Most people are wrong regarding how a lanai is taxed when enclosed. If you look on the Sumter county website or talk with custom windows when they come out to give you a bid, there are 5 levels of enclosing your lanai according to the county, and you only pay taxes on levels 4 or 5. I raised my floor, put the same tile down as in my house, and I'm not taxed. To be taxed, you have to remove your sliders for 1 and put in a cooling system. I also didn't put in a split system/dehumidifier in it and use it everyday. We did put 97% light filtering shades in which helped dramatically on the heat and we have the sliders that open completely so we have a 8' opening on 1 end and a 16' opening on the other to let the main house heat/cool the lanai. Our lanai fans run from morning to night to keep the room pleasant. I do know a couple of houses that sold that the realtor added the enclosed lanai sq footage to the basis for the house price. We enclosed the lanai because our main house was 2100 sq ft which is very small compared to what we are used to, the extra 350 sq ft makes the house more livable.
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