St. Paul, MN- The Minnesota House and Senate passed a supplemental budget bill that included a provision exempting military retirement pay from state income tax. This provision was supported and championed by Representative Bob Dettmer (R-Forest Lake, MN), Chair of the Veterans Affairs Committee in the Minnesota House of Representatives.
Rep. Dettmer is a retired Chief Warrant Officer of the U.S. Army Reserves. He was called to active duty shortly after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and began a two year tour on active duty supporting Operation Enduring Freedom at Fort Gordon, Georgia, and later Operation Iraqi Freedom. Two of Dettmer's sons are graduates of West Point and also serve as officers in the U.S. Army.
Prior to this legislation, Minnesota was one of just a handful of states that fully taxed military retirement pay. Rep. Dettmer hopes that this provision will encourage more veterans to remain in Minnesota after they retire.
There are close to 18,000 veterans living in Minnesota who will now see their military pensions completely exempted from state income tax.
"Minnesota made a historic leap forward this past legislative session in making veterans retirement benefits tax-exempt," said Dettmer. "We will now join at least 12 other states who don’t tax any portion of military retirement benefits. The tax exemption also applies to survivor benefit pay, so the spouse of a deceased military retiree who receives survivor benefit pay would be able to subtract that pay from taxable income. This tax exemption was the result of a nearly 20-year push in the Minnesota legislature, and I am truly grateful to those who were fighting for this measure long before I was elected."
The supplemental budget bill, which included the veterans' pension exemption, was signed into law by Governor Mark Dayton.
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