About

Need to Know Tax publishes Income Tax 2026 · Need to Know · Federal & Minnesota, a plain-English guide to the income tax topics that touch nearly every Minnesota household.

The publication

It is written to be read at leisure, an article at a time. It is not a tax code and does not try to be one. Each article covers one subject in plain English, explains the terms the first time they appear, and stops. The figures are for tax year 2026, the return filed in early 2027, with 2027 figures where they have been published. It is dated on purpose and will be replaced next year.

It is independent. No firm is named inside the articles. The practice whose name is on your edition had no part in writing it, and the articles are the same for every reader. Where an article says “ask your preparer,” it means whoever prepares your return.

The printed magazine, Income Tax 2026, carries a selection of these articles, chosen for the widest audience and edited to fit its pages. This site carries the printed articles in full, plus others that appear online only, and it is kept current as the rules change; where print and site differ, the site is the later word.

How the articles are built

Each article leads with the plain answer, then a worked example in real dollars, the Minnesota side of the topic, a “what to bring your preparer” list and links to the forms and official pages it mentions. Every one ends with a question box that goes to the editor.

One enrolled agent or CPA in each Minnesota city holds that city’s seat for the season: “Compliments of” their practice at the top of every page of their city’s edition, their name at the foot of every article, their own page inside, and the reader questions routed to them. Every seat-holder reads the Minnesota pages before the season and is credited as a reviewer. The seat-holder has no part in writing the articles, which are the same for every reader.

How a city seat works. Tell us you’re interested.

How this publication is written, and what it is not

Who writes it. Every article is written and edited by Charles Trautman, an Enrolled Agent — a federally licensed tax practitioner who may represent taxpayers before the IRS — at the Tax Shop in Lone Tree, Colorado. The articles are written for readers, not for other preparers, and they say plainly what the rule is and where it bites.

As of a date. Tax law is a moving target: Congress amends it, the IRS issues guidance, courts rule, and the dollar figures are reset every year for inflation. Each article carries the date it was last reviewed, under the author’s name at the top. What it says is the law as it was understood on that date. Figures for the 2026 tax year are the ones the IRS has published where it has, and are marked as projected where it has not; a pass in December freezes them for the filing season, and the updates page records what changed after publication.

General information, not advice. Nothing here is advice about your return. The articles describe how the rules work for people in general; your return depends on facts the article cannot know. The worked examples use round numbers and simplified situations to show how a rule operates — your numbers will differ, and small differences change answers. Reading this publication does not make you a client of the Tax Shop, and no preparer-client relationship exists until you have engaged the Tax Shop and it has accepted the engagement.

Accuracy. The articles are written carefully and checked against the IRS and Minnesota sources they cite, but errors happen. If you find one, say so at Corrections; it will be fixed in place and logged. The publication is offered as is, without warranty, and the Tax Shop is not responsible for decisions made on the strength of an article alone. Where something here matters to you, confirm it with a professional who knows your facts before you act.

Links. Articles link to IRS.gov, the Minnesota revenue department and other official pages for convenience. Those sites control their own content, and a link is not an endorsement of anything beyond the page it points to.

City editions. A seat-holder’s practice name appears on the cover, on a line above the masthead, at the foot of each article as the practice that answers questions, and on the state articles as a reviewer. The seat-holder had no part in writing the articles, which are identical for every reader. See Your city’s edition.

Corrections

Tax rules are detailed and the people who write about them make mistakes. If you find one, write to editor@needtoknowtax.com with the article name and the sentence in question. Corrections are logged on the updates page and fixed in place.

About the author

Charles Trautman, EA

The Tax Shop · Lone Tree, Colorado

I’m Charles Trautman, an Enrolled Agent in Lone Tree, Colorado. I grew up in my mother’s tax office — she opened the Tax Shop in 1969 — and prepared my first return at sixteen. I have been doing this work ever since, and I still sign every return the Tax Shop produces.

I wrote the Minnesota pages from the Minnesota Department of Revenue's own publications: the December 2025 inflation-adjusted amounts, the 2026 tax professional desk reference chart, the draft 2026 Form M1, M1M, M1R, M1QPEN, M1ED, M1529, M1RENT, M1PR and M706 forms and instructions, and the department's pages on the Social Security subtraction, reciprocity and the 183-day rule, checked against the House Research summary and the department's revenue analysis of the 2026 tax bill (HF 2438). Where a 2026 figure was not yet published I say so. The pages await review by a Minnesota practitioner.

Reviewing the Minnesota pages

An invitation to Minnesota EAs and CPAs

These Minnesota pages were written by the editor from the Minnesota Department of Revenue’s own publications, and they need a Minnesota practitioner’s eye. One enrolled agent or CPA in each Minnesota city holds that city’s seat: reads these pages before the filing season and is credited as a reviewer, is named on every page of their city’s edition, and answers its readers’ questions. $1,000 for the 2026 season, the charter price. Take your city’s seat (a two-minute form and a card), tell us you’re interested, write to editor@needtoknowtax.com, or read how it works.

I wrote these articles so that the people my friends and family send me walk in knowing what to expect, and so that anyone who reads them can ask a better question of whoever prepares their return. The Tax Shop prepares returns by mail and by portal for clients far from Colorado, and most of them I have never met in person. If something here raises a question, ask; the box at the foot of every article comes to me.

General information, not advice about your situation. Confirm anything that matters with a professional who knows your facts.