This document is a guide to various tax credits available to Minnesota taxpayers for tax year 2014, including the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), Working Family Credit, Child Tax Credit, Child and Dependent Care Credit, American Opportunity Credit, Lifetime Learning Credit, K-12 Education Credit, and Minnesota Property Tax Refund. It provides information on eligibility requirements, maximum credit amounts, and required documentation for each credit. The guide also explains the difference between refundable and non-refundable tax credits and provides contact information for free tax preparation assistance.

1. You Earned It! You Claim It!
Your 2014 tax credits guide
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2. LEGEND
Explanation of symbols and labels used in this guide.
Earned income is required for this credit
Child or adult dependents is required for this credit.
Attending an educational institution is required (you or
your dependent).
Kinds of Tax Credits:
• Federal credit - To claim this credit, file a Federal tax return
•
Minnesota state credit - To claim this credit, file a Minnesota state
tax return
•
Minnesota state property refund - To claim this refund, file a
Minnesota property tax return with a M-1PR form
•
Non-refundable credit - Non-refundable tax credits only reduce your
tax liability (amount of taxes you owe). Any leftover credit amount is not
claimed.
•
Refundable credit - Refundable tax credits can reduce your tax
liability and any leftover amount is credited back to the taxpayer. Even if
you don’t owe taxes, you can claim refundable tax credits.
For more information on refundable and non-refundable credit, see page 12.

3. INTRODUCTION
What is in this guide?
This small but mighty pocket guide covers some of the most commonly
claimed tax credits and helps you see if you qualify for them or not.
For each tax credit, we listed information you’ll find useful, such as:
• Am I eligible for this credit?
• What is the maximum credit amount?
• What documents do I need to claim this credit?
Remember, when your tax preparer has all of your necessary tax information,
he or she can do a better job of helping you claim your maximum refund.
Keep in mind, this guide only covers general eligibility guidelines
for these tax credits. For complete details on each of the covered
tax credits, you should speak with a trained tax preparer or consult the
Internal Revenue Service and Minnesota Department of Revenue for more
information.
So what are you waiting for? Read on to Claim it!
Claim it! is a public awareness campaign that started in
2006 to help Minnesota families and individuals claim the
Earned Income Tax Credit and other important credits.
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What is Claim it?
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4. EARNED INCOME TAX CREDIT
•
Federal credit
•
Refundable credit
About this credit - The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) is a refundable federal tax credit for taxpayers that worked in 2013 and meet eligibility
rules.
What is the maximum refund? - For tax year 2013, the maximum EITC
refund is $6,044 for a family with three or more dependents.
Are you eligible? - Check the table to see if you meet income and family
size guidelines. Additional rules for the EITC are below.
# of
Dependents
Single/head of
household, income
less than:
Married filed
jointly, income
less than:
Maximum
credit
(up to):
0
$14,340
$ 19,680
$ 487
1
$37,870
$ 43,210
$3,250
2
$43,038
$ 48,378
$5,372
3 or more
$46,227
$ 51,567
$6,044
Additional eligibility rules for the EITC:
• You must have a social security number and been an United States citizen
or resident alien all last year
• You cannot be claimed by anyone else as a dependent
• If not claiming dependents, you must be between 25 and 64 years old

5. WORKING FAMILY CREDIT
•
Minnesota state credit
•
Refundable credit
About this credit - The Working Family Credit (WFC) is Minnesota’s version
of the federal Earned Income Tax Credit. You must have earned income and
meet other guidelines.
What is the maximum refund? - For tax year 2013, the maximum WFC
refund is $1,818 for a family with two or more dependents.
Are you eligible? - Check the table to see if you meet income and family
size guidelines.
# of
Dependents
Single/head of
household, income
less than:
Married filed
jointly, income
less than:
Maximum
credit
(up to):
0
$13,990
$16,990
$1,100
1
$36,880
$39,880
$1,762
2 or more
$41,877
$44,877
$1,818
What documents do you need? - Taxpayers claiming the EITC and WFC
need to provide documents stating earned income, such as a W-2.
Examples of claiming the EITC and WFC:
Michael is a single dad who made $42,000 in 2012 and claims two children
on his tax return. He qualifies for the EITC because he meets the income and
other guidelines. However, Michael’s income is too high to receive
the WFC.

6. CHILD TAX CREDIT (CTC)
•
Federal credit
•
Non-refundable (CTC) and refundable credit (ACTC)
About this credit - Work and have children age 16 or younger?
You may be eligible to claim up to $1,000 for each child from the
Child Tax Credit (CTC).
The CTC is a non-refundable credit which means it can only reduce
your tax liability (how much taxes you owe). However, any unused
part of the credit could be claimed with the Additional Child Tax
Credit.
What is the maximum refund? - For tax year 2013, the
maximum CTC refund is $1,000 for each child dependent claimed.
Are you eligible? - To be eligible for the CTC, you must:
•
•
•
Have a taxable earned income of at least $11,300
Not have an income higher than $110,000, if married filed jointly
($75,000 for single and head of household filers)
Be able to claim a dependent child age 16 or younger
What documents do you need? - Taxpayers claiming the CTC
need to provide documents stating earned income, such as a W-2.
ADDITIONAL CHILD TAX CREDIT
If your CTC refund amount is greater than the
amount of income tax you owe, you may be able to
claim the Additional Child Tax Credit (ACTC).

7. CHILD & DEPENDENT CARE
•
CREDIT
•
•
Federal and Minnesota state credit
Refundable credit
About this credit - The Child and Dependent Tax Credit (CDTC) is
both a federal and state tax credit that helps families pay for child
or adult care.
If eligible, you can claim up to 35% of $3,000 in dependent care
expenses for one eligible dependent and up to 35% of $6,000 for
two or more eligible dependents per year. Please note that the
person providing care for your dependent cannot be a relative.
What is the maximum refund? - For tax year 2013, the
maximum CDTC refund is $1,050 if you have expenses for one
dependent and $2,100 if you have expenses for two or more
dependents.
Are you eligible? - To be eligible for the CDTC, you must have:
• earned income in 2013
• paid someone to care for your child dependent under age 13 or
• to care for an adult who is physically or mentally unable to care
•
for himself or herself and lived with you for more than half the
year
paid for the care in order to work or to look for work
What documents do you need? - You must have your care
provider’s taxpayer ID number or social security number as well as
documentation of your paid expenses.

8. AMERICAN OPPORTUNITY
•
CREDIT
•
•
Federal credit
Refundable credit (partially)
About this credit - Do you or does someone on your tax return attend a postsecondary institution (education beyond high school such as college)?
For each eligible student on your tax return, you may be able to claim the
American Opportunity Tax Credit (AOTC), worth up to $2,500 of eligible
expenses you paid during 2013. Up to 40% of the AOTC (up to $1,000) is
refundable.
What is the maximum refund? - For tax year 2013, the maximum AOTC refund
is $2,500 for each eligible student with eligible post-secondary expenses.
Eligible expenses include tuition and fees as well as books and equipment
required for enrollment or attendence.
Are you eligible? - You, your spouse, or your dependent must be an eligible
student to claim the AOTC. An eligible student is a student who:
• is pursuing a degree or other recognized education credential
• is enrolled at least half time for at least one academic period in 2013
• has not completed the first four years of post-secondary education as of
the beginning of the taxable year
• has not been convicted of a felony drug offense
What documents do you need? - To claim tuition expenses
for this credit, you should have a Form 1098-T from your
educational institution. For other qualified expenses, you
must have itemized receipts.

9. LIFETIME LEARNING CREDIT
•
Federal credit
•
Non-refundable credit
About this credit - If you, your spouse, or your dependent attends a postsecondary institution but cannot claim the AOTC, you may be able to claim the
Lifetime Learning Tax Credit (LLTC) instead.
The LLTC is a non-refundable credit that allows you to claim up to $2,000 for
qualified tuition and related expenses per tax return per year. The LLTC amount
is 20% of education expenses up to a maximum credit of $2,000.
What is the maximum refund? - For tax year 2013, the maximum AOTC refund
is $2,000 for each eligible student with eligible post-secondary expenses.
Are you eligible? - You, your spouse, or your dependent must be an eligible
student to claim the AOTC. An eligible student is a student who:
• is pursuing a degree or other recognized education credential
• is enrolled at least half time for at least one academic period in 2013
• has not completed the first four years of post-secondary education as of
the beginning of the taxable year
What documents do you need? - To claim tuition expenses for this credit, you
should have a Form 1098-T from your educational institution.
Examples of claiming

10. K-12 EDUCATIONAL CREDIT
•
State credit
•
Refundable credit
About this credit - If you paid educational expenses to help your child’s K-12
education, you may be able to claim the Minnesota K-12 Educational Credit.
The credit amount is 75% of qualifying expenses such as:
• paper, pens, pencils, notebooks and rulers
• purchase or rental of musical instruments
• expenses paid for school-time field trips
• academic summer camps
• computer hardware, software purchases (only for educational purposes;
only up to $200 in expenses is used to calculate the credit)
What is the maximum refund? - For tax year 2013, the maximum K-12
Education Credit refund is worth up to a maximum of $1,000 per child.
Are you eligible? - To claim the credit, you must have dependents in grade K
through 12. You also must meet income limits, which is $37,500 for families
with 1 to 2 children. The income limit increases by $2,000 with each
additional child.
What documents do you need? - To claim this credit, you must have itemized
receipts of your educational expenses on record.
Examples of claiming
For example, if you have $300 of qualified educational
expenses, your credit amount would be $225 as long
as you are eligible for the credit.

11. MINNESOTA PROPERTY TAX REFUND
•
State property tax refund
•
Refundable credit
About this credit - Both renters and homeowners in Minnesota
may be eligible for a Property Tax Refund. This refund is based on
your income and the amount of property taxes you paid in 2013
through your rent or mortgage.
What is the maximum refund? - For tax year 2013:
• The maximum refund for renters is $2,530 for tax year 2013.
• The maximum refund for homeowners is $2,530 for tax year
2013.
Are you eligible? - To claim the property tax refund, you must
have property taxes through your rent or mortage and meet
income guidelines. Household income for 2012 must be less than
$103,730.
For homeowners, the property must be your main place of
residence or homestead.
What documents do you need?
• Renters need a Certificate of Rent Paid (CRP) provided by
•
their landlord.
Homeowners need a 2014 Property Taxes Statement from
their county.

12. NON-REFUNDABLE VS REFUNDABLE
CREDIT
Tax credits can either be non-refundable or refundable.
Non-refundable tax credits only reduce your tax liability,
or the amount of taxes you owe. If a tax credit reduces
your tax liability to zero, you do not receive any of the
leftover credit.
Example:
José made $18,000 and owes $800 in taxes. He can claim a non-refundable
tax credit worth $1,000. His taxes are reduced to zero but he cannot claim the
remaining $200.
Refundable tax credits can help reduce your tax liability
AND any leftover credit can be refunded back to you.
Even if you don’t owe income taxes, you can receive the
full amount of refundable tax credits.
Example:
Just like in the above example, José made $18,000 and owes $800 in taxes.
However, this time he can claim a refundable tax credit worth $1,000. His
taxes are reduced to zero AND he can also claim the remaining $200 from the
credit.

13. GET TAX HELP FOR FREE
Save an average of $200 with free tax help
We know tax preparation can be expensive, but
it doesn’t have to be. Minnesota has more than
250 free tax preparation locations where trained
volunteers can help you save your money.
Every volunteer tax preparer is trained and tested to
ensure they meet IRS standards and certifications.
Over 250 free tax sites in MN
About free tax preparation sites:
• More than 120,000 Minnesotans use free tax prep sites each year.
• IRS-certified volunteers are trained to help you claim your maximum
refund.
• E-file is available at every site. When you e-file and direct deposit, you’ll
get your refund quicker.
Income guidelines:
Generally, income limits at free tax prep sites are $30,000 for individuals,
$50,000 for families. Some sites do not have income guidelines.
To find the free tax preparation site closest to you:
• Dial 211 or 1-800-543-7709 to talk to a live operator, open 24/7.
• Visit www.youclaimit.org

14. TAX FORMS FOR EACH TAX CREDIT
Preparing your taxes on paper? Find the correct form to use below:
Earned Income Tax Credit (Federal): Use directions on Form EIC
Minnesota Working Family Credit (Minnesota): Use Minnesota
forms M-1 and Schedule M-1WFC
Child Tax Credit (Federal and Minnesota): Use the Child Tax Credit
worksheet and Form 8812
Child and Dependent Care Credit (Federal): Use Form 2441 or
Schedule 2
Child and Dependent Care Credit (Minnesota): Use Form M-1CD
American Opportunity Tax Credit or Lifetime Learning Tax Credit
(Federal): Use Form 8863
Minnesota K-12 Education Credit (Minnesota): Use Form M-1ED
Minnesota K-12 Education Subtraction (Minnesota): Use the
worksheet on the back of Form M-1
Property Tax Refund (Minnesota Property Tax) Use Form M-1PR

15. CONTACT CLAIM IT!
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Mailing Address
Attn: Claim It!
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