Electronic Filing of Individual Income Tax Returns
With Homestead Credit Claims
If you qualify for homestead credit, you may be able to file your 2008 homestead credit claim electronically. To file electronically using vendor software, you must file your Wisconsin homestead credit claim together with your federal and Wisconsin income tax returns. You also must electronically transmit information from the property tax bill and/or rent certificate, whichever is applicable. Form W-RA must be sent to the Department within 48 hours of receiving your Wisconsin acknowledgment. See a list of vendor software that supports Schedule H and Schedule H-EZ.
You may be able to file your 2008 homestead credit claim electronically using Wisconsin e-file. Qualifications for this method of filing are detailed at Wisconsin efile. Form W-RA, Required Attachments for Electronic Filing, must be sent to the Department within 48 hours of receiving your Wisconsin acknowledgement.
General Instructions
See E-Services for the e-filing options available for individuals. Using the tax-preparation software, prepare the federal and Wisconsin income tax returns. Then take these additional steps to electronically file a homestead credit claim.
Prepare the Schedule H-EZ or Schedule H as your software allows
Schedule H-EZ:
- Enter the answers to Questions 1 through 3.
- Enter all of the claimant's household income, both taxable and nontaxable.
- If the claimant received Wisconsin Works (W2) payments or county relief during 2008, complete the Taxes/Rent Reduction Schedule on the back of the Schedule H-EZ.
- Continue with "Both Schedule H-EZ and Schedule H" below.
Schedule H:
- Enter the answers to Questions 1 through 6.
- Enter all of the claimant's household income, both taxable and nontaxable.
- Check the boxes above line 13 that apply to the claimant's situation.
- First box - Check the box if the claimant's home is located on more than one acre of land and was not part of a farm.
- Second box - Check the box if the claimant's home was located on more than one acre of land and was part of a farm.
- Third box - Check the box if the claimant's home was used for purposes other than personal or farm use while the claimant lived there in 2008.
- Fourth box - Check the box if the claimant received Wisconsin Works (W2) payments or county relief during 2008.
- If necessary, complete the following schedules:
- Schedule 1 - Allowable Taxes - Home on More Than One Acre of Land
- Schedule 2 - Allowable Taxes/Rent - Home Used Partly for Purposes Other Than Farm or Personal Use
- Schedule 3 - Taxes/Rent Reduction - Wisconsin Works (W2) or County Relief Recipients
Both Schedule H-EZ and Schedule H:
- Enter the claimant's allowable taxes, allowable rent (heat included), and/or allowable rent (heat not included).
- Compute the homestead credit using homestead Tables A and B (if your software doesn't compute this for you).
- Enter the allowable credit from Schedule H-EZ, line 14, or Schedule H, line 19, on Form 1, line 48, or Form 1A, line 32.
Note: To file a homestead credit claim electronically, you must also submit the required property tax bill information and/or rent certificate information to the Department.
Property Tax Bill Information
If the claimant owned his or her home during 2008, then the claimant will have allowable property taxes for homestead credit purposes. You must enter all of the following information from the 2008 property tax bill that includes the assessed value of the home:
- Year on property tax bill (must be 2008).
- Name of owner(s) as shown on property tax bill (for example, John and Mary Smith, John Smith et al.). See Common Abbreviations/Acronyms for Property Tax Bills.
- Type of owner. You will need to check one of the following to indicate the legal ownership type:
- Self and/or spouse (this includes life estate).
- Self and/or spouse and others. If the claimant owns his or her home with someone other than his or her spouse, you will need to enter:
- The claimant's ownership percentage during 2008,
- The amount of 2008 property taxes the claimant paid or will pay, and
- Whether ALL of the other owners occupied the home during 2008.
- Trust.
- Estate.
- Partnership.
- Corporation, S corporation, or limited liability company.
- Other.
- Address of property.
- Assessed value of land.
- Assessed value of improvements.
- Number of acres of land.
- Property taxes, excluding special assessments/charges and before first dollar credit and lottery/gaming credit.
- Sum of first dollar credit and lottery/gaming credit.
- Net property taxes after sum of first dollar credit and lottery/gaming credit.
Note: When entering the property taxes under #8 and #10, enter the property taxes as they appear on the property tax bill. Any reductions necessary for more than one acre of land and not a farm, nonhomestead use of the home, or receipt of Wisconsin Works (W2) payments are done on Schedules 1, 2, and/or 3 of the Schedule H or on the Taxes/Rent Reduction Schedule of the Schedule H-EZ. The claimant's ownership share of taxes is accounted for when entering the property tax amount on Schedule H, line 13, or on Schedule H-EZ, line 8.
Personal Property Tax Bill
If the claimant owned a mobile or manufactured home and received a personal property tax bill, enter the information from the 2008 personal property tax bill. Since a personal property tax bill does not have an assessed value of land, Homestead Notes and Attachments #14 must be checked to indicate that the Property Tax Bill Information is from a personal property tax bill for a mobile or manufactured home.
Owned Home With Others
If the claimant owned his or her home with others in 2008, the claimant may use only that portion of the net property taxes that reflects the claimant's percentage of ownership, unless one of the following applies:
- If the other owner was the claimant's spouse who lived with the claimant during all of 2008, use all of the net property taxes.
- If the other owner(s) did not live in the home and the claimant paid or will pay all of the property taxes, use the portion of taxes reflecting the claimant's ownership percentage on Schedule H, line 13, or on Schedule H-EZ, line 8 (as taxes), and use the other owner's share of the taxes on Schedule H, line 14c, or on Schedule H-EZ, line 9c (as rent - heat not included).
Purchased Home During 2008
If the claimant purchased his or her home during 2008, enter the information from the 2008 property tax bill for the property purchased. Also, enter the dates that the claimant physically occupied the purchased home during 2008.
Note: When calculating allowable taxes for homestead credit purposes, the claimant is only allowed the 2008 taxes for the time he or she owned and occupied the home.
Sold Home During 2008
If the claimant sold his or her home during 2008, enter the dates that the claimant physically occupied the sold home during 2008. Also enter the following information from the seller's closing statement:
- Date the home was sold.
- Name of seller(s) shown on closing statement.
- Type of owner. You will need to check one of the following to indicate the claimant's ownership type:
- Self and/or spouse (this includes life estate).
- Self and/or spouse and others. If this box is checked, you will need to enter:
- The claimant's ownership percentage, and
- Whether all of the other owners occupied the home during 2008 before it was sold.
- Other
- Address of the home that was sold.
- Property taxes allocated to the seller(s) on the closing statement.
Note: When calculating allowable taxes for homestead credit purposes, the claimant is only allowed the taxes for the time he or she owned and occupied the home. Since the seller generally will not have the actual 2008 property tax bill, use the property taxes allocated on the seller's closing statement to determine the allowable taxes.
If the claimant sold his or her home, you must also enter the following information:
- Selling price of home - do not include personal property items sold with the home.
- Expenses of sale (commissions, advertising, attorney fees, etc.).
- Adjusted basis of home sold (purchase price of home, improvements, etc.).
Note: You must include any gain on the sale of the claimant's home in household income on Schedule H, page 2, line 11c. You cannot file on Schedule H-EZ. You must file on Schedule H.
Adjoining Property Information
If the claimant has additional property tax bills for property that adjoins the claimant's homestead property and the name and type of owner(s) is the same as that on the main tax bill, enter the following information from each of the adjoining property tax bill(s):
- Number of acres of land.
- Assessed value of land.
- Assessed value of improvements.
- Property taxes (without special assessments and/or charges and after first dollar credit).
You may enter up to five adjoining property tax bills. Since the allowable taxes for homestead credit are limited to $1,450, you only need to enter the data from the tax bills that will add up to $1,450 of allowable taxes.
Note: (1) If the home is located on more than one acre of land and is not part of a farm, you must check the first box above line 13 on Schedule H, page 2, and complete Schedule 1 on Schedule H, page 3. The allowable taxes are limited to the taxes on one acre of land and all improvements on that land. (2) If the home is part of a farm, you must check the second box above line 13 on Schedule H, page 2. The allowable taxes are limited to the taxes on 120 acres of land and all improvements on that land. You cannot file on Schedule H-EZ.
Rent Certificate Information
If the claimant resided in a rented dwelling during 2008, the claimant must have a completed rent certificate for each dwelling in which he or she resided. The claimant should complete lines 1 through 5. The claimant's landlord should complete lines 6 through 13 and sign the rent certificate.
Enter the information on lines 3 through 13 of the rent certificate(s) exactly as it appears on the completed certificate, as your software allows.
Altered rent certificates (white outs, erasures, etc.) are void. The claimant should get another "clean" rent certificate from the landlord. If this is not done, check the box: Rent Certificate Altered.
If the landlord will not sign the rent certificate, the claimant should complete lines 1 through 13 of the rent certificate. Check the box on line 5 on the rent certificate to indicate that the landlord will not sign the rent certificate. You must attach verification of the rent paid to the Wisconsin Form W-RA, Required Attachments for Electronic Filing. Acceptable verification would be copies of canceled checks or money order receipts. If this is the case, you also must check the box: Landlord Did Not Sign. Rent not verified will not be allowed.
Renters' Shared Living Expenses
If line 11d of the rent certificate is 2 or more and each occupant did not pay an equal share of the rent, the claimant must complete the Shared Living Expenses Schedule portion of the rent certificate. Make sure amounts for what each occupant paid for rent, food, utilities, and other expenses are completed.
The claimant must also list the other occupants' complete name(s) in the space provided on the schedule.
You must complete Step 3 of the schedule to compute the allowable rent.
Enter the data exactly as shown on the Shared Living Expenses Schedule, as your software allows.
Homestead Notes and Attachments
Refer to the list of all the instances when a claimant must provide either a note or a copy of a document when filing a homestead credit claim. Your software should allow you to check all instances that apply to the claim.
Wisconsin Form W-RA, Required Attachments for Electronic Filing
Within 48 hours of receiving the Wisconsin acknowledgement, you must electronically transmit or mail to the Department:
- The Form W-RA and
- All attachments (Forms W-2, W-2G, and 1099-R, property tax bill(s), original rent certificate(s), deeds, and other required documents).
Your software should produce a Form W-RA for you. Either electronically transmit or mail the Form W-RA and all attachments for homestead claimants to:
When using the United States Postal Service:
Wisconsin Department of Revenue
P.O. Box 8977
Madison, WI 53708-8977
When using a private mail service provider:
Homestead Unit
Wisconsin Department of Revenue
Mail Opening - Mail Stop 1-151
2135 Rimrock Road
Madison, WI 53713
Paper Schedule H-EZ or Schedule H Required
You must file a paper Schedule H-EZ or Schedule H if:
- The name of the owner(s) and type of ownership on the property tax bill(s) for the adjoining property is not the same as the name of the owner(s) and type of ownership on the property tax bill that includes the assessed value of the main home.
- The claimant has more than 6 property tax bills. For electronic filing, only 1 tax bill is allowed for the claimant's home and 5 tax bills are allowed for adjoining property.
- The claimant owned and resided in more than one home during the year and the claimant did not sell one of the homes during the year.
- The claimant has more than 4 rent certificates.
- The claimant has more than 4 separate rental amounts and number of months/days on lines 11a and 11b of a rent certificate.
- The claimant already filed an individual income tax return electronically.
Refund Delays
Refunds may be delayed for one of the following reasons:
- If your return is selected for review. In this case --
- Possibility of a letter
- Possibility of an adjustment notice
- If the Form W-RA with all required attachments is not received by the Department.
Refer to Wisconsin Publication 127, Wisconsin Homestead Credit Situations and Solutions, to avoid common adjustments to and send backs of homestead credit claims.
Refer to "Electronically Filed Homestead Credit Information" in Wisconsin Tax Bulletin 153 to find tips and hints on how to avoid the most common errors that occurred from filing 2006 homestead credit claims electronically.
FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:
WISCONSIN DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE
| Homestead Credit Only Mail Stop 5-77 P.O. Box 8949 Madison, WI 53708-8949 Phone: (608) 266-8641 Fax: (608) 267-1030 E-Mail Additional Questions |
All Other Electronic Filing Questions Electronic Filing Unit Mail Stop 3-258 P.O. Box 8977 Madison, WI 53708-8977 Phone: (608) 264-6886 Fax: (608) 264-6884 E-Mail Additional Questions |
Last updated January 14, 2009