Renter's Credit
The Renter's Credit is Minnesota's refundable tax credit for renters — a recognition that renters pay property tax indirectly through their rent.
The way it is claimed changed recently, and a great deal of published guidance is now wrong.
What changed#
For 2023 and earlier, renters filed a separate Renter's Property Tax Refund return, Form M1PR, with an August 15 deadline.
Starting with 2024 taxes, that ended. Renters now claim the credit on their Minnesota Individual Income Tax return, Form M1, using Schedule M1RENT.
The change means the deadline moved too — from August 15 to the ordinary income tax filing date in April.
Homeowners still use Form M1PR for the homestead credit refund. It is only the renter side that moved.
Anything published before 2025 describing an M1PR filing for renters is describing a process that no longer exists.
What it is worth#
Up to $2,720, depending on household income and rent paid.
It is refundable, which is the crucial feature: it is payable even to people who owe no income tax at all. For a low-income household it is often the largest single payment they receive from the state.
You must file to get it#
The most consequential practical point.
Someone with income low enough that they are not required to file a return still has to file one to claim the credit. There is no automatic payment and no other mechanism.
That requirement almost certainly means the credit goes unclaimed by exactly the households it was designed for — people whose income is low enough that filing seems unnecessary.
What you need#
A Certificate of Rent Paid from the landlord, due by January 31.
If the landlord does not provide one by February 1, request a Rent Paid Affidavit from the Department of Revenue and file with that instead, including proof of rent paid.
A tenant who moved during the year needs a CRP from every property.
If you missed it#
Once an original return has processed, an amended return with the relevant schedules claims the credit.
Given the amounts, that is worth doing rather than writing off. Free tax preparation assistance is available in Minnesota for qualifying taxpayers, and this is precisely the kind of thing those programmes exist to catch.
Who is eligible#
Broadly, a Minnesota renter who paid rent on a property where property tax was payable, whose household income falls below the threshold, and who cannot be claimed as a dependent on someone else's return.
Household income for this purpose is adjusted gross income with specified subtractions, so it is not simply the figure on a pay stub. Part-year residents count only income received while a Minnesota resident.
Two situations trip people up. A mobile home renter receives a CRP and files for the Renter's Credit; someone who owns a mobile home and pays lot rent files for the Homestead Credit Refund instead, and lot rent alone does not qualify for the Renter's Credit.
And where spouses lived apart for the year, the renting spouse claims the credit on their own CRP and income while the spouse in the home claims the homestead refund — an unusual split that needs an explanation attached to the return.