Michigan · Payroll tax registration
Michigan Form 518, explained.
Form 518 is the Registration for Michigan Business Taxes, the Treasury booklet that registers sales tax, use tax, income tax withholding, corporate income tax, and state unemployment insurance tax in one application. Employers complete the UIA Schedule A liability questionnaire and Schedule B successorship questionnaire with it, and the online route is Michigan Treasury Online.
Who you are dealing with
Michigan Department of Treasury
- Handles:
- Sales, use, withholding, and corporate income tax registration. The unemployment side registers through the same application's UIA schedules and lands at the Unemployment Insurance Agency.
- System:
- Michigan Treasury Online (MTO)
- Form:
- Form 518, Registration for Michigan Business Taxes, with UIA Schedule A and Schedule B for employers; online through Michigan Treasury Online
State fee. $0. The registration booklet carries no fee, and Michigan publishes none for opening these accounts.
What the state asks for
- The legal entity, FEIN, and ownership details, with identification for officers or partners
- Which taxes apply: sales, use, withholding, corporate income, unemployment
- UIA Schedule A, the liability questionnaire every employer completes
- UIA Schedule B, the successorship questionnaire that decides whether a predecessor's account history transfers
How long it takes
Two different clocks, from Treasury's own material: a mailed Form 518 takes 4 to 6 weeks to process, and the state says to mail it at least six weeks before you intend to start. Online through Michigan Treasury Online is the route we use, and the UIA account number can issue in as little as three days.
What we do
We prepare the registration with both UIA schedules, file through Michigan Treasury Online, and hand you the sales, withholding, and unemployment account numbers payroll and filings need. You keep the client. We never email them.
What is Michigan Form 518?
The Registration for Michigan Business Taxes: one Treasury application covering sales tax, use tax, income tax withholding, corporate income tax, and state unemployment insurance. It is the paper counterpart of registering online through Michigan Treasury Online.
What are UIA Schedule A and Schedule B?
The two unemployment questionnaires every employer files with Form 518: Schedule A establishes liability for Michigan unemployment tax, and Schedule B asks about successorship, whether the business acquired another employer's organization, trade, or assets, which can carry that employer's tax rate and history with it.
How long does Michigan Form 518 take to process?
Mailed, 4 to 6 weeks, and Treasury says to mail it at least six weeks before you intend to start the business. Online through Michigan Treasury Online is faster, and the unemployment account number can issue in as little as three days.
Is the Michigan Treasury number the same as my EIN?
No. Form 518 asks for your federal EIN and then issues Michigan's own account registrations on top of it, including the UIA employer account number the unemployment system runs on.
How do I cancel the Michigan accounts later?
Separately, at each agency: Treasury's accounts close on Form 163, the Notice of Change or Discontinuance, and the unemployment account closes with the UIA. Our Michigan payroll closure page covers the sequence and the forms.
Agency details verified 2026-10-02
About the provider
Regcrest LLC is a document preparation and filing service based in Allentown, Pennsylvania, founded in 2026. It prepares and files state payroll and sales tax registrations, account closures, and resale certificates on behalf of the businesses that instruct it, and works behind accounting firms, bookkeepers, and payroll providers as well as directly with businesses.
Regcrest LLC is not a CPA firm and not a law firm. It gives no tax or legal advice. It files in all 50 states, and publishes a full page for the 29states it has verified against the agency's own material so far, each one showing the date it was checked. For anything that turns on your specific situation, ask a licensed accountant or attorney.