As students find their rhythm of the new school year, parents are advised to save all their receipts for school supplies, musical instruments, class fees, and tutoring services.
Depending on a family’s income, receipts can be used during tax season to claim either Minnesota’s K-12 Education Subtraction or Credit. Both programs help lower taxes and may provide a larger refund. They are open to all families with a student attending kindergarten through twelfth grade at a public, private, charter, or home school.
To qualify for the K-12 Education Credit, a family with one child must have an adjusted gross income less than $81,820 per year. That number goes up as the number of children expands.
There are no income limits for the K-12 Education Subtraction.
Filing either the subtraction or the credit can provide a boost to a family’s savings account. According to data received directly from Minnesota’s Department of Revenue, the mean tax credit filed in 2023 was $346. The mean tax subtraction was $1,451. Not too shabby!
Since most parents already buy their children school supplies, and many will purchase academic additives like instruments, parents should be aware of the tax breaks that can help their family.
The Minnesota Department of Revenue has published an explanatory video and an in-depth website page explaining how families can claim either the education subtraction or credit on their taxes.
These tax breaks are nothing to sneeze at, but their relatively small scope means that they do not enable parents with the financial freedom of school choice. Some states, like Wisconsin, have enacted major tax breaks for private school tuition that can significantly offset the cost of private school for families. Minnesota, as of today, chooses to only use tax policy to give families a small boost.
