Minnesota tax-credit push
On Tax Day, Gov. Tim Walz promoted a plan to expand a child-care tax credit that he said would help more than 100,000 households as part of the 2026 budget pitch (minneapolimedia.town.news). The announcement framed the tax-credit expansion as a state effort to reduce family costs amid broader child-care conversations (minneapolimedia.town.news).
Gov. Tim Walz used a Tax Day stop in Rochester on April 15 to press lawmakers to expand Minnesota’s child-care tax credit in his 2026 supplemental budget. (mn.gov) (minneapolimedia.town.news) Walz’s March 17 budget says the change would benefit 104,800 families with young and school-age children. The proposal would raise the maximum allowable expenses by $3,000 for one child and $6,000 for two or more children under age 5. (mn.gov) Minnesota already has a refundable Child and Dependent Care Credit, which means filers can get money back even if they owe no income tax. Under current Department of Revenue rules, taxpayers may claim up to $3,000 in qualifying expenses for one child or $6,000 for two or more children. (revenue.state.mn.us) The governor’s latest pitch comes as Democrats at the Capitol are trying to widen that credit beyond its current reach. Minnesota Revenue Commissioner Paul Marquart told a Senate committee this week that Walz’s plan would expand eligibility to families earning up to $124,000 with two children and raise the credit to as much as $2,100 per child. (cbsnews.com) The push lands in the final stretch of a legislative session that ends May 18. Walz is selling the credit as part of a broader affordability package that also includes a small statewide sales-tax cut, housing aid, and spending reductions meant to keep the budget balanced. (cbsnews.com) (mn.gov) The child-care credit fight has been building for more than a year. A House committee advanced HF1384 in March 2025 after sponsors said the bill was aimed at the youngest children, whose care is usually the most expensive. (house.mn.gov) That 2025 bill proposed a much broader overhaul than the current tax form allows, including a higher credit rate and larger expense caps tied to children under age 5. Supporters told lawmakers middle-class families had received little help with child-care costs under the existing structure. (house.mn.gov) Republicans are pushing a different tax-cut message this spring, centered on large one-time property-tax refunds. CBS Minnesota reported April 14 that with the Legislature closely divided and deadlines approaching, neither side’s full package may survive intact. (cbsnews.com) For now, Walz is taking the case outside St. Paul as tax filing season closes. His Rochester stop followed a Duluth visit on April 9, where his office also highlighted child-care affordability as a budget priority. (minneapolimedia.town.news) (mn.gov)
