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Minnesota has managed to invent one of the most insulting bureaucratic tricks imaginable for veterans.
Under the state’s rules for the Property Tax Refund (Form M1PR), GI Bill and Yellow Ribbon education benefits are counted as household income.
Yes, really.
Money that goes straight to a university for tuition. Money the veteran never receives. Money specifically earned through military service to pay for education.
Minnesota looks at that and says: “That’s income.”
The result is predictable and absurd. A veteran’s income can suddenly appear two, three, sometimes four times higher than what they actually live on. On paper they look “too wealthy” to qualify for property tax relief.
In reality, nothing changed except that they used the education benefits they earned.
Two families can have identical real income, identical homes, identical tax burdens. But if one of them used GI Bill benefits to go to school, Minnesota treats them as if they’re suddenly rolling in money. This creates inequitable access for veterans and frankly unfair treatment of them.
It’s a perfect example of government bureaucracy colliding with common sense and losing badly.
If this horrendous state truly wants to claim it supports veterans, it might want to stop designing policies that blatantly punish them for using the benefits they earned.
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