Business Owners in Michigan are at Their Wits' End.

Here is part of a note I recently received from a frustrated business owner in Michigan. It is indicative of the hurdles employers in this state must go through just to make a profit and create a few jobs.

"As a small business owner, I am at a loss as to how to budget for this coming year because I have no idea how these taxes are going to affect my business. I have recently attended two seminars on tax planning concerning the MBT. Both were given by large accounting firms and the speakers were both tax attorneys and accountants. The bottom line was, neither firm had enough of an understanding of this tax to figure out for their clients if they had to file the tax this year. They could only give us a basic overview of how this tax would affect our businesses. How can it even be legal to pass a tax that no one understands? How am I supposed to pass the cost of this tax on to my customers when I don't have any idea what the cost will be? How can I plan my budget for the upcoming year with additional tax proposals on the table that could be enacted at any moment? One tax in particular that would devastate my business which is already losing money is the proposed increases on marina permits and MDEQ fees."