Wisconsin Homestead Credit

The Wisconsin Homestead Credit is one of the most overlooked refunds in the state, and it is not just for homeowners. It is a renters-and-homeowners credit: renters claim it using a rent certificate, because the credit counts the rent you paid, not only property taxes. If you rent and have a low income, this may be money waiting for you.

The income gate for the 2025 credit is a household income under $24,680 for the year. You must be 18 or older on December 31, 2025, and a legal resident who owned or rented a Wisconsin home subject to property taxes during 2025. People in mobile, manufactured, or nursing homes subject to property taxes may also file.

There is an earned-income rule with an important exception. You, or your spouse in the same household, must have had some earned income during the year, unless you are disabled or were 62 or older at the end of 2025. So retirees and disabled residents are not shut out by the work test.

You claim the credit by filing Schedule H, or the simpler Schedule H-EZ, with your Wisconsin income tax return. Renters attach a rent certificate signed by the landlord; homeowners attach a property tax bill. If your landlord refuses to sign the rent certificate, the Department of Revenue has guidance for exactly that situation, so a stubborn landlord does not end your claim.

You have real time to file. For most claimants the deadline for a 2025 Schedule H is April 15, 2030, four years after the tax year, so prior-year homestead claims can still be filed. If you missed it in past years, you may still be able to go back and collect.

A couple of edge cases: you cannot claim it if you lived the entire year in housing exempt from property taxes, or if you claim the veterans and surviving spouses property tax credit for 2025. But public housing where the authority makes payments in place of taxes is not treated as exempt, so those renters may still qualify. Free help is available through VITA; dial 2-1-1 to find a site.