Hey, we have a Michigan business tax on the table

Finally. State lawmakers have a new tax on the table that replaces the SBT which expires December 31, 2007. Lawmakers had to have something put together by July 1 in order for it to take effect for the new fiscal year which begins October 1.

Right now it looks like there will be a tax of just under .8% on gross profits minus purchases of tangible property (anything other than real estate or money - furniture would be tangible property) and a tax on profits just under 5%.

I can live with this. There are a lot more details to work out, but at first glance it does not appear that businesses (like ours, for example) will be hit too hard.

As a business owner, Katherine LaMont, was quoted as saying, "The devil's going to be in the details."

It always is. :)

For more information read the article at the Detroit Free Press.

Ouch! State budget panel recommends raising Michigan's taxes

The Detroit News is reporting that a 12 person budget panel that includes former Michigan governors' James Blanchard and William Milliken came to the conclusion that in order to erase our current and future budget deficit our state needs to raise taxes. No specifics were given on what taxes and who (individuals or businesses, or both) would foot the bill. Here we go. Funny (not really - actually this ticks me off) how Granholm had to of known of this (budget crisis) last fall, but failed to mention anything to the public until after the fall elections. Not that I am 100% sure that this information would have caused Dick "I don't act like I really want to be Governor" DeVos to be elected.

Now before you accuse me of being some "black helicopter spotting conspiracy theorist" just think about it for a minute or two.

Logically, there is no way that this current budget crisis just came to light. They've been crunching these numbers for at least the past six months (most likely much longer).

And the government wonders why we don't trust politicians?

If they (politicians) would start being the duly elected representatives of the people that they are and quit being politicians maybe that trust could be built up and maybe, just maybe, our great state would not find itself in its current economic condition.

Grrr! :(

Group wants to raise Michigan's gas tax by $.09

Here we go again. Our roads need fixing and our budget needs balancing. Hmm, what to do? Oh yeah, lets have a tax increase!

But, it's for the good of the people.

Really.

The Michigan Infrastructure and Transportation Association wants to keep us driving and help out Michigan's economy (how generous of them). Therefore, they have proposed that we pay another $.09 in taxes at the pump.

Oh, and they also would like to see an increase in vehicle registration fees. It is reported that the MITA could raise them by as much as 50%. The Free Press reports - "the average vehicle registration in Michigan is $110; MITA’s proposal would raise that to $160."

From what info I could find, it appears we already pay $.352 (I think that includes federal taxes, but I can't say for sure) in taxes on each gallon of gasoline plus the state sales tax of 6%.

Lets have some accountability here with the state's spending before we get more money taken out of our wallets. Why is it that the government raises taxes before really making any extensive cuts?

Sure, they'll raise our taxes on fuel "temporarily" and when it comes time to decide on renewing the tax or not it will be renewed because the funds raised by the tax will have been "temporarily" diverted to fund some other piece of our bloated state government. See for yourself in a 140 page PDF (warning - this could take a while to view with a dialup connection) of the Fiscal Year 2007 state budget.

From a business standpoint it is actually a triple whammy.

First, our customers will have less money in their pockets. Second, when we order products to make our gift baskets we will pay more in freight charges. Third, our shipping costs will go up with more fuel surcharges (yes, UPS already hits us with fuel surcharges - what can brown do to you, eh?).

The last two items above would most likely lead us to raise prices (oops, we're up to a fourth whammy) on our gift baskets and/or shipping prices as well. This becomes another strike to the customer who already has less funds available due to the gas tax increase.

I don't like this idea on multiple levels.

Here is a crazy idea - lets cut spending and quit funding our state's governmental excesses on the backs of businesses and taxpayers.

Read the full article at the The Detroit Free Press website.