Question and Answer –
SBT Filing Requirements for Voluntary Disclosure
Should your company request voluntary disclosure for single business tax?
If your company has a filing responsibility under the nexus standards identified in Revenue Administrative Bulletin
1998-1, the answer is Yes.
What is a filing responsibility?
Any person engaged in a business activity in Michigan, whose adjusted gross receipts are in excess of the filing
threshold for a particular tax year has a filing responsibility and is required to file a return. If the company’s
adjusted gross receipts are below the filing threshold for each year in which the company had nexus in Michigan,
there is no filing responsibility and therefore no need to request voluntary disclosure. Table 1 of the attached
apportioned gross receipts schedule identifies the adjusted gross receipts filing thresholds by tax year.
Adjusted gross receipts are determined by calculating an apportionment percentage that utilizes a three-factor
formula (property factor, payroll factor, and sales factor). The company’s annual gross receipts from the federal
return is then multiplied by the apportionment percentage to determine the adjusted gross receipts.
The single business tax nexus standards identified in Revenue Administrative Bulletin 1998-1, apply retroactively
to all open tax periods ending on or after January 1, 1989.
Under a voluntary disclosure agreement for single business tax, a company is required to file tax returns for the 4
most recently completed tax years – “the lookback period.” The agreement also provides relief from filing tax
returns for all tax years prior to the lookback period. Section 205.30c(5)(a) of the Revenue Act states, “The
department shall not assess any tax, deficiency for a tax, penalty, or interest covered under the agreement for any
period before the lookback period identified in the agreement.”
How do you determine if you have a filing responsibility?
The attached apportioned gross receipts schedule is provided to assist you in making a decision about whether
you should request voluntary disclosure for single business tax. The schedule is not year specific. Photocopy the
schedule as needed, and calculate apportioned gross receipts for all years in which the company had nexus in
Michigan, in the following order:
1.
Calculate the company’s apportioned gross receipts for the lookback period. If the apportioned gross
receipts exceed the filing threshold in any one year, a filing responsibility exists and you must request voluntary
disclosure.
2.
If apportioned gross receipts do not exceed the filing threshold for the lookback period, but the company
had nexus in Michigan prior to the lookback period, calculate the apportioned gross receipts for the prior tax years.
If the company had a filing responsibility for an earlier period, you must submit a request for voluntary disclosure
in order to take advantage of the tax protection voluntary disclosure provides.