Bill
HB 4059
HB 4059 would exempt many baby and toddler items from Michigan's use tax (and, with HB 4058, from sales tax), lowering family costs while reducing state revenue.
Status and sponsors
- Introduced: Feb. 4, 2025 (read first time and referred to the House Committee on Economic Competitiveness).
- Primary sponsors (Michigan version): Rep. Nancy DeBoer (introduced with multiple co-sponsors including Rep. Kathy Schmaltz).
- Related bill: HB 4058 (would make equivalent exemptions under the General Sales Tax Act).
Purpose / intent
- To amend the Michigan Use Tax Act (1937 PA 94) by adding a new section (Sec. 4mm) that exempts a broad set of baby- and toddler-related items from the State’s use tax (tax on storage, use, or consumption of tangible personal property).
Key provisions
- Exempts the storage, use, or consumption (i.e., use tax) of the following items:
- Cribs, playpens, play yards; strollers; safety gates.
- Child safety cabinet locks, latches, electrical socket covers.
- Bicycle child carrier seats and trailers (including adaptors/accessories).
- Baby exercisers, jumpers, bouncers, swings.
- Breast pumps and defined “breast pump collection and storage supplies.”
- Bottle sterilizers; baby bottles and nipples; pacifiers; teething rings; baby wipes.
- Changing tables and changing pads.
- Children’s diapers (single‑use and reusable, including inserts).
- Baby and toddler clothing (including shoes) and clothing accessories/equipment.
- Definitions and limits:
- “Breast pump” covers electrically or manually powered devices plus power supplies sold with the pump.
- “Breast pump collection and storage supplies” includes breast shields, tubing, valves/membranes, backflow protectors, pump‑specific bottles/caps, storage bags, and related items typically sold with a pump.
- Several items (e.g., general bottles, travel bags, cleaning supplies, nursing bras, creams) are excluded from the exemption unless sold as part of a manufacturer prepackaged “breast pump kit.”
- A “breast pump kit” qualifies if it contains a breast pump and other qualifying items, and the non‑pump items represent less than 50% of the kit’s total sales price.
- “Children’s diapers” explicitly includes both disposable and reusable diapers and inserts; “clothing” broadly includes shoes.
Who is affected
- Primary beneficiaries: parents and caregivers of infants and toddlers purchasing the listed items — they would pay no Michigan use tax on these goods (and, if paired with HB 4058, no sales tax when purchased in-state).
- Retailers and vendors: would no longer collect use (or, under HB 4058, sales) tax on exempt items; administrative changes to point‑of‑sale systems may be required.
- State and local budgets: reduced tax receipts (see fiscal impact below).
Fiscal impact
- House Fiscal Agency estimate (for HB 4058/HB 4059 combined): approximately $40.0 million reduction in sales and use tax revenue in the first year, with growth thereafter.
- Sales tax reductions: roughly 73% constitutionally earmarked to the School Aid Fund, ~10% to revenue sharing, remainder to the General Fund.
- Use tax reductions: after certain local reimbursements, estimated split ~57% to the General Fund and ~43% to the School Aid Fund.
- The estimate indicates the bulk of the revenue loss is expected from sales tax foregone (if HB 4058 also passes).
Procedural / timing notes
- HB 4059 (Use Tax Act amendment) was introduced Feb. 4, 2025 and referred to committee; companion HB 4058 would amend the Sales Tax Act. No effective date is specified in the introduced text — if enacted, the effective date would be set in the final legislation.
Bottom line
- HB 4059 seeks to exempt a wide range of baby- and toddler-related products from Michigan’s use tax (and together with HB 4058 would remove sales tax liability on those items), reducing consumer costs for these goods while producing an estimated multi‑million dollar annual revenue loss to state funds, with implications for school and local funding shares.
Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.
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