Sec. 9o.
(1) Beginning December 31, 2013, eligible personal property for which an exemption has been properly claimed under this section is exempt from the collection of taxes under this act.
(2) An owner of eligible personal property shall claim the exemption under this section by annually filing an affidavit with the local tax collecting unit in which the eligible personal property is located not later than February 10 in each tax year. The affidavit shall be in a form prescribed by the state tax commission and shall include any address where any property owned by, leased to, or in the possession of that owner or a related entity is located within that local tax collecting unit. The affidavit shall require the owner to attest that the combined true cash value of all industrial personal property and commercial personal property in that local tax collecting unit owned by, leased to, or in the possession of that owner or a related entity on December 31 of the immediately preceding year is less than $80,000.00.
(3) If an affidavit claiming the exemption under this section is filed as provided in subsection (2), the owner of that eligible personal property is not required to also file a statement under section 19 in that tax year.
(4) A person who claims an exemption for eligible personal property under this section shall maintain books and records and shall provide access to those books and records as provided in section 22.
(5) If the assessor of the local tax collecting unit believes that personal property for which an affidavit claiming an exemption is filed under subsection (2) is not eligible personal property, the assessor may deny that claim for exemption by notifying the person that filed the affidavit in writing of the reason for the denial and advising the person that the denial may be appealed to the board of review under section 30 or 53b during that tax year. The assessor may deny a claim for exemption for the current year and for the 3 immediately preceding calendar years. If the assessor denies a claim for exemption, the assessor shall remove the exemption of that personal property and, if the tax roll is in the local tax collecting unit's possession, amend the tax roll to reflect the denial and the local treasurer shall within 30 days of the date of the denial issue a corrected tax bill for any additional taxes with interest at the rate of 1% per month or fraction of a month and penalties computed from the date the taxes were last payable without interest or penalty. If the tax roll is in the county treasurer's possession, the tax roll shall be amended to reflect the denial and the county treasurer shall within 30 days of the date of the denial prepare and submit a supplemental tax bill for any additional taxes, together with interest at the rate of 1% per month or fraction of a month and penalties computed from the date the taxes were last payable without interest or penalty. Interest on any tax set forth in a corrected or supplemental tax bill shall again begin to accrue 60 days after the date the corrected or supplemental tax bill is issued at the rate of 1% per month or fraction of a month. Taxes levied in a corrected or supplemental tax bill shall be returned as delinquent on the March 1 in the year immediately succeeding the year in which the corrected or supplemental tax bill is issued.
(6) If a person fraudulently claims an exemption for personal property under this section, that person is subject to the penalties provided for in section 21(2).
(7) For 2014 only, if an owner of eligible personal property did not timely file an affidavit to claim the exemption under this section, that owner may file an appeal with the March 2014 board of review to claim the exemption.
(8) As used in this section:
(a) "Commercial personal property" means personal property that is classified as commercial personal property under section 34c or would be classified as commercial personal property under section 34c if not exempt from the collection of taxes under this act under this section or section 9m or 9n.
(b) "Control", "controlled by", and "under common control with" mean the possession of the power to direct or cause the direction of the management and policies of a related entity, directly or indirectly, whether derived from a management position, official office, or corporate office held by an individual; by an ownership interest, beneficial interest, or equitable interest; or by contractual agreement or other similar arrangement. There is a rebuttable presumption that control exists if any person, directly or indirectly, owns, controls, or holds the power to vote, directly or by proxy, 10% or more of the ownership interest of any other person or has contributed more than 10% of the capital of the other person. Indirect ownership includes ownership through attribution or through 1 or more intermediary entities.
(c) "Eligible personal property" means property that meets all of the following conditions:
(i) Is industrial personal property or commercial personal property.
(ii) The combined true cash value of all industrial personal property and commercial personal property in that local tax collecting unit owned by, leased to, or in the possession of the person claiming an exemption under this section or a related entity on December 31 of the immediately preceding year is less than $80,000.00.
(iii) Is not leased to or used by a person that previously owned the property or a person that, directly or indirectly, controls, is controlled by, or is under common control with the person that previously owned the property.
(d) "Industrial personal property" means personal property that is classified as industrial personal property under section 34c or would be classified as industrial personal property under section 34c if not exempt from the collection of taxes under this act under this section or section 9m or 9n.
(e) "Person" means an individual, partnership, corporation, association, limited liability company, or any other legal entity.
(f) "Related entity" means a person that, directly or indirectly, controls, is controlled by, or is under common control with the person claiming an exemption under this section.
History: Add. 2012, Act 402, Eff. Mar. 28, 2013 ;-- Am. 2013, Act 153, Imd. Eff. Nov. 5, 2013
Last modified: October 10, 2016