Michigan Tax Tribunal’s Property Tax Decision Reversed Regarding Michigan’s Principal Residence Exemption

Clark Hill Team Charley Lawler and Zach Larsen achieved a reversal of the Michigan Tax Tribunal in a published decision addressing the disqualification from Michigan Principal Residence Exemption for taxpayers who claim a “substantially similar” exemption outside of Michigan.

Reasoning that “the ‘substantial similarity’ standard is not so demanding that it requires exactness,” the Court of Appeals held that Utah’s residential exemption disqualified the taxpayers even though the claimed Utah exemption applied to a tenant-occupied residence and Michigan’s exemption is generally limited to owner-occupied properties. Stirling v. County of Leelanau, __ Mich App __ (Docket No. 353117).

Read the full opinion here.