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Age
If your birthday falls on January 1, you are considered to be a year older as of December 31 for the year in question.
Example: If you were born on January 1, 1960, you are considered to be age 65 as of December 31, 2024.
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Disabled
An individual who is unable to engage in any substantial gainful employment by reason of a medically determinable physical or mental impairment which has lasted or is reasonably expected to last for a continuous period of not less than 12 months.
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Disqualified Loss
The sum of the following amounts:
- Net loss from sole proprietorships
- Net capital loss
- Net loss from sales of business property, excluding loss from involuntary conversions
- Net loss from rental real estate, royalties, partnerships, tax-option (S) corporations, trusts, estates, and real estate mortgage investment conduits
- Net farm loss
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Earned Income
Wages, salaries, tips, other employee compensation, and net earnings from self-employment.
Note: Medicaid waiver payments excluded from federal adjusted gross income under sec.
131, IRC, are considered earned income for purposes of the earned income requirement to qualify for the homestead credit (see "Do I qualify for homestead credit?"). Payments which are excluded from federal adjusted gross income are not required to be added back to household income.
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Farm
Your homestead generally is considered part of a farm if the current or most recent use of the property while owned by you was for agricultural purposes.
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Farmer
A farmer is any person engaged in farming.
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Farming
The operation of farm premises owned or rented by the operator.
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Farm Premises
Areas used for operations of:
- Planting and cultivating of the soil
- Raising and harvesting of agricultural, horticultural, or arboricultural crops
- Raising, breeding, tending, training, and management of livestock, bees, poultry, fur-bearing animals, wildlife or aquatic life, or their products
- The processing; drying; packing; packaging; freezing; grading; storing; delivering to storage, to market, or to a carrier for transportation to market; distributing directly to consumer; or marketing any of the above-named commodities; substantially all of which have been planted or produced
- The clearing of such premises and the salvaging of timber and management and use of wood thereafter, but not including logging, lumbering, or wood cutting operations unless conducted as an accessory to other farming operations
- The managing, conserving, improvement, and maintaining of such farm premises or the tools, equipment, and improvements thereafter and the exchange of labor, services, or the exchange of use of equipment with other farmers in pursuing such activities
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Homestead
Your homestead is the Wisconsin home you occupy, whether you own it or rent it, and up to one acre of land adjoining it (or up to 120 acres of land if the homestead is part of a farm). For example, it may be a house, an apartment, a rented room, a mobile home, a farm, or a nursing home room. Unless your homestead is part of a farm, it does not include any part which is rented to others, used for business purposes, or a separate unit occupied by others rent free.
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Household
If you are single, you are considered a household, whether you live alone or with others. If you are married, you and your spouse are considered a household if you live together. If you are married but you and your spouse maintained separate homes on December 31 of the claim year, you are each considered a separate household.
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Household Income
Household income is all your income reportable for Wisconsin income tax purposes and all items specifically identified on lines 9a through 11j of Schedule H (lines 6a through 6i of Schedule H-EZ), less a deduction of $500 for each qualifying dependent who occupied your homestead for more than six months during 2024. If you were married and lived with your spouse during all of 2024, you must combine your income and that of your spouse to determine your total household income. If, during 2024, your spouse died, you became married or divorced, or you were separated from your spouse for all or part of the year (including one spouse living in a nursing home), see the special instructions on pages 22 through 24 of the
Schedule H and H-EZ instruction booklet for how to determine your household income.
Note: "Household income" includes certain nontaxable income such as social security and supplemental security income (SSI) benefits; pensions and annuities; unemployment compensation; capital gains; contributions to IRAs and Keogh, SEP, SIMPLE, and deferred compensation plans; court ordered support money and maintenance payments; scholarships, fellowships, and grants; military compensation; interest on U.S. government securities; county relief benefits; cash public assistance (Wisconsin Works (W2), kinship care, etc.); and all depreciation and depletion claimed in computing Wisconsin taxable income. This list is not all-inclusive. Refer to the Schedule H, Homestead Credit Claim, lines 9a through 11j, and the
Schedule H and H-EZ instruction booklet for a list of "household income."
Note: Use of the year 2024 above is for simplicity and understanding. If you are looking to file a claim for a different year, substitute that year for 2024 and consult the
instructions specific to that year.
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Qualifying Dependent
A qualifying dependent is a person who meets both of the following:
- Is or may be claimed as a dependent on your federal income tax return
- Occupied your (the claimant's) home for more than six months during the claim year
A dependent is considered to have occupied your homestead during temporary absences for reasons such as school, illness, or vacations.
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Wisconsin Works (W2) Payment
A Wisconsin Works (W2) payment is a payment received under the Wisconsin Works assistance program for participating in a community service job or a transitional placement, or a payment received as a caretaker of a newborn child.
Note: Amounts received under the program for trial jobs are taxable wages and are not included in the definition of Wisconsin Works (W2) payment. Amounts received under the program for job access loans, health care coverage, child care subsidies, and transportation assistance are also not included in the definition of Wisconsin Works (W2) payment. These amounts are not includable in household income.