Governor Calls IRS Tax on Rebate Checks “B.S.” and Expresses Displeasure with U.S. Treasury Department

(KNSI) — The State of Minnesota said it will not tax the rebate checks sent out this year, but the federal government is coming for its piece of the pie. Governor Tim Walz did not hold back when asked what he thought about that idea.

Depending on household income, those who received the checks must declare the money from the state on their federal taxes and pay between $26 and $286.

At a press conference Wednesday, a reporter asked Governor Tim Walz about the U.S. Treasury’s decision to tax the checks, with the reporter asking, “What happened there? I thought you knew the,” and the governor cut him off, saying, “ah, bulls**t” before adding “I don’t know. I say this. It’s the IRS. I have been on the phone, not more judicious than that slip there, to let them know.”

Governor Walz said he spoke with the president’s chief of staff when it became clear, “Minnesota is being treated unfairly in this.” He said the federal government picked the arbitrary date of May 11th to end the emergency, referring to the state of emergency declared due to the COVID-19 pandemic. That left the state in a bad spot as the state legislature was still working on the session and had yet to send over the bills allowing rebates. That didn’t happen until May 26th.

“We missed [it] by 15 days. Every other state was afforded this and they say ‘well, we’ve got to have a red line in the sand.”

He said he was “deeply disappointed” and added if the Treasury Department “even thinks about downplaying the $26, then I will have even harsher words than I started with. It’s just not right.”

Minnesota’s Second District Congresswoman Angie Craig (D) said she will press the IRS to rethink the decision. Her concern is confusion and errors on tax returns as the state won’t tax the checks, but the federal government will.

See the exchange here:

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (DFL) vents as a reporter raises that the IRS is taxing Minnesota’s tax rebate checks as income:

“Ah, bullshit.” pic.twitter.com/Oe4j6Xjkwk

— Heartland Signal (@HeartlandSignal) December 6, 2023