax collection. Congress made the point explicit. IRC 6334(c) says that notwithstanding any other law of the United States, no property or rights to property shall be exempt from levy other than the property specifically made exempt by IRC 6334(a).
The regulation leaves no room for argument. Treas. Reg. 301.6334-1(c) states that no provision of a state law may exempt property or rights to property from levy for the collection of any federal tax, and that property exempt from execution under state personal or homestead exemption laws is nevertheless subject to levy by the United States.
So when a Tampa taxpayer tells a Revenue Officer that his truck is exempt under Florida law, he is quoting the wrong rulebook.
The federal list, with 2026 amounts
IRC 6334(a) is the only list that matters for an IRS levy. The most relevant items for Florida households and small businesses:
| Federal exemption | IRC section | 2026 amount or scope |
|---|---|---|
| Necessary wearing apparel and school books | 6334(a)(1) | No dollar limit; luxury items excluded by regulation |
| Fuel, provisions, furniture, personal effects, arms for personal use, livestock, poultry | 6334(a)(2) | $11,980 (Rev. Proc. 2025-32) |
| Books and tools of a trade, business or profession | 6334(a)(3) | $5,990 (Rev. Proc. 2025-32) |
| Unemployment benefits | 6334(a)(4) | Exempt |
| Workers’ compensation | 6334(a)(7) | Exempt |
| Wages needed for prior court-ordered child support | 6334(a)(8) | Amount needed to comply |
| Minimum exemption for wages and other income | 6334(a)(9), (d) | Per Publication 1494 for the year |
| Certain service-connected disability payments | 6334(a)(10) | Exempt |
| Certain public assistance, including SSI | 6334(a)(11) | Exempt |
| Residence if levy is $5,000 or less | 6334(a)(13)(A) | Exempt |
| Principal residence | 6334(a)(13)(B), (e) | Exempt unless a federal judge approves in writing |
| Business tangible property and non-rental business real estate of an individual | 6334(a)(13)(B), (e)(2) | Exempt unless an IRS official approves in writing after finding other assets insufficient, or jeopardy |
The dollar amounts for (a)(2) and (a)(3) adjust each year under IRC 6334(g). The 2026 figures above come from Rev. Proc. 2025-32. Under IRC 6334(b), the seizing officer must appraise and set aside the exempt amount, and if you object to the valuation at the time of seizure, three disinterested people make the valuation.
The valuation right most people never use
IRC 6334(b) contains a protection that rarely comes up but is worth knowing. When a Revenue Officer seizes property of the kinds listed in 6334(a), the officer must appraise the property and set aside to the owner the amount declared exempt. If you object at the time of seizure to the officer’s valuation, the IRS must summon three disinterested individuals to make the valuation. Treas. Reg. 301.6334-1(b) repeats the rule.
In practice, that means a Revenue Officer cannot simply declare that your tools are worth more than $5,990 and take them. If you disagree, say so at the time, on the record, and insist on the three-person valuation.
Florida exemptions still matter, just not against the IRS
None of this makes Florida’s exemptions useless. Most people who owe the IRS also owe other people: credit card companies, medical providers, a former landlord. Against those creditors, Florida’s protections still apply in full. When you are deciding which debts to pay first, that difference is part of the analysis. A dollar of exempt Florida wages is safe from the credit card company but not from the IRS, which is one more reason to put the federal tax problem on a resolution track early.
Where the two lists line up, and where they do not
Some protections overlap in practice even though they come from different sources:
- Your home. Florida protects it from forced sale by creditors. Federal law protects it from IRS levy unless a federal judge approves. Different mechanisms, but in both cases the home is hard to take. See IRS seizure of a principal residence.
- Unemployment and workers’ compensation. Protected under both systems.
And where the gaps are widest:
- Wages. Florida’s head-of-family exemption is far more generous than the federal exemption.
- Retirement accounts. Florida protects IRAs and qualified plans from creditors. Federal law does not list them in 6334(a), and the IRS can levy them, though IRS procedures treat retirement levies as requiring extra consideration.
- Life insurance cash value and annuities. Protected in Florida, reachable by the IRS.
- A vehicle. Florida protects $5,000 of equity in one vehicle. The IRS has no vehicle exemption as such; it falls under household goods or tools of the trade if it fits.
Business owners: the tools-of-the-trade number is small
For a Tampa contractor, landscaper or mobile mechanic, the $5,990 tools-of-the-trade exemption for 2026 does not go far. A work truck, a trailer and equipment can be worth many times that.
There is a second, procedural protection that matters more. Under IRC 6334(a)(13)(B)(ii) and 6334(e)(2), tangible personal property and non-rental real property used in the trade or business of an individual taxpayer are exempt from levy unless an IRS official personally approves in writing, after determining that the taxpayer’s other assets subject to collection are insufficient to pay the amount due plus expenses, or the IRS finds collection is in jeopardy. That requirement makes seizure of a sole proprietor’s working equipment a deliberate decision, not a routine one.
What this means in practice
The IRS rarely seizes household furniture or clothing. It is expensive and yields little. What the IRS does levy, constantly, is money: bank accounts, wages, receivables and retirement accounts. Florida exemptions that protect those assets from other creditors provide no protection from the IRS.
That is why the real defense against IRS collection is not an exemption claim. It is a resolution: an installment agreement, an offer in compromise, currently not collectible status, or full payment. Those stop levies. Florida statutes do not. GetIRSHelp.com has more on IRS levies and how they are released.
Florida wrote a generous list. Congress wrote a short one. When the IRS comes calling, you are living on the short list.