AARP backs bill that maintains state income tax benefits for surviving spouse

An AARP-backed bill that would maintain a state income tax break for a surviving spouse who benefited from the tax status of an older spouse won unanimous passage in the House Tax Policy Committee Wednesday.

 The recently enacted tax on pension income allows for an exemption for state residents age 67 and older. A younger spouse also benefits from that tax status four couples who file a joint state income tax return.

 House Bill 4301, sponsored by Rep. Jim Townsend, D-Royal Oak, would enable the same tax benefits to continue for the surviving spouse after the death of the older partner.

 Townsend told the House Tax Policy Committee that the government should not be "raising taxes on people who lost a loved one," according to published reports.

 AARP, which has long been a supporter of the legislation, urges passage of the bill on the House floor and in the Senate during the current lame duck session of the Legislature.

 “This bill corrects an oversight in the pension tax law that creates a financial hardship for people at a difficult time in their lives – the loss of a spouse,” said Lisa Dedden Cooper, Manager of Advocacy for AARP Michigan.