Under current law, the homestead tax credit is a refundable income tax credit
that may be claimed by homeowners and renters. The credit is based on the
claimant's household income and the amount of property taxes or rent constituting
property taxes on his or her Wisconsin homestead. Because the credit is refundable,
if the credit exceeds the claimant's income tax liability, he or she receives the excess
as a refund check. Under current law, there are three key dollar amounts used when
calculating the credit:
1. If household income is $8,060 or less, the credit is 80 percent of the property
taxes or rent constituting property taxes. If household income exceeds $8,060, the
property taxes or rent constituting property taxes are reduced by 8.785 percent of the
household income exceeding $8,060, and the credit is 80 percent of the reduced
property taxes or rent constituting property taxes.
2. The credit may not be claimed if household income exceeds $24,680.
3. The maximum property taxes or rent constituting property taxes used to
calculate the credit is $1,460.
Beginning with claims filed in 2021, the bill reduces the percentage used for
household income over $8,060 from 8.785 to 6.655 percent and increases the
maximum income amount from $24,680 to $30,000. The bill also indexes the $8,060,
$30,000, and $1,460 amounts for inflation, beginning in 2023.
Veterans and surviving spouses property tax credit
Under current law, an eligible veteran or surviving spouse may claim a
refundable income tax credit that equals the amount of property taxes paid during
the year on his or her principal dwelling in Wisconsin. Current law does not
expressly address the treatment of renters. DOR allows an eligible veteran or
surviving spouse who is a renter to claim the credit if he or she is required to pay the
property taxes under a written agreement with the landlord and pays the property
taxes directly to the municipality.
Under the bill, an eligible veteran or surviving spouse who is a renter may claim
the credit in an amount equal to his or her rent constituting property taxes. The bill
defines “rent constituting property taxes" to mean 20 percent of the rent paid during
the year for the use of a principal dwelling if heat is included in the rent, and 25
percent of the rent if heat is not included.
Medical care insurance subtraction
The bill modifies the income tax subtraction for amounts paid for medical care
insurance by self-employed individuals. Under current law, the subtraction may not
exceed the individual's net earnings from a trade or business that are taxable by
Wisconsin. Under the bill, the subtraction may not exceed the individual's wages,
salary, tips, unearned income, and net earnings from a trade or business that are
taxable by Wisconsin.
The bill similarly modifies the provision under current law that prorates the
subtraction for self-employed nonresidents and part-year residents based on the
percentage of the individual's net earnings from a trade or business taxable by
Wisconsin to total net earnings from a trade or business. Under the bill, the
subtraction is prorated based on the percentage of the individual's wages, salary,
tips, unearned income, and net earnings from a trade or business that are taxable
by Wisconsin to total wages, salary, tips, unearned income, and net earnings from a
trade or business. The bill also eliminates obsolete provisions related to the medical
care insurance subtraction for self-employed individuals.
Private school tuition deduction
Under current law, an individual, when computing income for income tax
purposes, may deduct the tuition paid during the year to send his or her dependent
child to private school. The maximum deduction is $4,000 for an elementary school
pupil and $10,000 for a secondary school pupil.
Under the bill, only individuals whose Wisconsin adjusted gross income is
below a threshold amount may claim the deduction for private school tuition. The
threshold amount is $100,000 for single individuals and heads of household,
$150,000 for married couples filing jointly; and $75,000 for married individuals filing
separately.
Limitation on capital gains exclusion
Current law allows individuals, when computing their income for state tax
purposes, to subtract 30 percent of the net capital gains realized from the sale of
assets held more than one year or acquired from a decedent. The subtraction is
increased to 60 percent for gains realized from the sale of farm assets held more than
one year or acquired from a decedent.
Under the bill, an individual may not make the 30 percent subtraction if his or
her federal adjusted gross income exceeds $400,000 for a single individual or head
of household filer; $533,000 for a married couple who files jointly; or $266,500 for a
married individual who files separately. The bill creates an exception for individuals
whose federal AGI, after subtracting 30 percent of net capital gains from nonfarm
assets, is below the threshold amount. These individuals may make the subtraction,
subject to the 30 percent limitation, but must reduce the amount subtracted by the
amount that federal AGI exceeds the threshold amount. The bill makes no changes
to the 60 percent subtraction.
Education award subtraction
Under current law, an individual who completes a term of service in the
AmeriCorps program may receive a Segal AmeriCorps education award to pay for
post-secondary educational expenses and to repay student loans. The awards are
subject to federal and state income taxation. Under the bill, an individual may
subtract the amount received as an award during the taxable year when calculating
his or her income for Wisconsin income tax purposes.
Flood insurance premiums
The bill creates a nonrefundable individual income tax credit for flood
insurance premiums. The credit is equal to 10 percent of the amount of the premiums
that an individual paid in the taxable year for flood insurance, but the amount of the
claim may not exceed $60 in any taxable year. Because the credit is nonrefundable,
it may be claimed only up to the amount of the individual's tax liability.
Dividends received deduction
Current law allows corporations to deduct, for income and franchise tax
purposes, the dividends received from related corporations. The dividends must be
paid on common stock, and the corporation receiving the dividends must own at least
70 percent of the total combined voting stock of the other corporation. Current law
also allows businesses to carry forward net business losses to future taxable years
in order to offset income in those years. Under the bill, a business may not take the
dividends received deduction into account when determining if it has a net business
loss that can be carried forward.
Net operating loss carryback
The bill repeals the provision under which an individual may carry back a net
operating loss to the two prior taxable years in order to reduce the amount of income
subject to tax in those years.
Pass-through entities and refundable tax credits
Current law allows businesses operating in this state to claim a number of
income and franchise tax credits to promote job creation and economic development.
The following credits allow a business to receive a refund if the amount of the credit
exceeds its tax liability: the jobs tax credit, the business development credit, the
enterprise zones jobs credit, the electronics and information technology
manufacturing zone credit, and the research credit. Partnerships, limited liability
companies, and tax-option corporations may not claim these credits, but, instead,
the partners, members, and shareholders of the respective entities may claim the
credits in proportion to their ownership interests in the entity. Generally, the entities
determine the aggregate amount of the credits that the partners, members, or
shareholders may claim.
The bill allows partnerships, limited liability companies, and tax-option
corporations to claim the refundable tax credits, not including the electronics and
information technology manufacturing zone credit and the research credit.
Research credit refunds
Current law allows a person to claim an income and franchise tax credit equal
to a percentage of the person's qualified research expenses that exceed 50 percent of
the average qualified research expenses for the three taxable years immediately
preceding the taxable year for which the person claims the credit. For example, a
person may claim a credit equal to 11.5 percent of the person's excess qualified
research expenses related to research related to the design and manufacturing of
energy efficient lighting systems, building automation and control systems, or
automotive batteries for use in hybrid-electric vehicles.
If the amount of the credit exceeds the person's tax liability, the person will
receive a refund in an amount not exceeding 10 percent of the allowable claim. The
taxpayer may apply any remaining unused portion of the credit to subsequent
taxable years. Under the bill, if the amount of the credit exceeds the person's tax
liability, the person will receive a refund in an amount not exceeding 20 percent of
the allowable claim and may continue to claim the remaining unused portion in
subsequent taxable years.
Federal changes to college savings accounts
The bill adopts for state income tax purposes current and future provisions of
the federal Internal Revenue Code related to qualified tuition programs, including
the provision that requires a taxpayer to reduce the amount that he or she claims as
interest on education loans by the amount of distributions from a qualified tuition
program treated as qualified higher education expenses under federal law. In
addition, current state law requires a taxpayer to add back to his or her federal
adjusted gross income any amount distributed from a qualified tuition program that
was not used for qualified higher education expenses, if the amount was contributed
to the qualified tuition program account after December 31, 2013, and the taxpayer
also claimed that amount as a subtraction. Under the bill, the taxpayer must make
that addition regardless of when the amount was contributed to the account.
Broker-dealer apportionment factor
Under current law, multistate businesses must apportion their income to
Wisconsin and the other state or states for income and franchise tax purposes.
Current law requires that DOR promulgate rules for apportioning the income of
specialized industries. A DOR rule provides that broker-dealers, investment
advisers, investment companies, and underwriters apportion income using a single
receipts factor. The rule also provides that, under certain circumstances, the factor's
numerator includes the modified gross receipts from the sales of trading assets,
unless DOR orders or allows modified net gains to be used instead. The bill amends
the DOR rule to provide that the factor's numerator includes the modified net gains
from the sales of trading assets, rather than modified gross receipts.
Internal Revenue Code references
The bill adopts, for state income and franchise tax purposes, certain changes
made to the Internal Revenue Code by the federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, enacted
in December 2017. The bill adopts provisions of the act related to amortization of
research and experimental expenditures, certain special rules for the taxable year
of inclusion, and limitations on excessive employee renumeration, the
business-related deduction for interest, the deduction by employers of expenses for
fringe benefits, the deduction for Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation premiums,
and losses for taxpayers other than for corporations,.
Property taxation
Assessments; leased property and comparable sales
The bill provides that, for property tax purposes, real property includes any
leases, rights, and privileges pertaining to the property, including assets that cannot
be taxed separately as real property, but are inextricably intertwined with the real
property. The bill also requires real property to be assessed at its highest and best
use. Current law requires that real property be assessed at its full value and upon
actual view or from the best information that the assessor can obtain from
“arm's-length sales" of comparable property. The bill defines an “arm's-length sale"
as a sale between a willing buyer and willing seller, neither being under compulsion
to buy or sell and each being familiar with the attributes of the property sold.
The bill also provides that an assessor may determine the value of leased
property by considering the lease provisions and actual rent pertaining to the
property, if the lease provisions and rent are the result of an “arm's-length
transaction.” The bill defines an “arm's-length transaction” as an agreement
between willing parties, neither being under compulsion to act and each being
familiar with the attributes of the property.
The Wisconsin Supreme Court decided in 2008 that a property tax assessment
of leased retail property using the income approach must be based on “market rents,"
which is what a person would pay to rent the property, based on rentals of similar
property, as opposed to “contract rents," which is the amount that the lessee actually
paid to rent the property. See, Walgreen Company v. City of Madison, 2008 WI 80,
752 N.W.2d 689. The bill changes Wisconsin law to specify that an assessment using
the income approach must be based instead on contract rents.
The bill also provides that to determine the value of property using generally
accepted appraisal methods, an assessor must consider all of the following as
comparable to the property being assessed:
1. Sales or rentals of properties exhibiting the same or a similar highest and
best use with placement in the same real estate market segment.
2. Sales or rentals of properties that are similar to the property being assessed
with regard to age, condition, use, type of construction, location, design, physical
features, and economic characteristics.
The bill defines “real estate market segment” to mean a pool of potential buyers
and sellers that typically buy or sell properties similar to the property being
assessed, including potential buyers who are investors or owner-occupants.
The bill also provides that a property is not comparable to the property being
assessed if the seller has placed restrictions on the highest and best use of the
property or if the property is dark property and the property being assessed is not
dark property. The bill defines “dark property” as property that is vacant or
unoccupied beyond the normal period for property in the same real estate market
segment.
Manufacturing property assessment fees
Under current law, DOR assesses manufacturing property for property tax
purposes and imposes a fee on each municipality in which the property is located to
cover part of the assessment costs. DOR bills the municipalities for the fee. If a
municipality does not pay by March 31 of the following year, DOR reduces the
municipality's July shared revenue distribution by the amount of the fee.
The bill directs DOR to first collect the fees by reducing municipalities' July and
November shared revenue distributions. If DOR is unable to collect the fee from a
municipality in this manner, then the fee is directly imposed on the municipality.
Community health centers
The bill creates a property tax exemption for the property of a community
health center that receives federal grants to provide health services to vulnerable
populations, is a nonprofit organization exempt from federal income taxes, and
annually treats at least 30,000 patients. With regard to land owned by the
community health center, the exemption is limited to 25 acres necessary for the
location and convenience of buildings while such property is not used for profit.
Current law provides similar property tax exemptions for property owned by
churches or religious, educational, or benevolent associations. Under current law,
land owned by churches or religious associations that is necessary for the location
and convenience of buildings and used for educational purposes and not for profit is
subject to a 30-acre limitation.
Sales of certain lands to American Indian tribes
Current law provides that before a county may sell tax delinquent real estate
in its possession it must provide public notice of the sale and the property's appraised
value. In addition, although the county may accept any bid on the property that is
advantageous to it, the county may not accept at the first attempt to sell the property
a bid that is less than the property's appraised value. After that first attempt, the
property may be sold at less than its appraised value if the sale is reviewed and
approved by the county board or by a committee designated by the board. Also, the
county may not sell the property for less than the highest bid unless the county board
prepares a written statement for public inspection that explains its reasons for
accepting a lower bid. Under current law, these provisions do not apply to the sale
or exchange of lands to or between municipalities or to the state. Under the bill, the
provision for the sale of tax delinquent real estate also does not apply to the sale or
exchange of lands to or between federally recognized American Indian tribes or
bands.
School aid reduction information
The bill requires that a person's property tax bill include information from the
school district in which the property is located regarding the amount of any gross
reduction in state aid to the district as a result of pupils enrolled in the statewide
choice program, the Racine choice program, or the Milwaukee choice program or as
a result of making payments to private schools under the special needs scholarship
program.
General taxation
County and municipality sales and use taxes
Current law allows a county to enact an ordinance to impose sales and use taxes
at the rate of 0.5 percent of the sales price or purchase price on tangible personal
property and taxable services. The county must use the revenue from the taxes for
property tax relief. The bill allows a county to impose, by ordinance, an additional
sales and use tax at the rate of 0.5 percent of the sales price or purchase price on
tangible personal property and taxable services. However, the ordinance does not
take effect unless approved by the majority of the voters of the county at a
referendum. The revenue from those taxes may be used for any purpose designated
by the county board or specified in the ordinance or in the referendum approving the
ordinance.
The bill also allows a municipality with a 2020 population exceeding 30,000 to
enact an ordinance to impose sales and use taxes at the rate of 0.5 percent of the sales
price or purchase price on tangible personal property and taxable services. The
ordinance does not take effect unless approved by the majority of the voters of the
municipality at a referendum. The revenue from those taxes may be used for any
purpose designated by the governing body of the municipality or specified in the
ordinance or in the referendum approving the ordinance.
Sales tax exemption for energy systems
Current law provides a sales and use tax exemption for a product that has as
its power source wind energy, direct radiant energy received from the sun, or gas
generated from anaerobic digestion of animal manure and other agricultural waste,
if the product produces at least 200 watts of alternating current or 600 British
thermal units per day. The sale of electricity or energy produced by the product is
also exempt.
The bill modifies current law so that the exemption applies to solar power
systems and wind energy systems that produce electrical or heat energy directly
from the sun or wind and are capable of continuously producing at least 200 watts
of alternating current or 600 British thermal units. In addition, the exemption
applies to a waste energy system that produces electrical or heat energy directly from
gas generated from anaerobic digestion of animal manure and other agricultural
waste and are capable of continuously producing at least 200 watts of alternating
current or 600 British thermal units. A system for which the exemption applies
includes tangible personal property sold with the system that is used primarily to
store or facilitate the storage of the electrical or heat energy produced by the system.
Vapor products
Current law imposes a tax on vapor products, which are any noncombustible
products that produce vapor or aerosol for inhalation from the application of a
heating element to a liquid or other substance that is depleted as the product is used,
regardless of whether the liquid or other substance contains nicotine. The tax is
imposed at the rate of 5 cents per milliliter of the liquid or other substance based on
the volume as listed by the manufacturer.
The bill taxes vapor products at the rate of 71 percent of the manufacturer's list
price and modifies the definition of “vapor product.” Under the bill, “vapor product”
means a noncombustible product that employs a heating element, power source,
electronic circuit, or other electronic, chemical, or mechanical means that can be used
to produce vapor from a solution or other substance, regardless of whether the
product contains nicotine. A “vapor product” is defined to include an electronic
cigarette, electronic cigar, electronic cigarillo, electronic pipe, or similar product or
device, as well as any container of a solution or other substance that is intended to
be used with these items. The bill specifies that any product regulated by the federal
Food and Drug Administration as a drug or device is not a vapor product.
Little cigars
The bill taxes little cigars at the same rate as the excise tax imposed on
cigarettes. Under current law, all cigars are taxed at the rate of 71 percent of the
manufacturer's established list price, limited to 50 cents per cigar. Under the bill,
little cigars are taxed at the rate of 126 mills per little cigar, regardless of weight.
The bill defines “little cigar” to mean a cigar that has an integrated cellulose acetate
filter and is wrapped in any substance containing tobacco.
Definition of “manufacturer's list price”
Current law imposes a tax on tobacco products based on the “manufacturer's
established list price,” without defining the term. The bill removes the word
“established” and defines “manufacturer's list price” to mean the total price of
tobacco products charged by the manufacturer or other seller to an unrelated
distributor. The bill specifies that the total price must include all charges by the
manufacturer or other seller that are necessary to complete the sale, without
reduction for any cost or expense incurred by the manufacturer or other seller or for
the value or cost of discounts or free promotional or sample products. The bill
provides that a manufacturer or other seller is related to a distributor if they have
significant common purposes and either substantial common membership or
substantial common direction or control.
Sales tax exemption for diapers
The bill creates a sales and use tax exemption for the sale of diapers, not
including adult undergarments for incontinence.
Prairie and wetland counseling services
Under current law, the sale of landscaping and lawn maintenance services is
subject to the sales tax. The bill excludes from taxable landscaping services the
planning and counseling services for the restoration, reclamation, or revitalization
of prairie, savanna, or wetlands if such services are provided for a separate and
optional fee distinct from other services.
Repeal of sales tax exemption for farm-raised deer
The bill repeals the sales and use tax exemption that applies to the sale of
farm-raised deer to a person operating a hunting preserve or game farm in this state.
Repeal of sales tax exemption for game birds and clay pigeons
The bill repeals the sales and use tax exemption that applies to the sale of live
game birds and clay pigeons to qualifying bird hunting preserves and shooting
facilities.
Sales and use tax on candy
Current law imposes the sales and use tax on the sale of candy. For purposes
of the sales and use tax, “candy” is defined, generally, as a preparation of sugar, honey
or other sweetener combined with chocolate, fruit, nuts or other ingredients or
flavorings. “Candy” does not include a preparation that contains flour or that
requires refrigeration. Under the bill, for purposes of the sales and use tax, “candy”
also does not include a preparation that has as its predominant ingredient dried or
partially dried fruit, not including a preparation that has a confectionary coating or
glazing on the dried or partially dried fruit.
Providing notices for public utility taxes
Under current law, public utility companies, including railroads and air
carriers, are exempt from local property taxes and are instead subject to special state
taxes. Current law requires DOR to send certain notices regarding these taxes by
certified mail. Under the bill, DOR must still provide the notices but is no longer
required to send them by certified mail.
shared revenue
Increase in county and municipal aid
The bill increases the amount that each county and municipality annually
receives as a county and municipal aid payment. Currently, a county or municipality
receives a payment equal to the payment it received in 2012. The bill increases that
amount by 2 percent in 2021 and an additional 2 percent beginning in 2022.
Expenditure restraint program
Under current law, generally, a municipality is eligible to receive an
expenditure restraint payment if its property tax levy is greater than five mills and
if the annual increase in its municipal budget is less than the sum of factors based
on inflation and the increased value of property in the municipality as a result of new
construction. Current law excludes certain payments and expenditures from the
municipal budget for purposes of determining eligibility for an expenditure restraint
payment. For example, principal and interest on long-term debt, recycling fee
payments, and unreimbursed expenses related to a declared state of emergency are
excluded from the determination.
The bill excludes from the expenditure restraint program payment
determination additional revenues resulting from a referendum to increase the
municipality's property tax levy limit or the tax rate of the premier resort area tax.
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