ST. CLOUD -- The warm weather will soon become a fall breeze. As the seasons are changing parents will be getting their kids ready to go back to school.

School supplies, clothes and electronics, you will be busy next month gearing up for your child to return to school. But did you know that you can be refunded for some of those school expenses? Minnesota Department of Revenue Commissioner Cynthia Bauerly says there's two tax benefits families can use to help with school costs.

"One is a credit and one is a subtraction and they are both for K-12 education supplies."

Bauerly says the tax credit is based on income, depending on how many children you have in school and your household income, you can get tax refunds for some of those supplies. For the subtraction, there's no income limits and parents can also claim tuition paid for private schools or college courses to satisfy high school graduation requirements.

You will need to save your receipts for anything you plan to claim for either a credit or subtraction. Bauerly says there are many supplies that can be claimed.

"[It can be] for everything from notebooks to pencils, to musical instrument rentals, for music lessons, or for educational software or hardware."

Textbooks can also be claimed, along with after-school tutoring sessions, and educational summer camps.

If you're looking at other refund options; homeowners and renters that qualify should file their 2015 property tax refund before it expires on August 15, if you haven't done so already.

Bauerly says for property tax returns, they can be filed for two years. If you're unsure on if you qualify, visit the Minnesota Department of Revenue website and type in "Property Tax Refund" into the search box to view the requirements.

To make the filing process easier Bauerly says you should sign up for direct deposit to save on the time it take you to get your refund.

Bauerly says farmers also have a new tax credit they can benefit from this year.

"There's a lot of school districts in this area that do have existing school bond levies...and so farmers who are paying on those school bond levies we know that agricultural properties have gone way up, commodity prices are very low. So the legislature this year offered this assistance to farmers. The governor proposed this credit, to ensure that farmers have a little bit easier time paying their property taxes. This credit will start showing up this fall when people receive their truth in taxation notices."

For more information on all tax credits you can go to the Minnesota Department of Revenue website. 

 

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