Wisconsin renter: sliding standard deduction and the renter's school property tax credit
A single HVAC technician renting in Milwaukee with one W-2. Wisconsin's standard deduction shrinks as income rises, so it comes from a table, and every renter can take the school property tax credit based on rent paid and whether heat was included.
Taxpayer facts
Who this is and what their year looked like.
Adrian is single, 29, and rents a one-bedroom apartment in the Bay View neighborhood of Milwaukee. He works full time as an HVAC service technician.
His W-2 is his only income. He paid $875 a month in rent all year, and his lease includes heat (the building has a central boiler). He takes the standard deduction.
- NameAdrian J. Ostrowski
- Date of birth09/16/1996
- SSN391-27-5864
- Age (as of 12/31/2025)29
- Filing statusSingle
- DependentsNone
- Claimed as a dependent by anyone else?No
- OccupationHVAC service technician
- Address2740 S Kinnickinnic Ave, Apt 3B, Milwaukee, WI 53207
- ResidencyWisconsin, full year
- Rent$875 a month, January through December 2025 ($10,500), heat included in the rent. The building is privately owned and pays property tax. No food or services included.
- Health coverageEmployer plan, full year
- Out-of-state online purchases without sales taxNone
Source documents
Work from these the way you would a real client's paperwork. Everything is fictional.
Objectives
What a correct return should capture.
- Build the federal return: one W-2, the 2025 single standard deduction of $15,750, and the tax from the Tax Table.
- Start Wisconsin Form 1 from federal AGI. With no additions or subtractions, Wisconsin income (line 7) equals federal AGI.
- Look up the Wisconsin standard deduction on line 8 in the 2025 Standard Deduction Table (single column). Note that it is lower than the $13,560 maximum because it phases down as income rises.
- Subtract the $700 personal exemption on line 10 and find the tax on line 12 in the 2025 Wisconsin Tax Table.
- Figure the renter's school property tax credit on line 16a: total 2025 rent, then the table column for rent with heat included.
- Subtract the credit from the tax, and compare the net tax to the Wisconsin withholding (line 28) for the refund or amount owed.
Check your work
The answer key and the complete return, the way a real client receives it: the 1040 and its schedules, the workpapers behind every number, and the signature forms.
Stuck? Work through it with Yehuda
A one-on-one, 30-minute tutoring session on this return with Yehuda Tenenbaum, EA. Bring the spot where you got stuck and we will work through it together: how the forms connect, why a figure lands where it does, and how to check your work. $250. This is education on the practice return, not advice on your own taxes.