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For many years now, the city of Detroit has missed out on tens of millions of dollars in uncollected tax revenue. The city wants to change that.
Mayor Mike Duggan's administration is going after companies, large and small, that do business in the city but haven’t paid the corporate income taxes owed, Matt Helms of the Detroit Free Press reports.
The State of Michigan also began collecting income taxes on individuals who work in the city — residents and nonresidents alike — this year, permitting people to file city income taxes electronically for the first time and boosting compliance with tax laws, the Freep reports:
So far, the effort is working, said John Naglick, the city’s chief deputy chief financial officer and finance director.
Amid the crackdown, a Detroit company in November voluntarily disclosed corporate tax records to the city for three prior years, paying the city $1.2 million in uncollected corporate income taxes. City officials declined to name the company, saying they are prohibited by state law from discussing income tax issues pertaining to individual taxpayers and corporations.
The city also recently won a Michigan Tax Tribunal ruling against downtown law firm Honigman, which also has offices in the suburbs and outstate.
