Health Care Law Blog

Pamela Dusman recently had a significant victory in the Michigan Court of Appeals on behalf of a hospital client.  The hospital client, in calculating its single business tax liability, specifically its "unrelated taxable income," on its Michigan Single Business Tax Return claimed a capital acquisition deduction and an investment tax credit for its capital assets regardless of whether the assets were used for tax-exempt or non-exempt activities.  The Michigan Tax Tribunal upheld the hospital's position, holding that the hospital did not need to allocate its assets between exempt and non-exempt uses when claiming the capital acquisition deduction or the investment tax credit.  This reading of the Single Business Tax Act was upheld by the Michigan Court of Appeals on February 15, 2011.  Although the Single Business Tax Act was repealed by the legislature for tax years that begin after December 31, 2007, an entity's Single Business Tax Return may be amended within four years after the due date of the original return.  This decision can have a significant impact on lowering single business tax liability on unrelated business income for tax-exempt providers.