Sen. Dave Hansen (D-Green Bay), Rep. Kevin Petersen (R-Waupaca) introduce Veterans Property Tax Credit Expansion Legislation

To:      Legislative Colleagues

From: Representative Kevin Petersen

Representative Petersen will be the Assembly lead on this bill.  It is identical to the Senate bill.  Unless otherwise requested, if you co-sponsor onto either bill, you will automatically be co-sponsored onto both bills.  Please call my office at 6-3794 by 5 pm on Monday, April 25th.

<<11-15411.pdf>>

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TO:         Legislative Colleagues  
              
FROM:      Senator Dave Hansen

RE:        Co-sponsorship of LRB-1537/1, expanding the eligibility of the veterans and surviving spouses property tax credit

Deadline: Monday, April 25th

At the request of a constituent, I am introducing LRB-1537/1.  My constituent requested this legislation after she was unable to claim the property tax credit as a surviving spouse of a Vietnam veteran who died as a result of a service connected disability.

Her husband, although eligible for federal Dependency & Indemnity Compensation, was too sick to apply for the property tax credit before his death.

This legislation would expand the eligibility for the property tax credit to surviving, unremarried spouses of veterans who die from a service related disability and were eligible for federal Dependency & Indemnity Compensation.

If you would like to co-sponsor LRB-1537/1, please reply to this email by 5 p.m. on Monday, April 25th.

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Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau

Under current law, the veterans and surviving spouses property tax credit may be claimed by certain U.S. armed forces veterans and by the unremarried surviving spouses of certain veterans or members of the national guard or reserves (collectively, “veterans”). To be eligible to claim the credit, the veteran must meet several criteria, including having been a resident of this state at the time of entry into the service or having been a resident of this state for any consecutive five-year period after entry into that service, and having either a service-connected disability rating of at least 100 percent or a 100 percent disability rating based on individual unemployability.

Similarly, to be eligible to claim the credit as a spouse of a veteran, the veteran to whom the unremarried surviving spouse was married must have been, generally, a resident of this state at the time of entry into the service or a resident of this state for any consecutive five-year period after entry into that service, and must have had either a service-connected disability rating of at least 100 percent or a 100 percent disability rating based on individual unemployability.

In general, the credit may be currently claimed in an amount equal to the
property taxes paid by the claimant on the veteran’s principal dwelling in the year to which the claim relates. The credit is refundable. If the amount of the credit for which a claimant is eligible exceeds the claimant’s income tax liability, the excess amount of the credit is paid to the claimant by check.

This bill expands the definition of eligible unremarried surviving spouse to
include an individual who is eligible for, and receives, dependency and indemnity compensation from the federal government due to his or her spouse’s status as a veteran whose death was service-connected.

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LRB 11-1541/1 - Rep. Petersen/Sen. Hansen Veterans Property Tax Credit Expansion