LANSING, Mich., Dec. 1, 2021 — House Bills 5502-5506, a bipartisan package of bills to streamline the filing process for a popular manufacturing tax exemption, passed the House today. In 2012, lawmakers passed a bill that exempted small businesses and manufacturers from paying an annual tax on personal property not affixed to land (e.g. machinery, furniture, computers and tools). The law allocated money from the state general fund to local municipalities to cover some of the losses. To ensure that local municipalities wouldn’t foot any of the bill, voters approved a ballot proposal in 2014 to reaffirm the law and completely reimburse any local tax losses.
“When Michigan voters passed this law in 2014, they wanted to make sure this process was as easy as possible,” said state Rep. Mary Cavanagh (D-Redford), sponsor of House Bill 5505. “Thanks to support from both sides of the aisle, the business community and the Michigan Department of Treasury, we’re doing exactly that. By passing bipartisan, common-sense legislation, we’ve cleared the way for manufacturers to claim the exemption by removing yearly paperwork and red tape. As long as the property remains eligible for this exemption, all you have to do is file once to be done.”
House Bills 5502-5506 would remove the requirement that eligible manufacturing personal property (EMPP) exemptions be filed with local governments yearly and allow the previous year’s EMPP exemption filing to be carried over to the current year. These changes only affect exemptions for manufacturers, not small businesses.
Other sponsors of the package include Reps. Mark A. Tisdel (R-Rochester Hills) (HB 5502), Diana Farrington (R-Utica) (HB 5503), Julie Calley (R-Portland) (HB 5504) and Jim Ellison (D-Royal Oak) (HB 5506).