Who doesn’t love a tax break? In Michigan, there are tax breaks galore – $27.5 billion of them this year. Business tax breaks. Homestead tax breaks. Sales tax exemptions on items like food, prescription drugs and many services (from your accountant to your hairdresser).

Called “tax expenditures” in government parlance, these tax breaks are $7 billion more this year than they were in 2000 (after adjusting for inflation). That’s a 36-percent increase in state-mandated annual tax breaks since the beginning of the century.

Michigan gives more in tax breaks every year than it collects in tax revenue to pay for most government operations (the general fund) and schools (the school aid fund).

NEXT: The definition of “Anti-tax conservative” has changed

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State government gives more tax breaks than it collects for schools and general government

by John Bebow, Mike Wilkinson and Ted Roelofs, Bridge Michigan
May 9, 2017

<h1>State government gives more tax breaks than it collects for schools and general government</h1> <p class="byline">by John Bebow, Mike Wilkinson and Ted Roelofs, Bridge Michigan <br />May 9, 2017</p> <div class="dr-paragraph right-aligned-blockquote-xl dr-paragraph--right-aligned-blockquote-xl"> <div class="region region--float-right region--float-right-xl dr-paragraph right-aligned-blockquote-xl dr-paragraph--right-aligned-blockquote-xl"> <div class="region__content"> <h2>11 things every Michigan taxpayer should know</h2> <p><a href="http://www.bridgemi.com/economy/compared-other-states-michigans-tax-burden-low-and-getting-lower">Comparatively, Michigan’s tax burden is low – and getting lower.</a></p> <p><a href="http://www.bridgemi.com/economy/look-around-your-taxes-could-be-much-higher">Look around: YOUR taxes could be much higher.</a></p> <p><a href="http://www.bridgemi.com/economy/state-government-gives-more-tax-breaks-it-collects-schools-and-general-government">Michigan gives more tax breaks than it collects for schools/gov’t.</a></p> <p><a href="http://www.bridgemi.com/economy/definition-anti-tax-conservative-has-changed">The definition of “Anti-tax conservative” has changed</a></p> <p><a href="http://www.bridgemi.com/economy/if-michigans-tax-burden-so-low-why-do-taxes-seem-so-high-you">Why might taxes seem high to YOU?</a></p> <p><a href="http://www.bridgemi.com/economy/why-do-legislators-want-cut-state-income-tax">The motivation for a state income tax cut.</a></p> <p><a href="http://www.bridgemi.com/economy/what-might-you-get-out-income-tax-cut">What might YOU get out of an income tax cut?</a></p> <p><a href="http://www.bridgemi.com/economy/snyder-republican-why-do-his-experts-want-spend-more-not-less">Snyder is a Republican. Why his experts want to spend more.</a></p> <p><a href="http://www.bridgemi.com/economy/how-could-michigan-cut-income-taxes-and-spend-more-education-and-infrastructure">Can we cut taxes and spend more on education/infrastructure?</a></p> <p><a href="http://www.bridgemi.com/economy/what-if-michigan-ultimately-raises-taxes-who-might-get-nicked">Future tax increases YOU might face.</a></p> <p><a href="http://www.bridgemi.com/economy/so-what-will-happen-your-taxes-over-long-term">Tax less vs. spend more. How will the standoff end?</a></p> </p> </div> </div> </div> <p><span id="docs-internal-guid-65903fce-da25-72a9-ed89-9d1be1dab1e6">Who doesn’t love a tax break? In Michigan, there are tax breaks galore – </span><a href="http://www.senate.michigan.gov/sfa/Publications/BudUpdates/StateBudgetOverviewApr2017.pdf">$27.5 billion of them this year</a>. Business tax breaks. Homestead tax breaks. Sales tax exemptions on items like food, prescription drugs and many services (from your accountant to your hairdresser).</p> <p><span id="docs-internal-guid-65903fce-da25-72a9-ed89-9d1be1dab1e6">Called “tax expenditures” in government parlance, these tax breaks are $7 billion more this year than they were in 2000 (after adjusting for inflation). That’s a 36-percent increase in state-mandated annual tax breaks since the beginning of the century.</span></p> <p><span id="docs-internal-guid-65903fce-da25-72a9-ed89-9d1be1dab1e6">Michigan gives more in tax breaks every year than it collects in tax revenue to pay for most government operations (the general fund) and schools (the school aid fund).</span></p> <div class="dr-paragraph full-width-image dr-paragraph--full-width-image"> <div class="card card--bg dr-paragraph full-width-image dr-paragraph--full-width-image"> <div class="card__image"> <figure><img loading="lazy" src="https://bridgemi.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/fig-23.png" width="1300" height="1048" alt="Tax breaks exceed ongoing revenue"></figure> <div> </div> </div> <div class="card__content"></div> </div> </div> <h2 class="wp-block-heading"><a href="http://www.bridgemi.com/economy/definition-anti-tax-conservative-has-changed">NEXT:&nbsp;The definition of “Anti-tax conservative” has changed</a></h2> <p>This &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://bridgemi.com/business-watch/state-government-gives-more-tax-breaks-it-collects-schools-and-general-government/&quot;&gt;article&lt;/a&gt; first appeared on &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://bridgemi.com&quot;&gt;Bridge Michigan&lt;/a&gt; and is republished here under a &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/&quot;&gt;Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;img src=&quot;https://i0.wp.com/bridgemi.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/cropped-android-chrome-192x192-1.png?resize=150%2C150&amp;amp;ssl=1&quot; style=&quot;width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;&quot;&gt;&lt;img id=&quot;republication-tracker-tool-source&quot; src=&quot;https://bridgemi.com/?republication-pixel=true&amp;post=9675&amp;amp;ga4=G-1E2G9MSHX5&quot; style=&quot;width:1px;height:1px;&quot;&gt;&lt;script&gt; PARSELY = { autotrack: false, onload: function() { PARSELY.beacon.trackPageView({ url: &quot;https://bridgemi.com/business-watch/state-government-gives-more-tax-breaks-it-collects-schools-and-general-government/&quot;, urlref: window.location.href }); } } &lt;/script&gt; &lt;script id=&quot;parsely-cfg&quot; src=&quot;//cdn.parsely.com/keys/bridgemi.com/p.js&quot;&gt;&lt;/script&gt;</p> Copy to Clipboard

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