Get your tax IDs in Michigan

An EIN, if you need one, takes minutes online. Michigan then adds a sales tax license if you sell taxable goods, withholding if you have employees, and an unemployment account once you pay wages.

What’s different in Michigan

• The sales tax license is free, and tax is flat. The state rate is 6% everywhere in Michigan. The state allows no city or local sales tax.
• Your EIN doubles as your Treasury account. Treasury says your federal EIN becomes your Treasury business account number. Get the EIN first.
• Detroit has a city income tax. 2.4% for residents and 1.2% for nonresidents on individual income, handled by the state Treasury. Corporations file a separate Detroit corporate income tax.
• The unemployment system changes in November 2026. The Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency (UIA) is scheduled to move from MiWAM to MiUI on November 9, 2026.

Do this

1. Get an EIN from the IRS if you need one. The IRS requires one if you have employees and for partnerships, corporations, nonprofits and most LLCs. It is free and, if approved, issued immediately online. Form the LLC or corporation first. Don’t pay a website to apply for you.
2. Register for taxes with the Michigan Department of Treasury. Start at Michigan Treasury Online. The application is Form 518, Registration for Michigan Taxes. Registration takes up to 48 hours for an electronic application. By mail, one Treasury page says 7 to 10 days to mail, then about 2 weeks to process, while its sales tax license FAQ says 4 to 6 weeks. Those two pages disagree. Online filing avoids the mail time; check the date on your confirmation.
3. Know when you need the license. There is no fee for a sales tax license. For events, one or two events a year can use Form 5089; more than two events needs a license. Contractors are different: contractors need no sales tax license; they pay tax on the materials they affix to real property. On timing, you may start selling before the license arrives, but tax is owed from the first retail sale.
4. Collect and file sales tax on the schedule Treasury gives you. Returns are due monthly, quarterly or annually, as Treasury assigns each year. Monthly returns are due the 20th of the following month, quarterly returns the 20th of the month after the quarter ends, and every filer sends an annual return by February 28 of the following calendar year. Treasury’s sales and use tax page has the forms and the rate details.
5. Register for withholding when you have employees. Withholding is filed with Treasury: monthly returns are due the 20th of the following month, and the annual return by February 28 of the following calendar year. Treasury’s withholding page has the details. Which form your employees give you for Michigan withholding, and whether a federal W-4 is accepted in its place, is not on the page we read.* Check the official source.
6. Add Detroit tax if it applies. Detroit withholding and business returns go to Treasury, not the city. Treasury’s Detroit business tax page has the forms, including the separate Detroit corporate income tax. The individual rates you withhold at are 2.4% for residents and 1.2% for nonresidents. For any city license, see Licenses and permits.
7. Open an unemployment account with the Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency (UIA) when you pay wages. You are generally an employer once you pay $1,000 or more in wages in a calendar year, or have a worker in 20 different weeks. A new employer’s rate is 2.7% for the first two years, except that a construction employer pays the average construction contractor rate for its first two years. Quarterly reports are due the 25th of April, July, October and January. Start at the UIA employer page.
8. Report every new hire. Report them to the Michigan New Hires Operation Center, run by the Office of Child Support. The number of days you have after the hire date was not on the page we read.* Check the official source. The new hire reporting page links the reporting site. The hiring your first employee guide covers the federal side.

Rates and use tax

Most sales are taxed at 6%. Residential electricity, natural gas and home heating fuel are taxed at 4%. Use tax is 6% on the total price of taxable items you bring into Michigan or buy online, by mail or by phone from an out-of-state seller that does not collect Michigan tax. Treasury’s sales and use tax page lists what is taxable and the filing rules.

The unemployment system, as of November 2026

As of November 2026, MiWAM went permanently offline at 4:30 p.m. on Monday, November 2, 2026. The UIA’s new system, MiUI, is scheduled for November 9, 2026, so the UIA’s employer steps may read differently by the time you register. Between those two dates employer services are offline: there is nowhere to register or file until MiUI opens. If you sign in and the screens do not match this page, trust the UIA.

UIA pages disagree on the taxable wage base. The January 2026 UIA employer advisor applies a base of $9,000 to 2026 for qualified employers. To qualify, an employer needs every quarterly report filed and no unpaid balance of $25 or more. Employers who do not qualify pay on the default base of $9,500. The UIA’s taxable wage base FAQ still reads $9,000 for 2025. Check the figure for your account when you register. A late report adds a $55 non-reporting penalty.

By structure

• LLC: unless it is taxed as a corporation, its owners generally pay Michigan’s 4.25% individual income tax on their share. The flow-through entity tax is elective, taxed at the individual income tax rate, with the election due the last day of the 9th month after the tax year ends. An LLC taxed as a corporation owes the corporate income tax instead.
• Corporation: a C corporation pays the 6% corporate income tax. Stay compliant has the returns and dates.
• Nonprofit: there is no Treasury application; organizations exempt under 501(c)(3) or 501(c)(4) claim sales and use tax exemption with a completed Form 3372 and a copy of the federal exemption letter.
• Sole proprietor: you pay the 4.25% individual income tax on your own return. Sales tax and employer registrations still apply.

What you get back

• EIN: a nine-digit federal tax ID, shown on screen when approved. Print the confirmation letter.
• Sales tax license: valid January 1 through December 31, issued every year.
• Treasury account: your EIN is the account number for your Michigan taxes.
• Unemployment account: an account with the UIA if you owe tax. Quarterly reports are due the 25th of April, July, October and January.

Not selling taxable goods and not hiring yet? You may need nothing more for now.