TAX CREDIT FOR AASSPS S.B. 878: COMMITTEE SUMMARY






Senate Bill 878 (as introduced 11-9-05)
Sponsor: Senator Valde Garcia
Committee: Agriculture, Forestry and Tourism


Date Completed: 12-7-05

CONTENT The bill would amend the Single Business Tax Act to provide farmers who used anhydrous ammonia with a tax credit equal to the cost of complying with proposed anhydrous ammonia safety and security practices (AASSPs).

Under the bill, for tax years beginning after December 31, 2005, a taxpayer who was a farmer and an end user of anhydrous ammonia could claim a credit against the single business tax equal to the amount the taxpayer paid in the tax year for the purchase and installation of a security system or security measures that complied with the AASSPs established by the Agriculture Commission to prevent the theft of anhydrous ammonia.


The bill would define "anhydrous ammonia safety and security practices" as those practices established by the Commission of Agriculture pursuant to the Anhydrous Ammonia Security Act (which Senate Bill 877 proposes to create). "End user" would mean the person actually using anhydrous ammonia for a legal purpose.


If the amount of the credit allowed under the bill exceeded the tax liability of the taxpayer for the tax year, the portion of the credit that exceeded the tax liability could not be refunded.


Proposed MCL 208.35d Legislative Analyst: Curtis Walker

FISCAL IMPACT
Under the Single Business Tax Act, activity attributable to the production of agricultural goods (which includes the cultivation of the soil and the growing and harvesting of agricultural goods) by a person whose primary activity is the production of agricultural goods is exempt from the single business tax. Therefore, the credit proposed in this bill, which could not exceed a taxpayer's single business tax liability (as the credit would not be refundable), would have no fiscal impact.

Fiscal Analyst: Jay Wortley

Analysis was prepared by nonpartisan Senate staff for use by the Senate in its deliberations and does not constitute an official statement of legislative intent. sb878/0506