Business Owners Prepare For Service Tax

OTSEGO (Newschannel 3) - On Saturday, Michigan's 6 percent sales tax will be expanded to some services.

That's because lawmakers agreed to expand the tax to balance the state budget earlier this month.

But after an uproar from the business community, the Senate voted to push the expansion back until December 20. However, neither the House nor the Governor have signed off on that deal yet.

Newschannel 3 talked to several businesses that will be required to add the new service tax, and they told us they haven't heard anything from the state yet, and really don't know what Saturday will bring.

Ruth Nodel works as a massage therapist and astrologer, two services that will be affected by the new tax.

"I know other people I've talked to are kind of on hold, they're all waiting," she said. "We're waiting to see what happens."

Those were the same sentiments echoed by Cindy Gayheart, the Office Manager for Bittersweet Ski Resort.

"We haven't heard one way or the other, a definite 'yes' or 'no'," said Gayheart.

So while the Senate and the House try to decide when and how they will replace the tax, business owners across Michigan are preparing for the worst.

For Bittersweet, that means the carpets will be cleaned before Saturday's opening, to save a little money. The resort set their lift ticket and rental fees for the winter season back in September, and even though they may soon be paying more for maintenance, they won't be making anymore off skiers to compensate.

"If we would have known that this was going into effect, we would have just raised our prices accordingly," said Gayheart.

The State Department of Treasury has several of the new tax forms for businesses online. To check them out, just go to the "Links" section on our homepage.