Income Tax

CURRENT REFUND PROCESSING STATUS

All refund returns filed on time and for which there were no questions have been completed. Any taxpayers who filed on time but have not yet received a refund should email incometax@cityofeastlansing. For taxpayers who filed after the due date, returns will be processed in the order they were received. 

ELECTRONIC PAYMENTS

For taxpayers who filed a paper return or e-filed AND provided banking information, please be aware that it will be at least one week and probably closer to two weeks before the amount will be deducted from the payor's bank account. If it has been longer than two weeks without a payment withdrawal, please email the Income Tax Office at incometax@cityofeastlansing.com to determine if there is an issue. 

INCOME TAX FORMS

Taxpayers can find current instruction guides and income tax forms on the Income Tax Forms webpage.  

GENERAL INFORMATION

The City of East Lansing's income tax took effect on January 1, 2019. The tax will expire after 12 years and revenue from the tax will be dedicated for specific purposes: 20% for police and fire protection, 20% for infrastructure and 60% for supplemental payments for unfunded pension liabilities. Residents (working in East Lansing or another community) will pay a 1% tax and non-residents working in East Lansing will pay a 0.5% tax.

STUDENT INCOME

Individuals whose adjusted gross income is less than $5,000 and who do not have a personal exemption due to being claimed by another individual are exempt from the East Lansing income tax and should include a copy of the first page of their 2022 State of Michigan income tax return with the 2022 East Lansing return as substantiation.

1099G EXPLANATION

The City of East Lansing is required to provide a 1099G tax form to anyone who received a tax refund during 2022. The 1099G is issued to the person whose name and social security number are indicated as primary on the return. Furthermore, the City is required to report that amount to the Internal Revenue Service. For those who itemize deductions on their federal tax return, this refund amount may need to be reported on their 2022 federal tax return. For those who take the standard deduction on their federal tax return, the 1099G should be kept for their records. 

NON-RESIDENT WAGE ALLOCATION FOR WORKING FROM HOME 

Non-residents who have been working from home, rather than from their workplace in East Lansing, will be able to allocate the time spent working outside the City. This only applies to time actually spent working from home. This doesn't apply to those being paid to stay home (being on-call) and not working except for answering occasional e-mails or phone calls. Wages paid for staying home and on-call are treated similarly to pay related to holidays and time off (sick, vacation, etc). 

If an individual is eligible to allocate their time inside and outside the City, the East Lansing Income Tax Office requires a letter from their employer verifying the information on their return. This does not need to be an overly formal letter. It can be from a direct supervisor, as long as it is on the employer’s letterhead. This letter must be submitted along with the individual's return. The City will also accept a detailed log of the time worked inside and outside the City instead of a letter. An individual's refund cannot be processed until after this documentation is received.  

This wage allocation only applies to non-residents who choose to allocate their time. Residents are taxed on all wages, no matter where they are earned.

LEAVE CALCULATION EXAMPLE

There have been some questions on how sick, vacation and holidays impact the allocation of time worked within and outside the City. The following example explains how the numbers should be reported on the “Wages and Excludible Wages Schedule – Attachment 2-1.” 

EMPLOYER WITHHOLDING TOOL

After submitting their completed EL-SS-4, employers can use the City of East Lansing's new Employer Withholding Tool to set up their withholding tax account and complete their withholding tax reporting and payment. 

INCOME TAX BOUNDARY MAPS

The City of East Lansing has created an interactive Income Tax Boundary Map using Geographic Information System (GIS) mapping technology. This interactive map shows the area where the income tax will be assessed and is searchable by address, parcel number and MSU building name.  

• Income Tax Boundary Map (GIS)*
  *If you are unable to open the GIS map, try updating your browser. 

INCOME TAX FACT SHEETS

View the City of East Lansing's income tax fact sheets for individuals and businesses:

• Income Tax Fact Sheet for Individuals (PDF)
• Income Tax Fact Sheet for Businesses (PDF)