Michigan would ease bank taxes if bill passes

By BRIDGET BUSH
Capital News Service
LANSING– If you’re a bank in Michigan, the state takes a slice of your foreign revenue that other states and even the federal government leave untouched. That could change with legislation sponsored by Sen. Darwin Booher, R-Evart,  that would revise definitions and tax liability for financial institutions operating outside the U.S. Booher and other experts say they expect the House to pass it by year’s end. But Michigan’s Department of Treasury opposes the measure that could cost the state $13 million in revenue each year. Booher’s bill came out of discussion with the banking industry. In addition to the foreign taxation issue, it addresses how capital numbers used to calculate the institutions’ tax base are figured and the period that the tax base is determined.

Craft beer brews economic growth

By CELESTE BOTT
Capital News Service
LANSING – Want to boost Michigan’s job growth and economy? Treat yourself to a cold craft beer. Michigan’s craft beer industry grew by 20 percent in 2012, according to a “state of the industry” report from the Demeter Group Investment Bank of San Francisco. Michigan added 17 breweries last year, and outpaced the average national industry growth rate by 12 percent. New breweries opened in Big Rapids, Grand Rapids, Marquette and Lake Leelanau, for example.