calculator

Get an idea of what you'd owe under a proposal to gradually phase out Michigan's income tax.

(Emily Lawler | MLive.com)

LANSING, MI -- Michigan House Republicans kicked off their 2017-2018 session with a bill to reduce and eventually eliminate the state's income tax. In this story, MLive looks at what that would mean for you.

The proposed bill is a long-term phase-out of the state's income tax, which is currently 4.25 percent. If it passed, Michiganders would see their income taxes lower to 3.9 percent in 2018. In 2019 and every year afterward, it would decrease by .1 percent per year -- eventually reaching zero in 2057.

So what would that look like for your income? Use this calculator to find out. Type in your yearly income and you'll get an idea of what you could pay in future tax years.

House Speaker Tom Leonard, R-DeWitt, is a supporter of the bill. He noted after Gov. Rick Snyder's State of the State address, in which the Governor set a goal of increasing Michigan's population, that the proposal could be one thing to do that.

"You look at Florida that does not have an income tax, and I know one of the big groups that we're losing right now are the snowbirds, those that are retired. And I believe if we did eliminate or at least lower the income tax we could attract or keep some of those individuals here," Leonard said.

Senate Majority Leader Arlan Meekhof, R-West Olive, said it was a tough proposal to look at because it was hard to compare apples-to-apples with other states. Florida doesn't have an income tax, he said, but also doesn't place a cap on its property tax increases (Michigan does.)

But he said the caucus, and specifically Sen. Jack Brandenburg, R-Harrison Twp., would be examining the issue closely in the coming months.

"Our caucus genuinely believes that citizens spend their money better than government does, and it's a way to look at government spending as well," Meekhof said.

The House bill has been referred to House Committee on Tax Policy, which has not yet met this session.The bill is in its infancy, and would have to pass both the House and Senate chambers, and be signed by the Governor, to become law.