For Immediate Release: April 18, 2016

Contact: Robert Schneider
517.485.9444 or
Eric Lupher
734.542.8001

 
Centennial Anniversary Edition of CRC’s Outline of the Michigan Tax System
Today is Tax Day. Michigan citizens that have taken advantage of the delayed tax deadline are working to file their annual returns tonight. But Michigan’s personal income tax is only one of 60 types of tax authorized to state and local governments.
The Citizens Research Council of Michigan (CRC) has updated its most popular report, the Outline of the Michigan Tax System. This report, which serves as a handy reference, provides a concise and accessible summary of each Michigan tax.
The Tax Outline is also a resource for understanding tax changes over the past year. After last May’s voter rejection of the constitutional amendment proposed to bring about increased road investment, a package of bills was enacted late in the legislative session affecting motor fuel, motor vehicle registration, and personal income taxes.
“The road funding plan will eventually generate close to $1.2 billion per year in new road revenues: half from increased transportation taxes and half from the redirection of existing income tax revenue that currently goes to the state’s general fund,” reported Robert Schneider, CRC’s Director of State Affairs. “However, the bulk of that new revenue won’t come to fruition for several years, so Michigan drivers may need to be patient as they wait to see significant improvements in road conditions.”
Additionally, the Hydroponics and Aquaculture Facilities Specific Tax was added in 2015 to provide tax abatements to these properties. This tax joins nine other specific taxes levied on property in lieu of property taxes as a tool for economic development.
For each tax contained in the Tax Outline, information is provided on its legal authority, rate, base, administration, and the amount of revenue it raises. The Tax Outline also contains helpful links to official sources, which may contain more details than are available in CRC’s summary outline. In addition to tracking the details of each tax’s rate and base, the Tax Outline tracks tax revenues from year to year.
The Tax Outline is available at no cost on the Citizens Research Council’s website, www.crcmich.org.