How to Get and Fill Out Michigan’s Home Heating Credit Form (MI-1040CR-7)

To claim Michigan’s Home Heating Credit, download Form MI-1040CR-7 from the Michigan Department of Treasury, complete it using your income and heating bills for the period from November 1, 2024 through October 31, 2025, and file it — by mail or electronically — no later than September 30, 2026 for the 2025 tax year.¹ You do not need to file a Michigan income tax return to claim the credit. If you are not otherwise required to file an MI-1040, the MI-1040CR-7 can go in on its own.

The blank form and instruction booklet are free PDFs on the Treasury website.² Most commercial tax software also supports it.

Who Can File

You must be a Michigan resident who owns or rents a homestead in the state. Only one credit is allowed per household. If several eligible people share a home, they split the credit.³ For a rental, only the person named on the lease claims it.

You cannot claim the credit if you lived in an adult foster care home, nursing home, home for the aged, or substance abuse center for all of 2025. Full-time students at a school, community college, or university who are claimed as dependents on someone else’s return are also excluded.

Income matters, too. Your Total Household Resources have to fall below the ceiling for your number of exemptions. The Standard Credit ceilings for 2025 run from $17,243 for zero or one exemption up to $47,471 for six exemptions, with an additional $6,057 per exemption after that.⁴

Total Household Resources is not the same as federal adjusted gross income. It includes all income for both spouses, taxable and nontaxable, so items excluded from your 1040 still count here. Add in Social Security, SSI, and railroad retirement (even the nontaxable portion), veterans’ benefits, workers’ compensation, child support and alimony received, foster care and adoption subsidies, FIP or MDHHS payments other than food assistance, gifts of cash or bills paid on your behalf over $300, gambling winnings over $300, and any nontaxable gain from selling your primary residence.⁵ Enter the full annual figure. Substituting a monthly amount is one of the most common errors Treasury flags.⁶

What to Gather Before You Start

Have all of the following in front of you before you begin. Missing one item can stall or sink your claim.⁷

Full nine-digit Social Security numbers for every household member, not just dependents. A blank SSN field means denial.
Total heating costs billed between November 1, 2024 and October 31, 2025. Many fuel companies print this cumulative amount on the October bill; if you can’t find it, call your provider.
Your heat provider name code and heat type code from Table 1 in the instruction booklet.
Income documents: W-2s, 1099s, Social Security benefit statements, pension statements, and records of nontaxable income.
The two-digit county code for your Michigan county, from the booklet’s County Code Table.

How to Fill Out the Form

The form runs about two pages. The work sits in three areas: household information, heating cost details, and the credit calculation.⁷

Personal and Household Details

Lines 1 through 3 collect your name, address, and Social Security number. If you are married filing separately, enter both SSNs but leave your spouse’s name off. Line 4 is your county code. Lines 5 through 7 cover housing: whether you own or rent, your heat provider name code, and your heat type code.

Line 8 is filing status. If you file a joint federal return, you must file a joint heating credit claim. Married couples who lived together all year but filed separate federal returns still check the joint box here and combine both spouses’ income in Total Household Resources.

Line 10 asks whether your heat is included in your rent. It’s easy to overlook and has a large effect on how the credit is issued. If the box applies to you and you skip it, expect delays.⁶

Line 13 is where you enter total heating costs billed between November 1, 2024 and October 31, 2025. Skip this line if your heat is included in rent, if you were not a full-year Michigan resident, or if you weren’t billed for a full 12 months.

Line 15 handles exemptions. Enter 1 if single or married filing separately, or 2 if married filing jointly. You can add exemptions if you or your spouse are deaf, blind, hemiplegic, paraplegic, quadriplegic, or totally and permanently disabled, or if either of you is a qualified disabled veteran. Dependent children and dependent adults over 18 who live with you and for whom you provide more than half their support also count.

Line 16 requires each household member’s SSN, age, and ethnicity, race, and gender codes. Include anyone temporarily absent for illness or work; exclude anyone absent for 90 or more consecutive days during 2025.

The Credit Calculation

The form computes two credits, and you get the larger. You don’t have to pick — the form runs both.

The Standard Credit (lines 36–39) starts with the Standard Allowance for your number of exemptions from Table A. If your Total Household Resources fall below the matching ceiling, subtract 3.5% of your resources from the allowance. The 2025 allowances and ceilings are:⁴

0–1 exemptions: $604 allowance, $17,243 ceiling
2 exemptions: $815 allowance, $23,271 ceiling
3 exemptions: $1,027 allowance, $29,329 ceiling
4 exemptions: $1,239 allowance, $35,385 ceiling
5 exemptions: $1,451 allowance, $41,443 ceiling
6 exemptions: $1,662 allowance, $47,471 ceiling
Each additional exemption above 6: add $212 to the allowance and $6,057 to the ceiling

The Alternate Credit (lines 40–43) uses your actual heating costs. Take your heating costs for the 12-month billing period (capped at $3,765 for 2025), subtract 11% of your Total Household Resources, and multiply the result by 70%.⁸ The Alternate Credit has its own income ceilings: $18,592 for 0–1 exemptions, $25,018 for 2, $31,449 for 3, and $34,227 for 4 or more. You cannot use this method if your claim covers fewer than 12 months or if your heat is included in rent. Line 44 carries the larger of the two amounts. That’s your credit.

Situations That Change How You File

Heat Included in Rent

If heating costs are folded into your rent when you file, check the box on line 10 and skip the Alternate Credit. Your Standard Credit is reduced by 50% at line 39, and the credit will arrive as a check mailed to you rather than an energy draft sent to a utility.⁹

Shared Housing

When two or more eligible claimants share a homestead, each files a separate MI-1040CR-7 and the credit is prorated by the number of claimants.³

Part-Year Michigan Residents

If you lived in Michigan for less than the full 12 months of 2025, enter your dates of Michigan residency on line 9 and prorate your Standard Allowance following the booklet’s instructions. The Alternate Credit method is off the table for a partial-year claim.

Submitting the Form

You can e-file or mail. E-filed claims are generally processed within about 14 business days, so electronic filing is faster. You can send the MI-1040CR-7 with your MI-1040 or as a standalone claim.¹

Paper claims go to:

Michigan Department of Treasury
Lansing, MI 48956²

Either way, the claim must be submitted or postmarked by September 30, 2026. There is no extension. Missing the deadline is one of the top reasons claims are rejected.

After You File

Track the claim through Michigan Treasury eServices. Log into Account Services and select “View Returns and Periods,” or use Guest Services and choose “Where’s My Refund,” entering your SSN, tax year, and expected refund amount.¹⁰

Most approved claimants receive an energy draft, which is a voucher Treasury sends directly to the enrolled heating fuel provider to credit your utility account.³ If your heat is included in rent, you get a check. The state aims to disburse before the next peak heating season.

If Treasury finds a problem — a math error, a missing SSN, or an income discrepancy — it will mail a letter asking for documentation. Respond within the timeframe stated. If your claim is adjusted or denied and you disagree, you can respond to the letter or submit an account-specific inquiry through Michigan Treasury eServices.¹¹

Mistakes That Delay or Deny Claims

Treasury publishes the errors it sees most often, and nearly all are avoidable:⁶

Filing after September 30. No extension exists.
Leaving out parts of Total Household Resources, such as gifts of cash, bills paid on your behalf, or Social Security benefits received for a dependent.
Entering a monthly income figure instead of the annual amount.
Missing or wrong SSNs. Any blank SSN field triggers denial.
Wrong heating cost total or wrong billing period.
Failing to check box 10 when heat is included in your rent.
Numbers placed on the wrong lines, particularly in the credit calculation.
Handwriting Treasury can’t read. E-filing removes this risk.

Ten minutes reviewing each line against the instruction booklet before submitting is the simplest way to keep your claim out of the adjustment pile.

1
Michigan Department of Treasury. Home Heating Credit Information
2
Michigan Department of Treasury. 2025 Michigan Home Heating Credit Claim MI-1040CR-7
3
Michigan Legislature. Michigan Code MCL 206-527a – Credit for Heating Fuel Costs for Homestead
4
Michigan Department of Treasury. Table A: 2025 Home Heating Credit (MI-1040CR-7) Standard Allowance
5
Michigan Department of Treasury. Total Household Resources (THR)
6
Michigan Department of Treasury. What Common Mistakes Are Made When Completing the Michigan Home Heating Credit Claim MI-1040CR-7
7
Michigan Department of Treasury. 2025 MI-1040CR-7 Home Heating Credit Claim Instruction Book
8
Michigan Legislature. Taxpayer’s Guide
9
Michigan Department of Treasury. Home Heating Credit and Shared Housing Situations
10
Michigan Department of Treasury. How Do I Check the Status of My Home Heating Credit
11
Michigan Department of Treasury. Adjustments and Denials