(The Center Square) – Minnesota senior citizens and families with young children would pay less in taxes under a bill the House passed Wednesday.
HF3669, which passed in a 69-62 vote, would result in $1.65 billion in tax reductions and credits in the 2022-23 biennium and $1.6 billion in the next biennium, if signed into law.
House Taxes Committee Chair Rep. Paul Marquart, DFL-Dilworth, sponsored the bill. He said it will provide the largest property tax cut in more than 20 years for homeowners and renters.
The bill includes $3,000 child care tax credits per child under age 5 (up to $9,000 per year total) and rebates of $325 per child under age 17, for families with incomes no greater than $140,000.
It also increases student loan tax credits to $1,400 per person, up from $500. About 755,600 Minnesotans have a combined total of $27.1 billion in student loan debt, according to the Student Borrower Protection Center.
In addition, married joint filers with no more than $75,000 in income would be exempt from Social Security taxes. Single filers would be exempt if they make no more than $59,000.
“This provision would get out to about a quarter of a million seniors at an average reduction of $470,” Marquart said. “But we also help seniors with maintaining their independence, and making sure that they have quality health care into the future. We do that with some significant property tax cuts.”
The state would draw $372.6 million from its general fund in fiscal year 2023 to expand renter’s credits and make them a refundable credit payable on the same schedule as other income tax refunds, the House article said.
The bill would remove the sunset date on tax exemptions for energy storage systems, exempt sales tax for construction materials for local governments and nonprofits and provide grants to counties for pandemic business aid, community career workforce academies, and pandemic rental assistance. The state would appropriate $20 million in fiscal year 2023 to rebates for municipal utilities that raised rates because of the 2021 polar vortex.
Sen. Carla Nelson, R-Rochester, proposed SF3692, which exempts Social Security benefits from taxation and reduces from 5.35% to 2.80% the first $41,050 for married couples filing jointly, the first $28,080 for married couples filing separately, and the first $34,570 for individual filers.
Legislators will establish a conference committee including members of both chambers to negotiate regarding the bills’ differences.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison in a letter Wednesday joined seven other attorneys general urging President Joe Biden to cancel federal student debt for all borrowers.
