Can You Claim Rent on Your Taxes in Michigan?

Yes, you can claim rent on your Michigan taxes through the Homestead Property Tax Credit. The state treats 23% of your annual rent as property taxes paid, runs that figure through a formula based on your household income, and refunds up to $1,900 for the 2025 tax year. You claim it on Form MI-1040CR, and because the credit is refundable, you get the money even if you owe no state income tax.¹

Who Qualifies

Four conditions decide whether you can claim the credit, and you have to meet all of them.

You lived in Michigan for at least six months of the tax year, and the home you rented was your permanent residence and subject to local property taxes.²
Your Total Household Resources for 2025 are $71,500 or less. Above that line, you get nothing.³
The rental property’s taxable value (the assessor’s figure, not market value) is $165,400 or less. Your landlord or local assessor can confirm this.³
The credit itself is capped at $1,900, no matter what the formula produces.³

The credit starts phasing out once your Total Household Resources pass $62,500, falling by 10% for every $1,000 (or fraction) above that threshold until it disappears at $71,500.²

How Much You Get

The formula has two steps. First, multiply your total annual rent by 23%; the result is treated as the property tax equivalent on your home. Second, subtract 3.2% of your Total Household Resources from that figure. Your credit is 60% of what’s left.⁴

A worked example makes it concrete. You paid $12,000 in rent during 2025 and your household resources were $40,000. The rent-based property tax equivalent is $2,760 (23% of $12,000). Subtracting 3.2% of $40,000, which is $1,280, leaves $1,480. Sixty percent of that is $888. That $888 comes back to you as a refund.

If you receive a housing subsidy such as Section 8, only the portion of rent you pay yourself counts in the formula. Rent paid on your behalf by a government agency is excluded.¹

What Counts as Total Household Resources

This is broader than federal adjusted gross income, and it’s where people miscalculate. It includes all income received by everyone in your household during the year, taxable or not: Social Security, pensions, unemployment, child support, non-taxable interest. Net business or rental losses that reduced your federal gross income get added back.⁵

Some things are left out. Energy assistance grants, food assistance, federal stimulus payments, and government payments made directly to a third party (such as GI Bill money sent to a school) don’t count. The first $300 in cash gifts or expenses paid by family or friends is also excluded, as are state and city income tax refunds and prior-year homestead credits.⁶

Better Terms for Seniors, Disabled Renters, and Disabled Veterans

Three groups get materially better math than the standard formula.

If you’re 65 or older, you receive 100% of the amount by which 23% of your rent exceeds a sliding share of your income, not 60%. That percentage of income starts at 0% for household income under $3,000 and rises to 3.5% above $6,000. Low-income seniors often end up with credits well above what a younger renter at the same income would receive.⁷

Claimants who meet the Social Security Administration’s definition of total and permanent disability under 42 U.S.C. § 416 qualify for the same enhanced formula regardless of age.⁴

Veterans rated by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs as permanently and totally disabled from service, individually unemployable, or certified for specially adapted housing (and their surviving spouses) get the strongest treatment: a credit equal to 100% of the 23%-of-rent figure, with the income cap, taxable value cap, and $1,900 ceiling all waived.

Rentals That Don’t Qualify

Because the credit is tied to property taxes on your home, two kinds of housing fall outside or get a reduced rate.

Housing that is fully exempt from property taxes and service fees doesn’t meet the statutory definition of a homestead, so you can’t claim the credit at all. This covers some government-owned housing and certain nonprofit facilities.⁸

Service fee housing is different. These properties pay a fee to the local government in place of property taxes. You can still claim the credit, but only 10% of your rent counts as the property tax equivalent instead of the usual 23%.⁸ On $12,000 in annual rent, that’s the difference between a $2,760 base and a $1,200 base. If you don’t know which category your building falls into, ask your landlord or the local assessor before you file.

Filing the Claim

Use Form MI-1040CR. If you’re filing a Michigan income tax return, attach the MI-1040CR behind your MI-1040. If your income is low enough that you aren’t required to file a state return, you can submit the MI-1040CR by itself to collect the refund.¹

The form asks for total rent paid during the year, how many months you lived in the home, and your landlord’s name and address. Have those in front of you before you start, and keep your rent records in case the state asks for verification.

The deadline for the 2025 tax year is April 15, 2026, with a 180-day extension available on request.⁶ If you forgot to claim the credit in a prior year, you generally have four years from that year’s original filing deadline to file an amended return.

E-filing is the fastest route; those returns typically process in about 14 business days. Paper returns go to the Michigan Department of Treasury in Lansing. Use P.O. Box 30774, Lansing, MI 48929 if you’re including a payment,⁹ or Lansing, MI 48956 if you expect a refund or owe nothing.¹ You can track the refund through the “Where’s My Refund?” tool on the Treasury website.¹⁰

1
State of Michigan. 2025 Michigan Homestead Property Tax Credit Claim MI-1040CR
2
Michigan Legislature. MCL – Section 206.520 – Income Tax Act of 1967 (Excerpt)
3
State of Michigan. 2025 Homestead Property Tax Credit Information
4
Michigan Legislature. MCL – Section 206.522 – Income Tax Act of 1967 (Excerpt)
5
Michigan Legislature. MCL – Section 206.508 – Income Tax Act of 1967 (Excerpt)
6
Michigan Legislature. Taxpayer’s Guide
7
Michigan Legislature. Services for Seniors
8
State of Michigan. Tax Exempt Housing
9
State of Michigan. Sending Payments to Treasury
10
State of Michigan. Where’s My Refund?