Additional Important Information

Additional important information

Much of the information on this page has been taken straight from the MN Revenue Deferral Application; however, some has not. The information in Arial Text is from the MN Revenue, the text that is in Times New Roman is not.

About the loan	Other Program information
Lien will attach to property	When to apply
Who gives the loan?	Yearly deferral notice
No Monthly Payments	Refunds and rebates
Paying back the loan	Income changes or want to stop deferral
When Taxes start being deferred	How MN Revenue uses information
	Penalties

Lien will attach to property

When you enroll in the Senior Citizen Property Tax Deferral a lien attaches to your property.

When people hear the word lien, they think of judgment liens and unpaid bills. In the context of the Deferral Program a lien does not mean either of these things. It simply means that your loan is secured with your home.

Who gives the loan?

The State of Minnesota gives the loan. The state pays your property taxes to your county.

No monthly payments

You do not have to make monthly payments toward your total loan balance.

Paying back the loan

The deferral will stop when:

The property is sold or transferred
All qualifying homeowners die
The property no longer qualifies as a homestead
You notify department in writing to stop deferral

When any of these happen, the deferred taxes plus interest must be paid back to the state. If the property is sold or the homeowner dies, payment is due within 90 days. If you voluntarily stop deferral or the property no longer qualifies as a homestead, you’ll have one year to pay the amount back.

If you pay back the tax within the above time frame you will not be charged additional interest. The county will record a notice of termination and send a copy to you. You must pay any recording or filing fees.

If you don’t pay back the tax on time, penalty, interest, lien, forfeiture and other rules for collecting property tax will apply.

When Taxes start being deferred

Your taxes start being deferred the year after you are accepted into the program. For instance if John were accepted into the Deferral Program in 2007, his property taxes would start being deferred in 2008.

When to apply

You must apply by July 1^st in order for your taxes to be deferred the following year. You may apply in the year in which you turn 65. Once enrolled in the program, you don’t need to reapply.

Yearly deferral notice

Each year your county will send a notice telling you:

1) Your total amount deferred for the year

2) Your total deferred loan balance

This information becomes public data.

Refunds and rebates

You can apply for property refunds or rebates based on the qualifying amount on your property tax statement.

You will not, however, receive property tax refunds or rebates as cash payments. You will also not receive Minnesota income tax refunds, political contribution refunds, or lottery winnings of any type. Instead, these refunds will be applied to reduce your deferred property tax total.

MN Revenue notify you whenever it uses a refund to reduce the amount of deferred tax. If refund exceeds the deferred amount, we’ll send you a check for the difference.

If income changes or you want to stop the deferral

If your income exceeds 60,000 in a calendar year, you must notify MN revenue in writing by July 1^st of the following year. You won’t be able to defer additional taxes until your income drops to 60,000 or less, at which time you’ll need to send a written request to resume deferral. If you want to voluntarily stop deferral, you must also send us a written notice. Send notice to:

Minnesota Revenue

Mail Station 4215

St. Paul, MN 55146-4215

Back to top

How MN Revenue uses Information

Some of the information on this application is private data. MN Department of Revenue uses the information on your application to determine your eligibility. To verify information, we may share it with the county assessor, the county attorney, and federal, state or local taxing authorities. You’re not required to provide the information we ask for; however, if you don’t, you won’t be considered for the program.

Penalties

You’ll be charged a penalty equal to 20 percent of the deferred tax if the information on your application, property certificate or abstract report is false; or if you intentionally give false information on any of the above, the penalty increases to 50 percent.

MN Senior Citizen Property Tax Deferral