Back to school tax saving available for Minnesota families
DULUTH, Min. – Parents and caregivers in Minnesota can claim K-12 school supplies tax benefits at tax time next year.
They’ll need to save back-to-school shopping receipts for purchases made this year.
Two tax benefits can help Minnesota families.
The refundable K-12 Education Credit (income limits apply) and the K-12 Education Subtraction (no income limits).
Revenue Commissioner Paul Marquart said, “We wanted to remind parents to save those back-to-school shopping receipts so that they can claim the K-12 Education Subtraction or the K-12 Education Credit and potentially get a larger refund when filing their income taxes next year.”
To qualify, the purchases must be for educational services or required materials.
The child must be attending kindergarten through 12th grade at a public, private, or qualified home school and meet other qualifications.
Most expenses for educational instruction or materials qualify, including:
- Paper
- Pens and notebooks
- Textbooks
- Rental or purchases of educational equipment such as musical instruments
- Computer hardware (hotspots, modems, and routers) and educational software (up to $200 for the subtraction and $200 for the credit) *
- After-school tutoring and educational summer camps taught by a qualified instructor
Household Income for the K-12 Education Credit
| Number of qualifying children in K-12 | Household income must be less than |
| 1 or 2 | $79,760 |
| 3 | $82,7600 |
| More than 3 | $85,760 plus $3,000 for each additional child |
K-12 Education Subtraction
There are no income limits to qualify for the education subtraction. Most parents qualify. Parents can claim the K-12 Subtraction for tuition paid to private schools or college courses used to satisfy high school graduation requirements.
Last year, more than 44,000 families received the K-12 Education Credit for an average credit of $379. Over 114,000 families received the K-12 Education Subtraction for an average subtraction of $1,438.
