2003 Senate Bill 673 ↩

Senate Roll Call 696: Passed

To gradually eliminate 50 percent of the Single Business Tax businesses pay on their employee health insurance costs, beginning in 2004. Senate Bill 672 eliminates five-percent of the tax in 2004, 20-percent in 2005, and 40 percent in 2006. Senate Bill 673 establishes the tax cut at 50 percent of the current tax level beginning in 2007. Combined, the two bills would save business some $45 million each year in SBT taxes. Note: Because the SBT is a value added tax, offering health insurance to employees raises a firm’s SBT tax liability. The bills are part of a December 2003 agreement struck between Sen. Majority Leader Ken Sikkema and Gov. Granholm to close a $900 million gap between desired state spending and expected revenues. Part of that deal includes Senate Bill 852, which would increase the income rate from 3.9 percent to 4.0 percent between Jan. 1, 2004 and July 1, 2004.