Skraba Encourages Families to Save Back-to-School Receipts for Tax Benefits

St. Paul, MN— The cost of purchasing back-to-school supplies can quickly add up for fam­ilies and Rep. Roger Skraba, R-Ely, is urging people to save receipts and take advantage of tax benefits that can provide some relief.

Minnesota has both a K-12 education credit and a K-12 education subtraction for school-related expenses. Both programs re­duce the taxes parents pay and could provide a larger refund when filing state income taxes. Qualifications apply and expenses must be for children attending kindergarten through 12th grade at a public, private, or homeschool.

“It’s hard to believe that the school year is right around the corner, but with Labor Day quickly approaching, many families will soon begin the process of getting their kids ready to head back to school,” said Rep. Skraba. “Pre­paring for the school year can be expensive and I encourage families to keep their sales receipts and review Minnesota’s tax benefits that can help save families real money on these expenses come tax time next spring.”

School supplies that qualify for the credit or subtraction include writing utensils, text­ books, musical instrument rentals, tutoring, and computer hardware/educational software. Parents are encouraged to check the Depart­ment of Revenue website (http://www.reve­nue.state.mn.us) to determine which expenses qualify.

While the education subtraction is not sub­ject to income limits, the credit is limited to households with incomes less than $76,000 for families with 1 or 2 children, $79,000 for families with 3 children, and for families with 3 or more the household income must be less than $79,000 plus $3,000 for each additional child.

The Department of Revenue reported that last year, more than 17,000 families received the K-12 Education Credit for an average cred­it of $280. Additionally, over 134,000 families received the K-12 Education Subtraction for an average subtraction of $1,266.

In addition to the information on the Depart­ment of Revenue’s website, Rep. Skraba wel­comes constituents to contact his legislative office if they have additional questions.