October 17, 2018

Michigan: Who Pays? 6th Edition


MICHIGAN

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MICHIGAN STATE AND LOCAL TAXES

Taxes as Share of Family Income

Top 20%
Income Group Lowest
20%
Second
20%
Middle
20%
Fourth
20%
Next
15%
Next
4%
Top
1%
Income Range Less than
$17,600
$17,600 to
$33,000
$33,000 to
$57,100
$57,100 to
$95,900
$95,900 to
$199,600
$199,600 to
$422,100
over
$422,100
Average Income $10,000 $25,200 $43,300 $75,400 $132,900 $284,900 $1,245,700
Sales & Excise Taxes 6.2% 5.0% 3.9% 3.1% 2.3% 1.5% 0.8%
General Sales – Individuals 2.9% 2.6% 2.1% 1.7% 1.3% 0.9% 0.5%
Other Sales & Excise – Ind. 2.0% 1.1% 0.8% 0.5% 0.3% 0.2% 0.1%
Sales & Excise on Business 1.4% 1.3% 1.0% 0.8% 0.6% 0.4% 0.3%
Property Taxes 3.4% 2.3% 2.6% 3.0% 2.7% 2.4% 1.6%
Home, Rent, Car – Ind. 3.3% 2.2% 2.5% 2.8% 2.5% 2.0% 0.5%
Other Property Taxes 0.2% 0.1% 0.2% 0.1% 0.2% 0.4% 1.2%
Income Taxes 0.7% 2.1% 2.7% 3.2% 3.5% 3.5% 3.8%
Personal Income Tax 0.7% 2.0% 2.7% 3.1% 3.4% 3.5% 3.6%
Corporate Income Tax 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.1% 0.1%
TOTAL TAXES 10.4% 9.4% 9.2% 9.2% 8.4% 7.5% 6.2%

Individual figures may not sum to totals due to rounding. Download the table

TAX FEATURES DRIVING THE DATA in Michigan

Progressive Features

Regressive Features

  • Provides a refundable property tax “circuit breaker” credit via the personal income tax
  • Provides a refundable Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC)
  • Sales tax base excludes groceries
  • Requires the use of combined reporting for the corporate income tax
  • Personal income tax uses a flat rate
  • Comparatively low EITC
  • Does not levy a tax on estates or inheritances

ITEP Tax Inequality Index

According to ITEP’s Tax Inequality Index, which measures the impact of each state’s tax system on income inequality, Michigan has the 22nd most unfair state and local tax system in the country. Incomes are more unequal in Michigan after state and local taxes are collected than before. (See Appendix B for state-by-state rankings and the methodology section for additional detail on the index.)

Note: Figures show permanent law in Michigan enacted through September 10, 2018, at 2015 income levels. Top figure represents total state and local taxes as a share of non-elderly income. Personal income tax figures reflect fully phased-in changes to retirement exclusions and increases to the personal exemption (through 2022), but do not reflect reductions to marginal income tax rates scheduled to begin in 2023 if certain “triggers” are met. The sixth edition of Who Pays does not include the impact of the federal deduction for state and local taxes (SALT) because policy changes in the 2017 federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act temporarily limited the extent to which the SALT deduction functions as a generalized offset of state and local taxes.