Manufactured Home Taxes by State: Sales Tax, Property Tax, and Title Status
Use this guide to separate the tax due when you buy a manufactured home from the tax due while you hold it. The comparison covers Texas, Florida, California and Iowa. It also shows why the same home can face a different annual charge in a park and on land you own.
This is general information, not tax, legal or financing advice. Tax, title, assessment and local-rate rules vary by state and locality.
Start with the home's classification
"Used" does not answer every tax question. A state can look at whether the home is new or used, whether a prior manufactured-home tax was paid, whether it is personal property or real property, and whether its owner also owns the land. A move from a park to owned land is therefore a records-and-classification question, not an automatic tax result.
That distinction is also why title work matters before a buyer budgets a loan. Converting a Mobile Home Title from Personal Property to Real Property explains the separate title process, while Chattel Loan vs. Real-Property Mortgage explains why the classification can matter to financing.
Purchase and annual tax: four state examples
Example only -- not a tax quote. The table uses a $100,000 purchase price unless a cell states a different tax-base assumption. It uses a 1,000-square-foot Iowa park home that is 10 or more years after manufacture, a 60-foot Florida home in a Chapter 723 park, and $100,000 assessed or taxable value where stated. State-level rules are current as checked October 20, 2026. County, city, special-district and voter-approved charges can change the bill, so use the property's address for a local lookup.
| State | Purchase example | Annual example | What changes on owned land? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Texas | A first Texas sale of a new home is taxed at 5% of 65% of invoice price: $100,000 x 3.25% = $3,250. This new-home rule is not a used-home calculation. | No statewide dollar figure: $100,000 taxable value x the address-specific local rate. Local taxing units set and collect the rate. | Owning land alone does not convert the home. A separately listed home is personal property unless the owner uses the applicable real-property election and county filing. |
| Florida | A used home treated as tangible personal property is subject to 6% state tax plus county surtax: $100,000 x 6% = $6,000 state tax. With a 1% surtax, the first $5,000 produces another $50. The purchaser's residence address on the title or registration determines the surtax county. A new home has a 3% state rate plus surtax. | A 60-foot Chapter 723 park home: $45 annual base license tax. The $1 relocation-trust-fund surcharge can be suspended based on the fund balance, so confirm whether it applies; this example does not add it. | When the owner owns both land and home and permanently affixes the home, local real-property tax replaces the annual MH license tax. |
| California | For a qualifying new-home sale for installation as the purchaser's residence and subject to property tax, 75% of the sales price to the retailer is the taxable measure. If that price is $100,000, the measure is $75,000. It is not a tax rate. Do not calculate final sales tax without the location rate. | $100,000 assessed value x California's 1% general property-tax rate = $1,000, before voter-approved debt and local charges. This is not the final county bill. | The records control. California's property-tax and title facts need review; moving alone does not create one universal result. |
| Iowa | A new home: $100,000 x 20% taxable base x 5% use tax = $1,000. A used home is $0 additional Iowa manufactured-home purchase/use tax only when the tax was previously imposed and paid. | 1,000 sq. ft. x 20 cents per square foot = $200; at 10 or more years after manufacture, the 80% amount is $160. | This formula is for a home in a manufactured-home community or mobile-home park. Get local real-property information before estimating an owned-land bill. |
Is a used home taxed the same as a new home?
No. Florida makes the contrast explicit: a new mobile home has a 3% state sales-tax rate, while a used home classified as tangible personal property has a 6% state rate. Both can have county discretionary surtax. Florida's 2026 county table lists rates from 0% to 2%; for tangible personal property, surtax applies only to the first $5,000 of each item, and the purchaser's residence address on the title or registration determines the county.
Texas's 3.25% effective rule is instead for the first Texas sale of a new manufactured home. Do not reuse it for a used home. Iowa's used-home result likewise turns on whether its manufactured-home tax was previously imposed and paid, not on the word "used" by itself. In California, used-home sales can be exempt when the home is subject to local property tax at the sale, subject to the stated rules.
Does a park-to-land move change the annual tax?
It can, but confirm the state's filing and assessment record before the move. Florida gives the clearest statewide switch. A home on land the owner does not own pays the annual MH license tax in lieu of ad valorem tax. If the owner owns both the land and permanently affixed home, it is treated as real property and receives a local property-tax bill instead.
Texas does not make land ownership alone the switch. Check the election and county filing before treating the home as real property. California depends on its governing property-tax and title facts. Iowa's 20-cent formula is specifically for homes in communities or parks; it does not supply an owned-land annual amount. Before moving, use the title and tax check to confirm the title, liens and unpaid taxes, then ask the state agency and county assessor what record changes are required.
Who collects the tax, and when is it due?
- Texas: The manufacturer collects and remits tax on the first Texas sale of a new home. For a home bought outside Texas and brought in within one year, the purchaser can owe use tax by the last day of the next month. Local taxing units collect annual property tax. For the 2026 tax year, bills are generally sent on or after October 1. Because January 31, 2027 is a Sunday, payment is timely on February 1 and an ordinary bill becomes delinquent on February 2, 2027.
- Florida: Confirm the dealer or retailer's purchase-tax collection for the transaction. The county tax collector handles the annual park-home license or MH decal. A local real-property tax bill applies after qualifying owned-land affixation; it is due November 1 and delinquent April 1 of the following year, subject to statutory exceptions.
- California: Ask the retailer about sales/use-tax treatment at purchase. Annually, the county assessor and tax collector handle locally assessed homes; older homes can instead use the HCD vehicle-license/in-lieu-fee system. The Board of Equalization's manufactured-home FAQ says homes first sold new on or after July 1, 1980 are generally on the local property-tax roll, while earlier homes generally pay that annual in-lieu fee unless voluntarily converted.
- Iowa: In a dealer sale, the retailer collects qualifying use tax and submits the title application; Iowa will not issue title until tax is paid. The county treasurer collects the annual Chapter 435 park/community tax. It is payable from July 1 and may be paid in installments before September 1 and before March 1.
Budget the address, not just the home
Before closing or moving, get these items in writing:
- The address-specific sales/use-tax and property-tax estimate, including county surtax or local rates.
- The current title, registration or real-property record, plus the home and land ownership records.
- A tax-clearance or unpaid-tax check, and any lien release needed for transfer.
- The purchaser residence address used on the Florida title or registration, plus the park lease and the park's length or age information needed for the annual charge.
- Confirmation from the state title agency and county assessor of what filing or assessment change the move will require.
The $3,250 Texas, $6,000 Florida, $75,000 California tax-base and $1,000 Iowa purchase examples are useful planning markers, not closing figures. The local address, title or registration facts, title history and assessment record decide the final result.
This is general information, not tax, legal or financing advice. Rules and local rates vary by state, locality and the facts of the home.