Business owners concerned by governor’s tax proposal

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By Lindsay Hedgecock
Lansing Star staff writer

Business owners are concerned with Gov. Rick Snyder’s plan to replace the Michigan Business Tax, or MBT, with a 6 percent corporate income tax.  The change is proposed for this year.
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Robert Holden, co-owner of Holden-Reid Clothier in Frandor Shopping Center, 444 Frandor Ave., Lansing, said he disagreed with creating a new tax. Instead, the government should fix the current MBT, Holden said.

“To add a 6 percent tax makes no sense at all – it isn’t convenient for small businesses,” he said. “We are hurting already with medical costs and hiring employees.”

According to the 2002 Survey of Business Owners, Ingham County has 22,417 firms, including Lansing’s 7,806.

Pam Winkler, owner of Guys and Dolls Hairstyling, at 416 Frandor Ave., said, “most businesses will have to raise prices to incorporate the tax, because they don’t make enough money to eat the tax, which will result in an overall loss of income.”

Snyder discussed the tax proposal during his campaign and in his inauguration speech on Jan. 1.  Snyder plans to improve the state’s economic status by reinventing Michigan through his 10 point plan.

Winkler said the proposal will hurt businesses making less than $350,000 a year.

“The competition is good, but in a declining area like ours, everybody is fighting for the same dollar,” Winkler said. “And that dollar isn’t always there.”

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