Does IFT Personal Property Qualify for the Personal Property Tax Exemptions and Michigan Business Tax Credit?
The answer is YES. However, we have heard that many assessors are not classifying such property as "industrial" and thereby denying them the exemption and credit.
The personal property tax credit is provided in Section 413 [MCL 208.1413] of the Michigan Business Tax Act, In Section 413(4)((d)(ii) it says: "Property taxes" means (ii) Taxes levied under 1974 PA 198, MCL 207.551 to 207.572.
Public Act 39 of 2007 amended the Plant Rehabilitation and Industrial Development Act to exempt industrial personal property subject to the Industrial Facilities Tax from that portion of the IFT attributable to the 18 school operating mills and the 6 mill State Education Tax.
If IFT property is not classified as "industrial", the property owner should appeal the classification to the local Board of Review.
I have had some sucess in getting the township or city assessors in changing the classification, however, cannot get the State to accept the C-8000M that was filed with the 2006 return. Any suggestions on how to get this through?
thanks.
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You are fortunate that the assessor went along. I recently heard that the assessors and the Board of Reviews were given instruction to not make any changes in classification because the State Tax Commission wants complete control over the classification issue.
Your challenge with Treasury is to prove that the assessor did in fact change the classification.
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So how do you know if a parcel is classified as industrial?
We have assessment notices from several different taxing entities. Some show a Class # and description such as: 351 IND PERSONAL, or #358 CFT/IFT PERS. Some just have a Class # such as: #951. Some have no number but a description such as PERS INDUSTRIAL.
Is there a listing of all Class Numbers and whether they are considered "industrial personal property"? We have notices that we believe to be industrial personal property showing classes 350, 351, 358, 371, & 951. Do they all qualify?
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There does not appear to be much consistency between assessors around the state on how they classify property. Therefore, the best source of information is the local assessor. To qualify for the MBT personal property tax credit, the property must be classified as "industrial". The industrial classification will also qualify the property for the exemption from the State Education Tax (6 Mills) and the schoold district operating mills (18 Mills).
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It all seems too bureaucratic to me, isn't there an easier way to handle this? We need a more centralized system, we would all benefit from that. I couldn't change the classification but I still have few options left.
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