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Byline: David Eggert A proposal to tax and regulate services that function as a sort of Airbnb for car rentals has sparked the latest legislative fight over the sharing economy. [...]

Byline: Kirk Pinho State lawmakers have thrown a lifeline to the developer behind a pair of proposed high-rise buildings in Detroit's Midtown neighborhood. At risk: Nearly $9 million in Michigan [...]

Byline: Chad Livengood Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer can't get the legislative engine to turn over on her 45-cent gas tax increase. Nearly tripling the 26.3-cents-per-gallon fuel tax is deemed too [...]

A substantial literature exists on federal tax expenditures, but almost no empirical research has been done on state tax expenditures. This article examines Michigan tax expenditures, with an emphasis on comparison to findings from the federal level. Three major topics are addressed: (1) allocation of resources by policy area, (2) distribution of tax expenditure benefits by income class, and (3) tax expenditure growth over time. Only the findings on resource allocation are consistent with findings from the federal level, suggesting that simple theories may be insufficient to systematically describe tax expenditures.

Michigan offers sales and used tax exemptions to local businesses engaged in agricultural production and industrial processing. Although both exemptions share certain similarities, a closer analysis shows that they also have distinct differences. One notable difference is the way Michigan law provides tax exemption to third party service providers. While third party service providers who support agricultural production receive exemption, those who support other manufacturing operations such as industrial processing do not. Industrial processing service providers, as a result, incur higher costs than their counterparts in agricultural production., By Joseph J. Tomczyk, CPA, MACPA State & Local Taxation Subcommittee member, PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP, Grand Rapids Like many states, Michigan provides tax incentives to attract and maintain certain enterprises to [...]

Byline: Chad Halcom A legal challenge to a defunct business tax structure in Michigan could roll in with at least two disputes in other states for the U.S. Supreme Court [...]

The 1995 legislation on business tax in Michigan has undergone several changes. The Single Business Tax base which has been previously apportioned by multiplying by 50% will now be multiplied by 80% instead. This will also affect the capital acquisition deduction (CAD) because the increase to 80% will require a substantial reduction in the CAD. The CAD will also be limited to properties which are actually situated in Michigan and utilized for Michigan business activities., Editor's note: As a follow-up to 'Michigan Taxes: Changes Abound' in the spring issue of The Michigan CPA, which provided a summary of tax law changes affecting the Michigan Single [...]

The Michigan Court of Appeal's rulings on the separate cases of Guardian Industries Corp. and Gillette Co. versus the Dept. of Treasury over the state's Single Business Tax Act are discussed. Guardian's case centered on the calculation of the sales fraction of the three-factor Single Business Tax Act apportionment formula. Gillette Co.'s case involved the state's right to impose the Single Business Tax on a foreign taxpayer operating in the state., After nearly two decades, the Michigan Court of Appeals has finally handed down opinions in two cases dealing with the long simmering single business tax throwback and jurisdictional issues. While [...]

Public Act 98 of 1992 increases the number of businesses which can qualify for the Single Business Tax small business credit (SBC). It accomplishes this by raising the limitation on gross receipts to $10 million from $7.5 million and by lowering the alternate tax from 4% to 3%. Despite these, businesses whose shareholders' or officers' compensation or income share are over $95,000 still are not eligible because this limitation was not addressed by legislators. Some business may qualify, however, through SBC tax planning and identifying prior years' loss adjustment., Public Act 98 of 1992 significantly increased the number of businesses that will be eligible for the Single Business Tax (SBT) small business credit (SBC) by increasing the gross receipts [...]

As most taxpayers are aware, Congress has been reducing or eliminating various tax incentives and/or tax loopholes in recent years in an attempt to mitigate the rather larger U.S. budget [...]

If you ever want to see Jon Gutek's blood boil, all you have to do is mention that four-letter word: taxes. Oh, right. Make that a five-letter word. But, hey [...]

Updates on Michigan tax issues involving CPAs and their clients have been introduced. Changes in the Single Business Tax sales factor by 1999 will start in 1997 and property placed in service outside Michigan will no longer be eligible for CAD after Dec. 31, 1996. Court ruling in the Elias Brothers Restaurant case has entitled company-owned restaurants to the industrial processing use tax exemption for equipment and supplies used in business., The following update addresses some current Michigan tax issues affecting CPAs and their clients: Single Business Tax SBT Changes Begin in 1997 Legislation phasing in a 90 percent weighting of [...]

The Michigan Sales Tax Act prohibits deductions from the gross proceeds of taxable sales of tangible personal property for the costs of services. On the other hand, the Use Tax Act only taxes specific services, namely, intrastate telephone, telegraph, leased wire communications, rooms or lodging provided by hotel-motel operators and certain interstate telephone services. To determine whether it is a tangible personal property or service that has been sold, the sales transaction must be look at as a whole. This would avoid any complications that may arise out a sale of a product or service., The difference between a sale of tangible personal property and the sale of a service is one of the more difficult and complex determinations to make regarding state sales and [...]

The Single Business Tax (SBT) program of Michigan has been readjusted following the passage of an SBT tax cut bill. As a result, the SBT rate has been lowered to 2.3% effective Jun. 30, 1994 while the alternate profits rate has been cut to 2%. Other important issues that have been raised in relation to Michigan's SBT program include the application of the Commerce Clause nexus standard and the exclusion of casual transactions from the calculation of SBT income., I. SBT Changes By: Larry L. Larmee, CPA Correll Porvin, Associates, PC, Southfield Chair of the MACPA State and Local Taxation Committee Many taxpayers who previously were not required to [...]

Byline: AMY LANE Real estate developers, local government leaders and consultants specializing in finding new life for brownfield sites say new state legislation in the works could help jump-start a [...]

Corporate tax hike no cure for city woes A small part of the city of Detroit's plan for return to fiscal health is an increase in the tax on C-corporations [...]

Byline: MIKE TURNER Legislation that would change Michigan's personal property tax system by eventually eliminating the industrial portion -- and also exempting most commercial businesses -- is expected to be [...]

When Michigan voters recently approved a plan to substitute sales taxes and other state taxes for the local property tax, it gained national attention. The New York Times called it [...]

Over the past year, the state of Michigan has profoundly changed the way in which the state's elementary and secondary schools are funded and, at the same time, fundamentally reformed [...]

New biz tax, new funds brighten state outlook Last week, Gov. Rick Snyder and the Legislature accomplished what no elected leaders in our state had done in 30 years: pass [...]

Byline: Keith Crain During these difficult times, Detroit's mayor would like to increase the rate casinos pay in taxes for a year to raise additional revenue. It will require the [...]

B'field Park developer goes to Ann Arbor Craig Schubiner, the developer behind the massive Bloomfield Park retail and condo venture that failed in 2008, is set to bring a more [...]

Byline: AMY LANE Gov. Rick Snyder's tax reform proposal would slice business-tax contributions to state revenue and shift the burden largely to increases in individual income taxes. Under Snyder's plan, [...]

Byline: AMY LANE Gov. Rick Snyder is wagering that an improved business tax structure trumps the need for widespread tax incentives. 'Let's stop the tax credits and realize, in many [...]

Byline: Mary Kramer Crain's Michigan Business? Yes, after 25 years of serving Southeast Michigan executives with need-to-know news and information, Crain's today extends its periscope to explore the rest of [...]

Better biz tax might not need incentives At a fundraising dinner last Thursday to support the Michigan Political Leadership Program, Gov. Rick Snyder offered a glimpse of how he looks [...]

Maybe Illinois tax hike will pay off here With the corporate tax rate in Illinois hiked to 9.5 percent from 7.3 percent, Jimmy John's Gourmet Sandwiches is considering moving from [...]

Byline: DUSTIN WALSH The Michigan Economic Growth Authority approved tax credits for four automotive suppliers at its meeting last month. The four projects would create an expected 419 jobs over [...]

Byline: AMY LANE Business is looking for change. And it's willing to lend expertise to help Gov.-elect Rick Snyder make it happen. Whether it's improvements in the state regulatory process, [...]

Byline: Sherri Welch Estate-planning professionals expect a federal legislative clamor to pass new estate tax legislation after the November elections. Despite expectations that Congress might take up the issue earlier [...]

Byline: SHAWN WRIGHT The Open Door Rescue Mission, a men's homeless shelter in Detroit, is hoping its 400 Club campaign, which emphasizes a Michigan tax credit program, will entice donors [...]

Byline: AMY LANE Pledging to cut business taxes is the easy part. The harder part -- and controversy -- will come when Virg Bernero or Rick Snyder try to turn [...]

Byline: BILL SHEA AND DUSTIN WALSH There's been a steady trickle of automotive suppliers based outside Michigan taking advantage of tax breaks to launch or expand operations locally to be [...]

Byline: AMY LANE Southeast Michigan businesspeople want to see the Michigan Business Tax reduced -- but not necessarily at the expense of a worsening state structural budget deficit. A recent [...]

Byline: Amy Lane Businesses that have delinquent tax liabilities might want to put May 15 on their calendars. That's when the state will begin a 45-day tax amnesty period that [...]

Balance tax credits with growth policies It's an election year, and politicians and policy wonks are engaging in the time-honored tradition of trashing one another's pet policies. Front and center [...]

Byline: Amy Lane Michigan's main business tax is headed for a shakeup or death, depending on whom Michigan elects as its next governor. At the Grand Rapids Area Chamber of [...]

Byline: BILL SHEA Pinnacle Race Course in Wayne County's Huron Township hasn't paid a combined $1.46 million in property taxes for 2009 and 2010 because it didn't receive its tax [...]

Byline: SHERRI WELCH The long-awaited 990 tax forms for nonprofits muddied the picture of compensation trends in 2008. All nonprofits that file a 990 should use a new form for [...]

Byline: AMY LANE Michigan faces an estimated $140 million interest bill next year stemming from its federal unemployment borrowing, and that could mean additional taxes starting in January for thousands [...]

Byline: AMY LANE Michigan's signature $100 million-apiece tax credits to attract advanced battery cell manufacturing operations have brought six projects to the state. But they've also brought criticism for their [...]

Byline: Amy Lane Tobacco distributors may be close to eliminating what they've seen as a costly problem in Michigan's business tax that passed in 2007. Senate Bill 361, which gained [...]

Byline: SHAWN WRIGHT One proponent of a statewide ballot proposal to add new casinos in Michigan is moving ahead full speed, while a competing proposal remains a moving target. The [...]

Byline: Amy Lane The idea of extending Michigan's sales tax to consumer services finds some receptivity in Southeast Michigan, a new poll shows. The issue was one of two questions [...]

Byline: CHAD HALCOM Royal Oak may venture into uncharted legal waters this week when it starts implementing a new oversight practice for its Downtown Development Authority in the wake of [...]

Byline: AMY LANE Five companies plan to invest $79.4 million and bring just shy of 4,000 jobs to the Detroit area over the next few years in a series of [...]

Byline: CHAD HALCOM The financial noose around local governments will keep tightening for at least two more years, and those shedding jobs and services to balance their budgets will not [...]