Act No. 266

Public Acts of 2013

Approved by the Governor

December 26, 2013

Filed with the Secretary of State

December 30, 2013

EFFECTIVE DATE: December 30, 2013

STATE OF MICHIGAN

97TH LEGISLATURE

REGULAR SESSION OF 2013

Introduced by Senator Brandenburg

ENROLLED SENATE BILL No. 367

AN ACT to amend 1967 PA 281, entitled “An act to meet deficiencies in state funds by providing for the imposition, levy, computation, collection, assessment, reporting, payment, and enforcement by lien and otherwise of taxes on or measured by net income and on certain commercial, business, and financial activities; to prescribe the manner and time of making reports and paying the taxes, and the functions of public officers and others as to the taxes; to permit the inspection of the records of taxpayers; to provide for interest and penalties on unpaid taxes; to provide exemptions, credits and refunds of the taxes; to prescribe penalties for the violation of this act; to provide an appropriation; and to repeal acts and parts of acts,” by amending sections 603, 611, and 691 (MCL 206.603, 206.611, and 206.691), section 603 as amended by 2011 PA 173, section 611 as amended by 2011 PA 170, and section 691 as amended by 2012 PA 70.

The People of the State of Michigan enact:

Sec. 603. (1) “Affiliated group” means that term as defined in section 1504 of the internal revenue code except that it shall include all United States persons that are corporations, insurance companies, or financial institutions, other than a foreign operating entity, that are commonly owned, directly or indirectly, by any member of such affiliated group and other members of which more than 50% of the ownership interests with voting rights or ownership interests that confer comparable rights to voting rights of the member is directly or indirectly owned by a common owner or owners.

(2) “Business activity” means a transfer of legal or equitable title to or rental of property, whether real, personal, or mixed, tangible or intangible, or the performance of services, or a combination thereof, made or engaged in, or caused to be made or engaged in, whether in intrastate, interstate, or foreign commerce, with the object of gain, benefit, or advantage, whether direct or indirect, to the taxpayer or to others, but does not include the services rendered by an employee to his or her employer or services as a director of a corporation. Although an activity of a taxpayer may be incidental to another or to others of his or her business activities, each activity shall be considered to be business engaged in within the meaning of this part.

(3) “Business income” means federal taxable income. For a tax-exempt taxpayer, business income means only that part of federal taxable income derived from unrelated business activity.

Sec. 611. (1) “Tangible personal property” means that term as defined in section 2 of the use tax act, 1937 PA 94, MCL 205.92.

(2) “Tax” means the tax imposed under this part, including interest and penalties under this part, unless the term is given a more limited meaning in the context of this part or a provision of this part.

(3) “Tax-exempt person” means an organization that is exempt from federal income tax under section 501(a) of the internal revenue code, except the following:

(a) An organization exempt under section 501(c)(12) or (16) of the internal revenue code.

(b) An organization exempt under section 501(c)(4) of the internal revenue code that would be exempt under section 501(c)(12) of the internal revenue code but for its failure to meet the requirement in section 501(c)(12) that 85% or more of its income must consist of amounts collected from members.

(4) “Tax year” means the calendar year, or the fiscal year ending during the calendar year, upon the basis of which the tax base of a taxpayer is computed under this part. If a return is made for a fractional part of a year, tax year means the period for which the return is made. Except for the first return required by this part, a taxpayer’s tax year is for the same period as is covered by its federal income tax return. A taxpayer that has a 52- or 53-week tax year beginning not more than 7 days before the end of any month is considered to have a tax year beginning on the first day of the subsequent month. A person included in a unitary business group that joins or departs the unitary business group other than at the end of that person’s federal tax year shall have a tax year beginning with its federal income tax period and ending on the date of joining or departing the unitary business group, and another tax year beginning on the date immediately after joining or departing the unitary business group and ending with its federal income tax period. If the term tax year in this part is used in reference to 1 or more previous or preceding tax years and those referenced tax years are before January 1, 2012, then those referenced tax years are deemed those same tax years during which former 1975 PA 228 or the Michigan business tax act, 2007 PA 36, MCL 208.1101 to 208.1601, applied.

(5) “Taxpayer” means a corporation, insurance company, financial institution, or unitary business group, whichever is applicable under each chapter, that is liable for a tax, interest, or penalty under this part. For purposes of chapters 11 and 14, taxpayer does not include an insurance company or a financial institution. For purposes of chapter 12, unless specifically included in the section, taxpayer does not include a corporation or a financial institution. For purposes of chapter 13, taxpayer does not include a corporation or an insurance company.

(6) “Unitary business group” means a group of United States persons that are corporations, insurance companies, or financial institutions, other than a foreign operating entity, 1 of which owns or controls, directly or indirectly, more than 50% of the ownership interest with voting rights or ownership interests that confer comparable rights to voting rights of the other members, and that has business activities or operations which result in a flow of value between or among members included in the unitary business group or has business activities or operations that are integrated with, are dependent upon, or contribute to each other. Unitary business group includes an affiliated group that makes the election to be treated, and to file, as a unitary business group under section 691(2).

(7) “United States person” means that term as defined in section 7701(a)(30) of the internal revenue code.

(8) “Unrelated business activity” means, for a tax-exempt person, business activity directly connected with an unrelated trade or business as defined in section 513 of the internal revenue code.

Sec. 691. (1) Except as otherwise provided under section 680(3), a unitary business group shall file a combined return that includes each United States person that is included in the unitary business group. Each United States person included in a unitary business group or included in a combined return shall be treated as a single person, and all transactions between those persons included in the unitary business group shall be eliminated from the corporate income tax base and the apportionment formulas under this part. If a United States person included in a unitary business group or included in a combined return is subject to the tax under chapter 12 or 13, any corporate income attributable to that person shall be eliminated from the corporate income tax base and any sales attributable to that person shall be eliminated from the apportionment formula under this part.

(2) A person that is part of an affiliated group may elect without the consent of the department to have all of the persons that are included in that affiliated group to be treated as a unitary business group. A taxpayer that elects to file as a unitary business group pursuant to this subsection shall compute its tax under this part in accordance with all other provisions of this part that apply to a unitary business group. The taxpayer shall make the election under this subsection on a form or in a format as prescribed by the department that is to be filed in a timely manner with the taxpayer’s annual return. Each person included in the affiliated group is deemed to have agreed to be bound by the election made under this subsection and any renewal of that election and to have waived any objection to its inclusion in the affiliated group and treatment as a unitary business group. Each person that subsequently enters the affiliated group after the tax year for which the election is made is deemed to have consented to the application of and is bound by the election and to have waived any objection to its inclusion in the affiliated group and treatment as a unitary business group. An election made pursuant to this subsection is irrevocable and binding for and applicable to the tax year for which it is made and for the next 9 tax years. The election shall remain in effect for the time period in which the ownership requirements under this section are met irrespective of whether a federal consolidated group to which the unitary business group belongs discontinues the filing of a federal consolidated return or whether the common parent changes due to a reverse acquisition or acquisition by a related person. Upon the expiration of the election after it has been in effect for 10 tax years, an election may be renewed for another 10 tax years, without the consent of the department; provided however, that in the case of a nonrenewal a new election under this subsection is not permitted in any of the immediately following 3 tax years. The renewal shall be made on a form or in a format as prescribed by the department that is to be filed in a timely manner with the taxpayer’s annual return after the completion of a 10-year period for which an election under this subsection was in place.

Enacting section 1. This amendatory act is effective for tax years that begin after December 31, 2012.

This act is ordered to take immediate effect.

Secretary of the Senate

Clerk of the House of Representatives

Approved

Governor