Michigan Sales Tax: Automobile SalesFactsA Michigan auto finance company finances consumer automobile purchases from its affiliated dealers. Their contract stated: If a customer purchased a car from one of the dealers and needed financing to pay for the car, the dealer would refer the customer to the finance company. If the company financed the purchase, an installment contract was made between the consumer and the finance company. The finance company would then pay the dealer the full purchase price of the car, including sales tax. Under Michigan's general sales tax law, the car dealer would then pay sales tax to the State of Michigan on the purchase. There have been some cases where the customer defaulted and the finance company assumed the entire risk of collecting the purchase price and sales tax from the consumer. If the finance company was unable to collect, it turned to the State of Michigan's sales tax department to obtain a refund for the sales tax paid to retailers. Under Michigan's general sales tax law, does the State of Michigan owe the finance company a refund? Legal Issues The case of Andrie Inc. v. State of Michigan concerns the assessment of use tax by the State of Michigan for subject years beginning November 1, 1999 and ending December 31, 2004, and for the taxable period beginning January 1, 2004 as of July 31, 2006. Andrie's major customers include large oil companies from which Andrie purchased fuel, supplies and fixed assets from retailers. The State of Michigan conducted an audit for the years in question. According to Andrie's records, the State of Michigan assessed use tax on Andrie's purchases where an invoice did not list sales tax as a separate item. Andrie objected on the basis... half of the document ...... excerpted from http://www.ehtc.com/Portals/49708/docs/Sales-UseTaxRules-10-09.pdfMiller, R.L., and Croce, FB (2013). The legal environment today: business in its ethical, regulatory, e-commerce and global context. (7 ed.). Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning.Miller, R.L., & Hollowell, W.E. (2006). 2007 Texts on commercial law and legal context. Mason, OH: Western Law Firms in Business.Nolo®. (2014). Michigan Internet Sales Tax. Retrieved from http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/michigan-internet-sales-tax.htmlState of Michigan. (2008). Estimates for Michigan sales tax, use tax, income tax withholding, and business tax. Retrieved from http://www.michigan.gov/documents/taxes/78_255401_7.pdfState of Michigan. (2014). Frequently asked questions about sales and use taxes. Retrieved from http://www.michigan.gov/taxes/0,1607,7-238-43529-154427--,00.html