Senate Bill 1 has been introduced, and you can read it, in its entirety - here you go:
The Michigan business tax act, 2007 PA 36, MCL208.1101 to 208.1601, is repealed.
The bill was introduced by Senator Dave Hildenbrand and comes in advance of Governor Rick Snyder's State of the State address tonight.
Replacing the Michigan Business Tax was one of candidate Snyder's main promises to voters.
Laura Weber of the Michigan Public Radio Network filed a report on Senate Bill 1:
Senator Dave Hildenbrand...says his bill is more aggressive than a similar bill introduced by House Republicans, which only repeals part of the business tax: "Well we wanted to send a strong message that we want to create a better business climate in this state so our job providers can provide jobs. It’s pretty clear, I think to all of us, that the Michigan Business Tax is an obstacle for employers to good create jobs, expand, for the ability for us to attract job providers to Michigan. So we’ve declared war on the Michigan Business Tax." Governor Rick Snyder wants to replace the Michigan Business Tax with a flat tax on large businesses. Snyder is expected to talk more about his plans for economic development during his State of the State address tonight.
There's another measure in the legislature aimed at revamping the Michigan Business Tax - House Bill no 4091.
Peter Luke wrote about HB 4091 on MLive today:
House Bill 4091...would eliminate that portion of the MBT a business pays on its gross receipts. It would increase the tax rate on profits from 4.95 percent to 6 percent. That’s in line with the proposal Snyder pushed during his campaign and will likely call for again tonight. The problem is that approximately 55 percent of the $2.2 billion the MBT generates comes from the gross receipts tax. What replaces that lost revenue, if anything?
So completely repealing or revamping the Michigan Business Tax is on the table. The tougher question of how to replace lost income for the State will come later.
