A city income tax in Muskegon and Muskegon Heights
Muskegon and Muskegon Heights both have a local city income tax, unlike the rest of Muskegon County's cities and townships.
Most Michigan towns don’t have a local income tax — but two cities in Muskegon County do. If you live in the city of Muskegon or the city of Muskegon Heights, you pay a city income tax on top of your state and federal taxes. It’s 1% of your income if you live there, and half that — 0.5% — if you work there but live somewhere else. For residents, the tax applies to everything you earn, even wages from a job in another town. You usually get a credit for income tax you already paid to another city, so the same paycheck isn’t taxed twice.
The county’s other cities — North Muskegon, Norton Shores, Roosevelt Park, Montague, and Whitehall — don’t have a city income tax, and neither do any of the townships. So this is really just a Muskegon and Muskegon Heights thing.
Each city runs its own income tax office and its own return — Muskegon’s is the CF-M1040, due at the end of April rather than mid-month like the state — so a move across the line between the two, or a new job in either one, means a separate filing each spring.