71.54 Computation of credit. (1) HOUSEHOLD INCOME. The amount of any claim filed in 2012 and thereafter and based on property taxes accrued or rent constituting property taxes accrued during the previous year is limited as follows: (am) If the household income was $8,060 or less in the year to which the claim relates, the claim is limited to 80 percent of the property taxes accrued or rent constituting property taxes accrued or both in that year on the claimant’s homestead. (bm) If the household income was more than $8,060 in the year to which the claim relates, the claim is limited to 80 percent of the amount by which the property taxes accrued or rent constituting property taxes accrued or both in that year on the claimant’s homestead exceeds 8.785 percent of the household income exceeding $8,060. (cm) No credit may be allowed if the household income of a claimant exceeds $24,680. (dm) Except as provided in subds. 5. and 7., [pars. (em) and (gm)] for claims filed in 2018 and thereafter and based on property taxes accrued or rent constituting property taxes accrued during the previous year, no credit may be allowed under this paragraph [subsection] unless the claimant or the claimant’s spouse is over the age of 61 at the close of the year to which the claim relates. NOTE: The correct cross-references are shown in brackets. Corrective legislation is pending.
(em) For claims filed in 2018 and thereafter and based on property taxes accrued or rent constituting property taxes accrued during the previous year, no credit may be allowed under this paragraph [subsection] unless the claimant is disabled. NOTE: The correct cross-reference is shown in brackets. Corrective legislation is pending.
(fm) With regard to a claimant who is disabled, the claimant shall provide with his or her return proof that his or her disability is in effect for the taxable year to which the claim relates. Proof of disability may be demonstrated by any of the following: 1. A statement from the Veteran’s Administration certifying that the claimant is receiving a disability benefit due to 100 percent disability. 2. A document, or copy of a document, from the Social Security Administration stating the date the disability began. 3. A statement from a physician, as defined in s. 448.01 (5), stating the beginning date of the disability and whether the disability is permanent or temporary. (gm) For claims filed in 2018 and thereafter and based on property taxes accrued or rent constituting property taxes accrued during the previous year, with regard to a claimant who is not disabled or who is under the age of 62 at the close of the year to which the claim relates, no credit may be allowed under this paragraph [subsection] if the claimant had no earned income in the taxable year to which the claim relates. NOTE: The correct cross-reference is shown in brackets. Corrective legislation is pending.
(2) PROPERTY TAXES ACCRUED LIMITATIONS. (a) Property taxes accrued or rent constituting property taxes accrued shall be reduced by one-twelfth for each month or portion of a month for which the claimant received relief from any county under s. 59.53 (21) equal to or in excess of $400, participated in Wisconsin works under s. 49.147 (4) or (5) or 49.148 (1m) or received assistance under s. 49.19, except assistance received: 1. Under s. 49.19 (10) (a). 2. As a relative, other than a parent, with whom any dependent child is living, if the assistance does not include aid to meet the needs of the claimant or the claimant’s spouse or children. (b) In any case in which property taxes accrued, or rent constituting property taxes accrued, or both, in respect of any one household exceeds $1,460, the amount thereof shall, for purposes of this subchapter, be deemed to have been $1,460. (c) 1. If the claimant lived in a homestead that was subject to taxation under ch. 70 for any part of the year to which the claim
INCOME AND FRANCHISE TAXES
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relates, the property taxes accrued or rent constituting property taxes accrued or both on that homestead shall be allowed for that part of the year. 2. In addition to property taxes accrued or rent constituting property taxes accrued under subd. 1., if the claimant moves from a homestead owned by the claimant to housing that is exempt from taxation under ch. 70, other than housing for which payments in lieu of taxes are made under s. 66.1201 (22) and other than a correctional or detention facility, a claim may be allowed based on property taxes accrued on that former homestead for the length of time, up to the first 12 months, that the claimant resides in the tax-exempt housing and owns the former homestead, if the claimant has attempted to sell the former homestead but has not rented it out or leased it out. (3) QUALIFIED CREDIT MINIMUM. If the amount of a qualified claimant’s claim is more than zero but less than $10 the amount of credit paid or credited shall be $10. (4) DEPARTMENT WILL COMPUTE CREDIT. The claimant is not required to record on the claim the amount claimed. The department of revenue shall compute the claim allowable to persons who do not record the amount, and the department of revenue shall notify the claimant of the amount of the allowable claim. History: 1987 a. 312; 1989 a. 31, 198, 336; 1995 a. 27, 201, 289; 1997 a. 35; 1999 a. 9; 1999 a. 150 s. 672; 2009 a. 28; 2011 a. 32; 2017 a. 59, 324; 2025 a. 118; s. 35.17 correction in (1) (intro.). Cross-reference: See also ss. Tax 14.04 and 14.05, Wis. adm. code.
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General provisions. (1) APPLICATION OF CREDIT The amount of any claim otherwise payable under this subchapter may be applied by the department of revenue against any amount certified to the department under s. 71.93 or 71.935 or may be credited under s. 71.80 (3) or (3m). (2) FEE CHARGE BY LESSOR NOT PERMITTED. No lessor may charge a fee for supplying a claimant with the information necessary for the claimant to comply with sub. (7). (3) FORMS TO BE PROVIDED BY DEPARTMENT. In administering this subchapter, the department of revenue shall make available suitable forms with instructions for claimants, including a form that may be included with, or as a part of, the individual income tax form. In preparing homestead credit forms, the department of revenue shall provide a space for identification of the county and city, village or town in which the claimant resides. AGAINST ANY LIABILITY.
Cross-reference: See also s. Tax 2.08, Wis. adm. code.
(4) INTEREST NOT ALLOWED. No interest may be allowed on any payment made to a claimant under this subchapter. (5) LEGISLATION MAY BE PROPOSED BY DEPARTMENT. At the end of each fiscal year, the department of revenue shall review the homestead tax credit program and may propose legislation to adjust the amounts of claims allowable under the program, taking into account findings that social security benefits and the cost of living, as reflected in the index computed by the U.S. bureau of labor statistics, have increased or decreased. (6) PENALTIES. Unless specifically provided in this subchapter, the penalties under subch. XIII apply for failure to comply with this subchapter unless the context requires otherwise. (6m) ADMINISTRATION. The income tax provisions in this chapter relating to assessments, refunds, appeals and collection apply to the credit under this subchapter. (7) RECORDS MAY BE REQUIRED BY DEPARTMENT TO DETERMINE CORRECT CREDIT. To ascertain the correctness of any claim under this subchapter or to determine the amount of the credit under this subchapter of any person, the department may examine, or cause to be examined by any agent or representative designated by the department, any books, papers, records or memoranda bearing on the homestead credit of the person, may require the production of the books, papers, records or memoranda, and re- INCOME AND FRANCHISE TAXES
quire the attendance, of any person having relevant knowledge, and may take testimony and require proof material for its information. Based on the information it discovers, the department shall determine the true amount of homestead credit during the year or years under investigation. (8) RENTAL NOT AT ARM’S LENGTH. In any case in which a homestead is rented by a person from another person under circumstances deemed by the department of revenue to be not at arm’s length, it may, with the aid of its property tax bureau, determine rent constituting property taxes accrued as at arm’s length, and, for purposes of this subchapter, such determination shall be final. (9) TABLE SHALL BE PUBLISHED. The secretary of revenue shall prepare a table under which claims under this subchapter shall be determined. The table shall be published in the department’s instructional booklets. (10) FARMERS. Notwithstanding the provision in s. 71.52 (6) that requires the addition of certain disqualified losses to income, such an addition may not be made by a claimant who is a farmer whose primary income is from farming and whose farming generates less than $250,000 in gross receipts from the operation of farm premises in the year to which the claim relates. For purposes of this subsection, a claimant’s primary income is from farming if the claimant’s gross income from farming for the year to which the claim relates is greater than 50 percent of the claimant’s total gross income from all sources for the year to which the claim relates. In this subsection, “gross income” has the meaning given in s. 71.03 (1). History: 1987 a. 312; 1989 a. 31, 294; 1991 a. 39, 232; 1993 a. 205; 1995 a. 27; 2001 a. 107; 2003 a. 33; 2017 a. 59; 2021 a. 1. Cross-reference: See also s. Tax 14.05, Wis. adm. code.
SUBCHAPTER IX FARMLAND PRESERVATION CREDIT