LANSING – Most construction firms surveyed said they expect to pay higher taxes under the new Michigan Business Tax, with nearly half of those surveyed saying the increase could be as much as 50 percent more than they would have paid under the now-defunct Single Business Tax.
The information comes from the Associated Builders and Contractors of Michigan, which issued its report on Monday. ABC of Michigan sent the survey to 900 of its more than 1,100 members and received responses from 95. Most of those that responded were companies with revenues of less than $17 million a year.
Of the respondents more than 83 percent said they would pay higher taxes under the MBT than under the old SBT. A total of 47.4 percent said the increase would be as much as 50 percent, another 28.2 percent said the increase could be as much as 100 percent.
A total of 4 of the respondents, 5.1 percent of the sample, said they would pay more than 500 percent more in taxes.
The survey asked only if the companies expected to see changes in their tax burden and did not break out whether those calculations included any potential benefits from personal property tax cuts that were included in the tax.
Last week a subcommittee of the Senate Finance Committee issued a report saying changes should be made to the tax, particularly eliminating the surcharge that was enacted to replace the sales tax on services.
Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop (R-Rochester) said in an interview on the conservative blog Right Michigan that eliminating the surcharge would be a priority of Senate Republicans.
This story was provided by Gongwer News Service. To subscribe, click on Gongwer.Com
a>>
