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Purple Heart Licence Plate

A special plate for Purple Heart recipients and their unremarried surviving spouses. The licence tax is waived only if you also qualify for a disabled veteran plate.

Verified August 15, 2026

What this benefit is

A special licence plate recognising the Purple Heart, available to recipients and to their unremarried surviving spouses.

Whether it costs anything depends entirely on one condition, and most sources get this wrong.

What it's worth: A special plate; the licence tax is waived only in one case

  • The §320.08 licence tax is waived ONLY if you also qualify for a disabled veteran plate under §320.084.
  • Everyone else pays the ordinary licence tax and the required fees, so we do not publish a saving figure.
  • A surviving spouse pays the required fees on application.

Who is entitled to it

  • A Purple Heart recipient with a vehicle registered in Florida.
  • Or their surviving spouse, who must be unremarried and who pays the required fees.

Exceptions

A surviving spouse must be unremarried. Remarriage ends eligibility for this plate. Fla. Stat. §320.089

Not sure whether that describes you?

Answer a few questions about this benefit specifically — we only ask what this one actually depends on, and we stop as soon as we know.

The thing most people get wrong

It is not automatically free

§320.089 waives the §320.08 licence tax only where the applicant ALSO qualifies for a disabled veteran plate under §320.084. If you hold the Purple Heart but not a 100% rating for compensation, you pay the ordinary licence tax. Sites that advertise a "free Purple Heart plate" are overstating it.

How to claim it

  1. 1Take proof of the Purple Heart award to your county tax collector.
  2. 2If you also hold a 100% rating for compensation, ask for the §320.084 waiver of the licence tax at the same time.
File with
Your county tax collector or a DHSMV office
Documents you will need
dd214 showing purple heart
Renew annually

Common mistakes that cost people this benefit

  • Expecting no fee. Check whether you also meet the §320.084 test — that is what decides it.
  • For a surviving spouse: remarrying. It ends eligibility.
CorrectionA Purple Heart plate is not automatically free, whatever you may have read. §320.089 waives the §320.08 licence tax only where the applicant ALSO qualifies for a disabled veteran plate under §320.084. Otherwise the ordinary tax and fees apply.

Questions people ask

I have the Purple Heart and a 100% rating. Do I pay?
On the plain text, no — meeting the §320.084 disabled veteran plate test is exactly the condition that waives the licence tax.

Sources

Why only one source type: The statute governs eligibility and fees. A DHSMV operating page has not been captured and hashed.

This finder provides an informational match, not a government eligibility determination. The responsible agency decides your application.