M1SLC: Student Loan Credit (2024)
Minnesota · Minnesota DOR · Used for tax years 2024
Minnesota Schedule M1SLC calculates the 2024 Student Loan Credit using payments toward your own qualified education loans, income, and loan interest. The credit is limited to $500 per person, and the schedule is included with Form M1.
Who files this form
Use 2024 Schedule M1SLC to claim the Minnesota Student Loan Credit. You may be eligible if you:
- Had taxable earned income.
- Made payments toward your own qualified education loans in 2024.
- Were a full-year or part-year Minnesota resident.
Qualified education loans are loans used for the cost of attendance at an eligible postsecondary college or university. Loans from a relative or a qualified employer plan do not qualify.
Include Schedule M1SLC when you file Form M1 to claim the credit.
What you'll need
Have these records and forms available:
- Records of your 2024 qualified education loan payments, including principal and interest. Save canceled checks and detailed records from the institution receiving your payments. You may be asked to show them.
- Federal Form 1098-E, box 1, for qualified education loan interest paid in 2024.
- Federal Form W-2, box 1, and your net earnings from self-employment to determine earned income.
- Form M1, line 1, for your federal adjusted gross income.
- The original amount of qualified education loans taken out for your own postsecondary education, including amounts already paid and amounts still unpaid.
- Any employer reimbursement amounts needed to adjust your eligible payments.
Part-year residents use Schedule M1NR to calculate the residency adjustment. Married part-year residents filing jointly must prepare a separate Schedule M1NR for each spouse who qualifies for the credit.
How to file
Complete Schedule M1SLC and include it when you file Form M1. Keep a copy for your records.
- If you are married filing jointly, complete the Worksheet for Line 2.
- Follow the line 14 instructions for full-year or part-year residents. Married part-year residents filing jointly use the Worksheet for Line 14.
- Add line 14 from columns A and B. Enter the total on line 15 and on line 9 of Schedule M1C.
Common mistakes
- Counting someone else’s loans: Do not include payments toward another person’s loans or loans taken out for someone else’s education in your own calculation. Joint filers should use the appropriate column for each spouse’s loans.
- Ignoring employer reimbursements: Reduce eligible payments by reimbursements under an employer-sponsored qualified educational assistance program under IRC section 127 that were not included in adjusted gross income.
- Missing a required amendment: If you claimed the credit and later received reimbursements for payments used to calculate it, the text directs you to file Form M1X to recalculate the credit excluding the reimbursed payments.
- Continuing past a stop instruction: If line 5 is zero or less in a column, stop in that column. If line 6 is zero or less, stop. You do not qualify.
- Forgetting rounding or records: Round amounts to the nearest whole dollar, retain proof of payments, and keep a copy of the schedule.
Questions people ask
What is the maximum credit?
The maximum credit is $500 per person. Your calculated credit may be lower.
Do both principal and interest payments count?
Yes. Line 1 includes payments made in 2024 toward both principal and interest on qualified education loans for your own postsecondary education.
Can I include payments that my employer reimbursed?
If the reimbursements were included in your adjusted gross income, you may include the payments. Payments reimbursed through an IRC section 127 program and excluded from adjusted gross income must be reduced by the reimbursed amount.
Can part-year Minnesota residents claim the credit?
Yes, if otherwise eligible. Part-year residents must apply the line 14 residency adjustment using Schedule M1NR. Joint filers use separate Schedules M1NR for qualifying spouses and the Worksheet for Line 14.