Court Opinion

ID: 9667386
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 01:44:29.257265+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:15:37.571838
License: Public Domain

M. J. Kelly, P.J.
(concurring). I concur in the result reached by Judge Cynar. A writ of mandamus should issue against the Attorney General, directing him to certify to the Insurance Commissioner that plaintiffs articles of incorporation are in compliance with the Insurance Code. MCL 500.5020; MSA 24.15020 allows the Attorney General to refuse to certify the articles of incorporation only if the articles are not in compliance with the Insurance Code. The Attorney General is not empowered to withhold certification merely due to his belief that the motivating factor behind the formation of a newly proposed corporation is to avoid application of a particular tax. Nothing in the code gives the Attorney General such a power.
Before the Insurance Commissioner may issue a certificate authorizing plaintiff to proceed with the organization of the insurance company, she must receive certified articles of incorporation from the Attorney General. See MCL 500.5020; MSA 24.15020, MCL 500.5024; MSA 24.15024. Thus, mandamus may not properly issue against the commissioner as she is under no current duty to act.
Whether the commissioner may refuse to authorize plaintiff to proceed with the organization of the proposed insurance company based solely on a determination that plaintiff intends to avoid Mich*829igan’s premiums tax is not an issue ripe for decision. The commissioner has made no such determination nor has she refused on this basis to authorize plaintiff to proceed with organization efforts. Nevertheless, it must be noted that under MCL 500.5024; MSA 24.15024, the commissioner is empowered to conduct an investigation and refuse to license incorporators to proceed with the organization of an insurance company only to prevent fraud upon either the persons subscribing to the capital stock or the members of the corporation. If fraud is not found, the commissioner is directed by the statute to issue a certificate authorizing the incorporators to proceed with their organization efforts. The Insurance Code makes no provision for the commissioner to withhold certification based on the diminution of tax revenues to the state. The opinion of the Attorney General, OAG 1979-1980, No 5758, p 930 (August 22, 1980), fails to address this statutory limitation on the power of the commissioner to prevent the formation of a domestic insurance corporation.
The premiums tax on foreign insurance corporations is paid to the commissioner for deposit with the treasurer of the State of Michigan. MCL 500.440; MSA 24.1440. All relevant data necessary to computation of the tax, including any information the commissioner may prescribe, must be filed with the commissioner. MCL 500.443; MSA 24.1443. The commissioner is empowered to use this information to recompute the premiums tax. Id. If the amount of tax paid by a foreign insurance company is less than the commissioner’s computation, the commissioner may take action to recover the difference plus penalties. MCL 500.444; MSA 24.1444, MCL 500.445; MSA 24.1445. It appears, therefore, that if the commissioner is of the opinion that the formation of a domestic corpora*830tion has resulted in an illegal evasion of the premiums tax by a foreign insurance corporation, the commissioner should assess the premiums tax and proceed to collect the same. At such a point, the issues of illegal evasion of the premiums tax and the constitutionality of the same will be ripe for consideration.