Details for this plan have not yet been fully released, but we will keep members updated as more information becomes available. SBAM’s President & CEO Brian Calley discussed what we know on yesterday’s Small Business Briefing, click here to watch. House Speaker Matt Hall (R-Richland Township)’s proposal to replace the $5 billion lost with his property tax cut package may sound familiar to old-timers in town. He is proposing to expand the state’s 6% sales tax on a “limited” basis to services that cater to high-income families, while not taxing personal services used by families from lower-income brackets. The idea is that discretionary services are taxed, but essential services are exempt. On the wish list of services he’d like to tax are limousines, country club memberships, private jets, marinas, tourist services, travel agencies, skiing, golf, AI services, newspaper publishing, performing arts, environmental consulting and political ads. On the list that would be shielded from the sales tax expansion would be legal services, nail salons, barber shops, landscaping, health care services, car repairs, childcare, veterinary services, dry cleaning and streaming. Now, if some of this sounds familiar, you were around these parts when former Gov. Jennifer Granholm was wrestling with a bucket of red ink in the state budget. In 2007, she offered a sales tax on many of the exact items Hall hopes to hold harmless. She struggled, but got the measure passed. However, a fortified lobbying assault from segments of the business community managed to undo what the governor did just as the new law was taking effect in exchange for a blanket surcharge on the business tax at the time. Hall is confident that history will not repeat itself. |
