Rep. Ben Frederick of Owosso is co-sponsoring a plan to make personal protective equipment and disinfecting products more affordable and widely distributed during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The legislation recently introduced in the state House would exempt these purchases from Michigan’s 6 percent sales and use tax for employers with COVID-19 safety protocol plans. The bipartisan package also would allow qualified job providers to offset a portion of their PPE purchases with a corporate income tax credit for 2020.

“These proactive measures would help Michigan continue to reopen its economy safely and sensibly,” Frederick said of House Bills 6033-35. “Helping job providers obtain the personal protective equipment their employees need and deserve is simply the right thing to do. These measures make PPE and related COVID-19 supplies more affordable, which means job providers can buy more of it to protect their workers and customers.”

Frederick noted that a sales and use tax exemption is a good way to prompt more purchases overall, which would help Michigan’s economy bounce back from the pandemic. He also helps sponsor House Bills 5680-81, which would provide a ‘sales tax holiday’ in the state – waiving Michigan’s 6 percent sales and use tax on a variety of purchases made at physical locations. Dates and other specifics for the sales tax holiday would be determined at a later time.

The sales tax exemption bills are pending in the House Tax Policy Committee.