Sec. 4a.
(1) Subject to subsection (2), the following are exempt from the tax under this act:
(a) A sale of tangible personal property not for resale to a nonprofit school, nonprofit hospital, or nonprofit home for the care and maintenance of children or aged persons operated by an entity of government, a regularly organized church, religious, or fraternal organization, a veterans' organization, or a corporation incorporated under the laws of this state, if the income or benefit from the operation does not inure, in whole or in part, to an individual or private shareholder, directly or indirectly, and if the activities of the entity or agency are carried on exclusively for the benefit of the public at large and are not limited to the advantage, interests, and benefits of its members or any restricted group. A sale of tangible personal property to a parent cooperative preschool is exempt from taxation under this act. As used in this subdivision, "parent cooperative preschool" means a nonprofit, nondiscriminatory educational institution, maintained as a community service and administered by parents of children currently enrolled in the preschool, that provides an educational and developmental program for children younger than compulsory school age, that provides an educational program for parents, including active participation with children in preschool activities, that is directed by qualified preschool personnel, and that is licensed pursuant to 1973 PA 116, MCL 722.111 to 722.128.
(b) A sale of tangible personal property not for resale to a regularly organized church or house of religious worship, except the following:
(i) Sales in activities that are mainly commercial enterprises.
(ii) Sales of vehicles licensed for use on public highways other than a passenger van or bus with a manufacturer's rated seating capacity of 10 or more that is used primarily for the transportation of persons for religious purposes.
(c) The sale of food to bona fide enrolled students by a school or other educational institution not operated for profit.
(d) The sale of a vessel designated for commercial use of registered tonnage of 500 tons or more, if produced upon special order of the purchaser, and bunker and galley fuel, provisions, supplies, maintenance, and repairs for the exclusive use of the vessel engaged in interstate commerce.
(e) A sale of tangible personal property to persons engaged in a business enterprise and using or consuming the tangible personal property in the tilling, planting, caring for, or harvesting of the things of the soil; in the breeding, raising, or caring for livestock, poultry, or horticultural products, including transfers of livestock, poultry, or horticultural products for further growth; or in the direct gathering of fish, by net, line, or otherwise only by an owner-operator of the business enterprise, not including a charter fishing business enterprise. This exemption includes machinery that is capable of simultaneously harvesting grain or other crops and biomass and machinery used for the purpose of harvesting biomass. This exemption includes agricultural land tile, which means fired clay or perforated plastic tubing used as part of a subsurface drainage system for land, and subsurface irrigation pipe, if the land tile or irrigation pipe is used in the production of agricultural products as a business enterprise. This exemption includes a portable grain bin, which means a structure that is used or is to be used to shelter grain and that is designed to be disassembled without significant damage to its component parts. This exemption also includes grain drying equipment and natural or propane gas used to fuel that equipment for agricultural purposes. This exemption does not include transfers of food, fuel, clothing, or any similar tangible personal property for personal living or human consumption. This exemption does not include tangible personal property permanently affixed and becoming a structural part of real estate. As used in this subdivision, "biomass" means crop residue used to produce energy or agricultural crops grown specifically for the production of energy.
(f) The sale of a copyrighted motion picture film or a newspaper or periodical admitted under federal postal laws and regulations effective September 1, 1985 as second-class mail matter or as a controlled circulation publication or qualified to accept legal notices for publication in this state, as defined by law, or any other newspaper or periodical of general circulation, established not less than 2 years, and published not less than once a week. Tangible personal property used or consumed in producing a copyrighted motion picture film, a newspaper published more than 14 times per year, or a periodical published more than 14 times per year, and not becoming a component part of that film, newspaper, or periodical is subject to the tax. Tangible personal property used or consumed in producing a newspaper published 14 times or less per year or a periodical published 14 times or less per year and that portion or percentage of tangible personal property used or consumed in producing an advertising supplement that becomes a component part of a newspaper or periodical is exempt from the tax under this subdivision. For purposes of this subdivision, tangible personal property that becomes a component part of a newspaper or periodical and consequently not subject to tax includes an advertising supplement inserted into and circulated with a newspaper or periodical that is otherwise exempt from tax under this subdivision, if the advertising supplement is delivered directly to the newspaper or periodical by a person other than the advertiser, or the advertising supplement is printed by the newspaper or periodical.
(g) A sale of tangible personal property to persons licensed to operate commercial radio or television stations if the property is used in the origination or integration of the various sources of program material for commercial radio or television transmission. This subdivision does not include a vehicle licensed and titled for use on public highways or property used in the transmission to or receiving from an artificial satellite.
(h) The sale of a prosthetic device, durable medical equipment, or mobility enhancing equipment.
(i) The sale of a vehicle not for resale to a Michigan nonprofit corporation organized exclusively to provide a community with ambulance or fire department services.
(j) Before October 1, 2012, a sale of tangible personal property to inmates in a penal or correctional institution purchased with scrip or its equivalent issued and redeemed by the institution.
(k) A sale of textbooks sold by a public or nonpublic school to or for the use of students enrolled in any part of a kindergarten through twelfth grade program.
(l) A sale of tangible personal property installed as a component part of a water pollution control facility for which a tax exemption certificate is issued pursuant to part 37 of the natural resources and environmental protection act, 1994 PA 451, MCL 324.3701 to 324.3708, or an air pollution control facility for which a tax exemption certificate is issued pursuant to part 59 of the natural resources and environmental protection act, 1994 PA 451, MCL 324.5901 to 324.5908.
(m) The sale or lease of the following to an industrial laundry after December 31, 1997:
(i) Textiles and disposable products including, but not limited to, soap, paper, chemicals, tissues, deodorizers and dispensers, and all related items such as packaging, supplies, hangers, name tags, and identification tags.
(ii) Equipment, whether owned or leased, used to repair and dispense textiles including, but not limited to, roll towel cabinets, slings, hardware, lockers, mop handles and frames, and carts.
(iii) Machinery, equipment, parts, lubricants, and repair services used to clean, process, and package textiles and related items, whether owned or leased.
(iv) Utilities such as electric, gas, water, or oil.
(v) Production washroom equipment and mending and packaging supplies and equipment.
(vi) Material handling equipment including, but not limited to, conveyors, racks, and elevators and related control equipment.
(vii) Wastewater pretreatment equipment and supplies and related maintenance and repair services.
(n) A sale of tangible personal property to a person holding a direct payment permit under section 8 of the use tax act, 1937 PA 94, MCL 205.98.
(2) The tangible personal property under subsection (1) is exempt only to the extent that that property is used for the exempt purpose if one is stated in subsection (1). The exemption is limited to the percentage of exempt use to total use determined by a reasonable formula or method approved by the department.
History: Add. 1935, Act 77, Imd. Eff. May 23, 1935 ;-- Am. 1939, Act 313, Imd. Eff. June 22, 1939 ;-- CL 1948, 205.54a ;-- Am. 1949, Act 272, Eff. July 1, 1949 ;-- Am. 1950, 1st Ex. Sess., Act 9, Imd. Eff. May 9, 1950 ;-- Am. 1951, Act 245, Eff. Sept. 28, 1951 ;-- Am. 1952, Act 165, Imd. Eff. Apr. 24, 1952 ;-- Am. 1953, Act 204, Imd. Eff. June 10, 1953 ;-- Am. 1955, Act 76, Imd. Eff. May 26, 1955 ;-- Am. 1958, Act 52, Eff. July 1, 1958 ;-- Am. 1962, Act 220, Eff. July 1, 1962 ;-- Am. 1970, Act 16, Eff. May 1, 1970 ;-- Am. 1971, Act 207, Imd. Eff. Dec. 29, 1971 ;-- Am. 1973, Act 136, Imd. Eff. Nov. 9, 1973 ;-- Am. 1976, Act 33, Imd. Eff. Mar. 5, 1976 ;-- Am. 1978, Act 263, Imd. Eff. June 29, 1978 ;-- Am. 1978, Act 498, Imd. Eff. Dec. 11, 1978 ;-- Am. 1982, Act 218, Eff. Jan. 1, 1984 ;-- Am. 1985, Act 16, Imd. Eff. May 16, 1985 ;-- Am. 1986, Act 51, Imd. Eff. Mar. 17, 1986 ;-- Am. 1987, Act 87, Imd. Eff. July 1, 1987 ;-- Am. 1988, Act 519, Imd. Eff. Jan. 19, 1989 ;-- Am. 1990, Act 143, Imd. Eff. June 27, 1990 ;-- Am. 1991, Act 87, Imd. Eff. July 18, 1991 ;-- Am. 1993, Act 325, Eff. May 1, 1994 ;-- Am. 1994, Act 156, Imd. Eff. June 13, 1994 ;-- Am. 1996, Act 52, Imd. Eff. Feb. 26, 1996 ;-- Am. 1996, Act 435, Imd. Eff. Dec. 10, 1996 ;-- Am. 1998, Act 365, Imd. Eff. Oct. 20, 1998 ;-- Am. 1998, Act 398, Imd. Eff. Dec. 17, 1998 ;-- Am. 1998, Act 490, Imd. Eff. Jan. 4, 1999 ;-- Am. 1999, Act 116, Imd. Eff. July 14, 1999 ;-- Am. 2004, Act 173, Eff. Sept. 1, 2004 ;-- Am. 2008, Act 332, Imd. Eff. Dec. 23, 2008 ;-- Am. 2008, Act 415, Imd. Eff. Jan. 6, 2009 ;-- Am. 2012, Act 126, Imd. Eff. May 8, 2012
Last modified: October 10, 2016