A taxpayer with a fiscal year beginning in 2007 and ending in 2008 must file two short period returns, one to report their final SBT liability, and the other to report their initial MBT liability.

Per Michigan Compiled Law (MCL) 208.151, the SBT is repealed on business activity in this state after December 31, 2007. A fiscal year SBT taxpayer must file a short year return for the period from the beginning of its 2007-2008 fiscal year through December 31, 2007.

A fiscal year MBT taxpayer must file a short year return for the period from January 1, 2008 to the ending of its 2007-08 fiscal year.

MCL 208.1503 provides for a computation of tax for the first tax year of less than 12 months. The SBTA does not address the computation of tax for the final tax year, however, the repeal language in MCL 208.152 requires the Department of Treasury to "prorate the liability for the tax imposed under the single business tax act as necessary to impose the equivalent of a tax at the rate of zero on business activity after December 31, 2007."

Consequently, a fiscal year taxpayer may elect to compute the tax for the final short period SBT year and the initial short period MBT year in accordance with 1 of the following methods:

1. Annual - The tax may be computed as if the Act(s) were effective throughout the taxpayer's 2007-08 federal tax period and the amount computed multiplied by a fraction, the numerator of which is the number of months of the federal period that fall in 2007 or 2008, and the denominator of which is the number of months in the full federal period (typically 12).
2. Actual - The tax may be computed based on actual business activity occurring in the final/initial short period in accordance with an accounting method satisfactory to the department that reflects the actual business activity attributable to the period. The method of accounting used in prior fiscal years will be assumed to reflect the actual tax base attributable to the period.

The method the taxpayer employs for its final SBT return must also be used for the initial MBT return. Thus, if a taxpayer elects to use the annual method for its final SBT return it must also use the annual method for its initial MBT return.

MBT Estimated and Annual Return Due Dates