ESA & Scholarships/Minnesota
State tax credit
Minnesota
K-12 Education Credit and Subtraction
Checked 18 September 2026
How it works
Minnesota runs no ESA. It offers a refundable credit and a broader subtraction, both claimed against documented K-12 spending on your state return.
- Programme
- K-12 Education Credit and Subtraction
- Administered by
- Minnesota Department of Revenue
- Credit amount
- Credit: refundable, income-limited. Subtraction: $1,625 per child in K-6, $2,500 per child in 7-12, with no income limit.
- For homeschoolers
- Homeschoolers can use it
Who qualifies
Families with a child in K-12 at a public, private or qualified home school. The credit’s current maximum adjusted gross income is $81,820 for one or two qualifying children, $84,820 for three, and $87,820 plus $3,000 for each additional child; it cannot be claimed if married filing separately. The subtraction has no income limit at all, so a family over the credit ceiling still claims something. The same expense cannot be used for both.
How to claim it
- Confirm you qualify for this year — see "Who qualifies" above.
- Check this year's window. Claimed on your annual state tax return — there is no advance application and no window to miss. Dates move every year, so confirm on the official page before you plan around them.
- Buy what you need and keep every receipt. The Department’s home-school guidance counts textbooks and instructional materials for subjects taught in public schools, as long as they are not primarily religious. Educational software and computer hardware are capped at $200 for the credit and $200 for the subtraction. Keep itemised receipts; you claim against documented spending at tax time.
- Claim it the way the programme directs — on your state return, or through its application where it has one. A credit repays documented spending; it does not pay a vendor for you, so your paperwork is the whole thing.
Official programme page: revenue.state.mn.us/k-12-education-subtraction-and-credit. Amounts, deadlines and eligibility are set by the state and change every year — always confirm there before you plan around them.
Sources
Checked 18 September 2026 against these sources:
Historical Conquest in Minnesota
Using it with Historical Conquest
The card game, the Monthly Adventure Boxes, the textbooks and the digital game are history curriculum and instructional materials — the kind of purchase this programme lists as an allowed expense. Whether a particular item is approved is the programme’s decision, so check its expense list before you order.
Not sure whether something qualifies, or need an itemised receipt or product details for a review? Ask us.
ESA Overview
What these programmes are, who they are for, and every state we cover.
Homeschool funding by state
Which states’ programmes a homeschooling family can use, and which they cannot.
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