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Michigan biz tax obligation rank drops, still lower than national average

A hundred dollar bill cut in half with a knife on a cutting board.
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Michigan is the 16th most expensive state when it comes to how much in profits businesses put toward taxes.

That’s according to an annual study released Monday. This is a drop from last year’s ranking of 12th.

Patrick Anderson is the CEO of Anderson Economic Group, which releases the study every year. He said Michigan has dropped a few spots in the rankings. But he said it still has lower business taxes than the national average.

“It’s a little bit easier to do business, a little bit less expensive to hire a worker and invest in Michigan than in the average state,” he said.

Anderson said one of the ways to improve the ranking is get rid of the personal property tax.

“A lot of people aren’t aware for example that every chair, every computer, every office furnishing in the state is still technically taxed by the government and that’s one of the things that’s still annoying and still is expensive in Michigan,” he said.

While Michigan has dropped, and still has not hit the top ten, Anderson said it’s come a long way.

Michigan had a reputation as being one of the worst states in the entire country to do business in.”

Michigan was ranked 32nd in 2011. 

Before becoming the newest Capitol reporter for the Michigan Public Radio Network, Cheyna Roth was an attorney. She spent her days fighting it out in court as an assistant prosecuting attorney for Ionia County. Eventually, Cheyna took her investigative and interview skills and moved on to journalism. She got her masters at Michigan State University and was a documentary filmmaker, podcaster, and freelance writer before finding her home with NPR. Very soon after joining MPRN, Cheyna started covering the 2016 presidential election, chasing after Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, and all their surrogates as they duked it out for Michigan. Cheyna also focuses on the Legislature and criminal justice issues for MPRN. Cheyna is obsessively curious, a passionate storyteller, and an occasional backpacker. Follow her on Twitter at @Cheyna_R