What Is a Certificate of Rent Paid and the Renter’s Credit

A Certificate of Rent Paid, or CRP, is a Minnesota form your landlord fills out each year showing how much rent you paid, and you use it to claim the state’s Renter’s Credit on your income tax return. Your landlord must give you one by January 31 for rent paid the previous year. Without it (or an approved substitute), you can’t claim the credit.

When Your Landlord Must Give You the Form

The deadline is January 31 of the year after the rent was paid. For rent paid during 2025, that means January 31, 2026.¹ Your landlord can deliver it on paper or electronically.

Moved out mid-year? Your landlord can hand you the CRP when you move or mail it to a forwarding address, as long as it reaches you before February 1. If you don’t leave a forwarding address, the form may never reach you. Landlords also have to keep a copy of every CRP for three years and produce it for the Department of Revenue on request.²

What’s on the Form

Check the CRP for accuracy as soon as you receive it. It should show:

Your name and address, plus your landlord’s name and address
The rental property address
Total rent you paid during the tax year
The period you occupied the property

CRPs generated through the Department of Revenue’s e-Services system also carry an Electronic Certificate Number (ECN). The ECN lets the Department match your credit claim to what your landlord submitted, which speeds processing.

If Your Landlord Won’t Give You a CRP

This is where most renter’s credit claims stall. If the landlord doesn’t produce the form, the credit is effectively blocked until you push back.

Start with a direct request by phone or in writing. Many missed CRPs are simple oversights. A written request that mentions the per-CRP penalty for noncompliance often works. Keep copies.

If that fails, call the Minnesota Department of Revenue at 651-296-3781 or 1-800-652-9094. The Department can contact your landlord and assess the penalty, and it can issue you a Rent Paid Affidavit (RPA) to use in place of the CRP.³

RPAs become available February 1 each year. To request one, you’ll need your personal information, your landlord’s name and contact details, the rental address, the dates you rented, and the total rent paid. File the RPA with your return along with proof of payment such as bank statements or receipts, even if your landlord later provides a CRP.³

How to Use the CRP to Claim the Renter’s Credit

You claim the credit on Schedule M1RENT, which attaches to your Minnesota income tax return (Form M1). Include copies of your CRPs, or your RPA, when you file. Most tax software builds Schedule M1RENT into the Minnesota return.⁴

The filing deadline matches your income tax return. For tax year 2025, that’s April 15, 2026. The credit is refundable, so you can receive money back even if your Minnesota tax liability is zero, but you still have to file a return to get it. If your income is low enough that you don’t normally file a state return, file one anyway to claim the credit.

If you filed Form M1PR in past years to claim a renter’s property tax refund, note that the form no longer applies to renters. The Renter’s Credit replaced it starting with tax year 2024, and the money now comes with your regular income tax refund instead of arriving as a separate payment months later.⁴

Who Can Actually Claim the Credit

Having a CRP isn’t enough on its own. You also have to meet all of these:

You were a full-year or part-year Minnesota resident during the tax year.
You rented a home where property taxes were payable. Property-tax-exempt buildings don’t count.
You aren’t a dependent, and no one else is eligible to claim you as one.
Your household income for 2025 is below $77,570.³
Not all of your rent was paid by Medical Assistance, Supplemental Security Income, Minnesota Supplemental Aid, or Minnesota Housing Support.⁴

The income threshold adjusts each year, so check the Department of Revenue’s site if you’re filing for a different tax year.

How Household Income and the Credit Are Figured

Household income for this program starts with your federal adjusted gross income and then subtracts amounts for dependents and for claimants who are 65 or older or disabled. Those subtractions can pull you under the threshold even when your AGI sits above it.

For tax year 2025, the subtractions are:⁴

Age 65+ or disabled: $5,200 (applies to you, your spouse, or both)
1 dependent: $7,280
2 dependents: $14,040
3 dependents: $20,280
4 dependents: $26,000
5 or more dependents: $31,200

Example: a single renter with two children and an AGI of $85,000 subtracts $14,040 for the dependents, bringing household income to $70,960, which fits under the $77,570 cap. Skip that step and the same renter looks ineligible. This is the part most people miss.

For the credit amount itself, the state treats 17% of your total annual rent as the property tax portion, and the formula weighs that figure against your household income. Lower incomes produce larger credits, and the credit phases out as income rises toward the threshold.⁴

1
Minnesota Department of Revenue. Create Certificate of Rent Paid
2
Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Code 290.0693 – Renter’s Credit
3
Minnesota Department of Revenue. Renter’s Credit
4
Minnesota Department of Revenue. 2025 Schedule M1RENT – Renter’s Credit