Sec. 43.
(1) A balance of the tax that is due the city at the time of filing an annual return shall be paid with the return unless the balance is less than $1.00, in which case payment is not required.
(2) If the annual return reflects an overpayment of the tax, the declaration of the overpayment on the return constitutes a claim for refund. Subject to subsection (6), if the city or the department agrees that a claim is valid, the city or the department shall apply the overpayment first to a delinquent tax liability under this ordinance of the taxpayer to the city. The city shall apply any remaining overpayment against a subsequent liability under this ordinance or, at the election of the taxpayer and if indicated on the return, shall refund the overpayment. However, the city shall not pay a refund of less than $1.00.
(3) If a valid claim for a refund of taxes, except a refund under section 61, due for the taxable year 1992 or a taxable year after 1992 is filed, interest at the rate established in section 30(3) of Act No. 122 of the Public Acts of 1941, being section 205.30 of the Michigan Compiled Laws, shall be added to the refund beginning 45 days after the claim is filed or 45 days after the date established under this ordinance for the filing of the return, whichever is later. For tax years after the 1996 tax year and for which a city has entered into an agreement pursuant to section 9 of chapter 1, a claim for refund shall be paid from money in the city income tax trust fund.
(4) For tax years after the 1995 tax year and for which a city has entered into an agreement pursuant to section 9 of chapter 1, if a taxpayer pays, when filing his or her annual return, an amount less than the sum of the declared tax liability under this act, and the declared tax liability under the income tax act of 1967, Act No. 281 of the Public Acts of 1967, being sections 206.1 to 206.532 of the Michigan Compiled Laws, and there is no indication of the allocation of payment between the tax liabilities against which the payment should be applied, the amount paid shall first be applied against the taxpayer's tax liability under this act and any remaining amount of payment shall be applied to the taxpayer's tax liability under Act No. 281 of the Public Acts of 1967. The taxpayer's designation of a payee on a payment is not a dispositive determination of the allocation of that payment under this subsection.
(5) If the claim for refund is reflected on a joint tax return, the administrator shall allocate to each joint taxpayer his or her share of the refund. The amount allocated to each taxpayer shall be applied to his or her respective liabilities under this ordinance.
(6) If the administrator or the department determines that all or a portion of a refund claimed on a joint tax return is subject to application to a liability of an obligated spouse, the administrator or the department shall notify the joint taxpayers by first class mail sent to the address shown on the joint return. The notice shall be accompanied by a nonobligated spouse allocation form. The notice shall state all of the following:
(a) That all or a portion of the refund claimed by the joint taxpayers is subject to interception to satisfy a liability or liabilities of 1 or both spouses.
(b) The nature of the liability and the name of the obligated spouse or spouses.
(c) That a nonobligated spouse may claim his or her share of the refund by filing a nonobligated spouse allocation form with the city or the department not more than 30 days after the date the notice was mailed.
(d) A statement of the penalties under subsection (9).
(7) A nonobligated spouse who wishes to claim his or her share of a tax refund shall file with the city or the department a nonobligated spouse allocation form. The nonobligated spouse allocation form shall be in a form specified by the administrator or the department and shall require the spouses to state the amount of income or other tax base and all adjustments to the income or other tax base, including all subtractions, additions, deductions, credits, and exemptions, stated on the joint tax return that is the basis for the claimed refund, and an allocation of those amounts between the obligated and nonobligated spouse. In allocating these amounts, all of the following apply:
(a) Individual income shall be allocated to the spouse who earned the income. Joint income shall be allocated equally between the spouses.
(b) Each spouse shall be allocated the personal exemptions he or she would be entitled to claim if separate federal returns had been filed, except that dependency exemptions shall be prorated according to the relative income of the spouses.
(c) Adjustments resulting from a business shall be allocated to the spouse who claimed income from the business.
(d) Ownership of other assets relevant to the allocation shall be disclosed upon request of the administrator or the department.
(8) A nonobligated spouse allocation form shall be signed by both joint taxpayers. However, the form may be submitted without the signature of the obligated spouse if his or her signature cannot be obtained. The nonobligated spouse shall certify that he or she has made a good faith effort to obtain the signature of the obligated spouse and shall state the reason that the signature was not obtained.
(9) A person who knowingly makes a false statement on a nonobligated spouse allocation form is subject to a penalty of $25.00 or 25% of the excessive claim for his or her share of the refund, whichever is greater, and other penalties as provided in this ordinance.
(10) A nonobligated spouse to whom the administrator or the department has sent a notice under subsection (6), who fails to file a nonobligated spouse allocation form within 30 days after the date the notice was mailed, shall be barred from commencing any action against the city or the department to recover an amount withheld to satisfy a liability of the obligated spouse to which a joint tax refund is applied under this section. The payment by the city or the department of any amount applied to a liability of a taxpayer under this section shall release the department or the city and the administrator from all liability to the obligated spouse, the nonobligated spouse, and any other person having or claiming any interest in the amount paid. A payment by the department of treasury under this subsection shall be made from the city income tax trust fund created in section 5 of chapter 1.
(11) As used in this section:
(a) "Nonobligated spouse" means a person who has filed a joint city income tax return and who is not liable for an obligation of his or her spouse described in this ordinance.
(b) "Obligated spouse" means a person who has filed a joint city income tax return and who is liable for an obligation described in this ordinance for which his or her spouse is not liable.
History: 1964, Act 284, Imd. Eff. June 12, 1964 ;-- Am. 1971, Act 169, Imd. Eff. Dec. 2, 1971 ;-- Am. 1991, Act 198, Eff. Mar. 30, 1992 ;-- Am. 1996, Act 478, Eff. Jan. 1, 1997