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Tax Relief for Deceased Active-Duty Military
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Minnesota provides tax relief to the family of any military member who dies during active service in the United States or United Nations armed forces. The Minnesota Department of Revenue does not tax a military member’s income in the year of their death. We may also abate (forgive) any unpaid tax debts or penalties from prior years they were in active service.
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If you are an heir of the military member, you must file a refund claim within seven years of when the military member filed their return or when the tax was paid or collected.
To claim a refund:
- File Form M1X, Amended Minnesota Income Tax, for the deceased military member.
- Note on Form M1X that the refund claim is for an armed forces member who died during active service.
- Include a copy of the death certificate and Schedule M23, Claim for a Refund for a Deceased Taxpayer.
For details, see Minnesota Statute 289A.39, subdivision 6 and the example below.
Example
John joined the U.S. Marines in 2020 and died while serving in 2023. John filed returns and paid income tax to Minnesota for tax years 2020, 2021 and 2022. For 2023, Minnesota will not tax John’s income. John’s heirs may file Form M1X for 2020, 2021 and 2022 to claim a refund of taxes he paid.
Follow these steps to calculate the amount of tax refunded (or tax debt abated):
- Determine how much income tax you and your spouse would have paid if you had filed separate returns. Use the “Married Filing Separately” column in the tax tables for the appropriate year.
- Add you and your spouse’s tax amounts.
- Divide your spouse’s tax amount (step 1) by the total (step 2). The result is a percentage.
- Multiply the actual tax paid by this percentage (step 3) to determine the refund amount.
