State Representative
Rich Stanek

(ST. PAUL) The 2001 Legislature passed landmark property tax reform, the most significant tax change in Minnesota in almost a generation. The tax bill also rebated the entire $791 million budget surplus. With the state checks set to go in the mail alongside rebate checks from the federal government, Rep. Rich Stanek (R-Maple Grove) said it is going to be a good summer for Minnesota taxpayers.

"Once all of this year's checks are distributed, more than $3.6 billion of state tax surpluses will have been rebated since 1997," he said. "That's money that has gone back into family budgets and the state economy rather than get swallowed up in state government."

The first two Minnesota rebates ($500 million in 1997 and $495 million in 1998) were property tax rebates that appeared as a credit on income tax forms. After Republicans were elected to a majority in the House of Representatives in 1999, rebates checks were sent in the mail, and amounts were based on the sales tax so that Minnesotans would not have to declare the rebate as taxable income for federal tax purposes. The amounts were $1.3 billion in 1999, $638 million in 2000 and $791 million this year.

The rebate will be paid automatically to individuals who had income tax liability in 1999, or who had Social Security or public pension income in 1999. The state rebates range from $108 to $1,484 for individuals to $213 to $2,967 for couples. At the same time, federal rebate checks begin arriving in taxpayers' mailboxes this week, going to individuals and couples who paid federal income taxes in 2000. The rebates range from a maximum of $300 for single taxpayers to $600 for married taxpayers who file jointly.

For more information on the 2001 state rebate, visit the MN Dept. of Revenue website at www.taxes.state.mn.us, or phone them at 651-296-4444. For information on the 2001 federal tax rebate, visit the Internal Revenue Service website at www.irs.gov/ind_info/apinfo, or phone them at 1-800-829-1040.

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