Insider Intelligence

This week legislation was introduced in the House and Senate prohibiting local units of government from imposing an excise tax on the production, distribution, and sale of food. In the House, Representative Rob VerHeulen (R-Walker) stated that he introduced his legislation after seeing how local taxes of this nature have caused harm to grocery stores, […]

On Tuesday, Governor Rick Snyder returned a two-bill, tax relief package without his signature.  The legislation would have accelerated the timeline originally agreed upon in 2013 for the phase-in of sales and use tax relief for those who trade in a vehicle when purchasing a new or used vehicle.  The reductions were originally scheduled to […]

Representative Brandt Iden (R-Oshtemo Township) introduced legislation seeking to reform the Michigan Tax Tribunal, looking to make it more reliable and efficient.  Specifically, the legislation would do the following: Establish required training for new Tribunal members including state and local tax issues, proper courtroom procedures and accepted appraisal practices. Require the governor to consider candidates […]

This week, members of the House and Senate Democratic caucuses announced legislation to cut taxes for many Michigan residents.  The members said their plan would help fix three critical problems – the broken tax system, crumbling roads, and underfunded school. According to their press release, the bottom 80% of households contribute 9.2% – 9.5% of […]

The Michigan Spirits Association (MSA) represents the vendors, suppliers, and distributors of distilled spirit products in the state of Michigan. The industry is one of the state’s significant revenue generators, which has historically made it a target for proposed tax increases. With MLC’s counsel, the MSA was able fight back a tax increase threat, but […]

This week, Representative Tom Cochran (D-Mason) and Representative Kristy Pagan (D-Canton) introduced legislation restoring, then increasing, the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC).  The EITC is a refundable tax credit available to low and middle-income individuals to offset taxes that are paid on wages.  In 2011, the EITC was reduced from 20% of the federal level […]

Following a long session day, the House of Representatives fell only a few votes short of passing a bill aimed at reducing the state’s income tax.  As originally introduced, the bill would have incrementally reduced the state’s income tax rate over the next forty years, until the rate was eliminated.  However, following debate and discussion, […]

This week, the House Tax Policy Committee reported a bill rolling back the state’s income tax rate to zero.  Under the plan reported by the committee, the state’s personal income tax rate would be reduced in 2018 from 4.25% to 3.8%.  Each year thereafter, the tax rate would continue to decline by 0.1% until the […]