Michigan · Payroll closure
Close a Michigan payroll tax account.
Michigan splits the job cleanly in two. Form 163 goes to Treasury to discontinue the withholding registration. UIA Form 1772 goes to the Unemployment Insurance Agency to report that you no longer have payroll. Neither one substitutes for the other, and doing only the first is the common mistake.
Last updated:
Who you are dealing with
Michigan Department of Treasury, Registration Section
- Handles:
- Payroll and pension withholding tax registration
- System:
- Michigan Treasury Online
- Form:
- Form 163, Notice of Change or Discontinuance. Online you can select Discontinue next to the Payroll and Pension Withholding Tax type, or mail the signed form to Michigan Department of Treasury, Registration Section, PO Box 30778, Lansing MI 48909
Michigan Department of Treasury, Registration Section, payroll closure
Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency
- Handles:
- Unemployment insurance employer account
- System:
- MiWAM
- Form:
- UIA Form 1772, Notice of Change, submitted when you no longer have employees or are closing or selling the business
State fee. $0. Michigan does not charge to discontinue a withholding registration or to report a payroll change to the Unemployment Insurance Agency. Delinquent tax, penalty, and interest are settled separately, and Form 163 is also the document used to pay them.
Our fee. $180 per state, flat. State fees are passed through at cost.
When you have to close or cancel
You file when you discontinue the business, sell it, or simply stop having employees. Selling matters here: in a sale, the seller is the one who completes the Notice of Change or Discontinuance to close the unemployment account, so a seller who assumes the buyer handles it is leaving their own account open.
Final returns come first
Discontinue the withholding registration on Form 163 and report the payroll change to the Unemployment Insurance Agency on UIA Form 1772. Form 163 also allows you to add or delete tax types and to pay delinquent tax with penalty and interest, so it can carry more than the discontinuance itself.
How long it takes
Michigan does not publish a processing time for either form. Because Form 163 can be mailed rather than filed online, the practical timeline depends on which route is used, and we use the online route unless there is a reason not to.
What we do
We confirm which accounts are open, file any outstanding final returns, submit each cancellation, and follow up until every agency confirms in writing. You keep the client. We never email them.
Opening an account in another state instead? State payroll tax registration covers the withholding and unemployment accounts payroll software will not open.
What makes Michigan harder than average
- Two forms, two agencies, and no crossover. Form 163 goes to Treasury. UIA 1772 goes to the Unemployment Insurance Agency. Filing one tells the other nothing, and a business that files only Form 163 keeps an open unemployment account.
- In a sale, the obligation sits with the seller. The seller completes the Notice of Change or Discontinuance to close the unemployment account. Buyers frequently assume they inherit it and sellers frequently assume the buyer deals with it, which leaves it done by nobody.
- One form does several jobs. Form 163 handles changes, additions and deletions of tax types, discontinuance, and payment of delinquent tax. That flexibility means it is easy to submit it for one purpose and not realize you needed a different box on the same page.
- There is a mail route and an online route. Both work, and only one of them gives you a fast record. If you are mailing to the Registration Section PO Box in Lansing, plan for the difference.
Dissolving the company is not the same as closing the tax accounts
Articles of dissolution leave the withholding, unemployment, and sales tax accounts open, and those agencies keep expecting returns until each one is closed with them. That is the separate filing that stops the notices.
How Michigan compares
Every state closes them differently. The table compares Michigan with the other states we have documented, agency by agency.
For CPAs and bookkeepers
Send the state, the last payroll or sale date, and the account numbers. The written confirmations come back to you. We do not dissolve the company and we do not take over payroll.
Questions and answers
Does Form 163 close my Michigan unemployment account?
Not on its own. Form 163 discontinues the Treasury withholding registration. The Unemployment Insurance Agency needs UIA Form 1772 to be told you no longer have employees or that the business is closing or being sold.
I sold the business. Who closes the unemployment account?
The seller does. Michigan puts the Notice of Change or Discontinuance on the seller, so if you sold and assumed the buyer would handle it, your account is probably still open.
Can I file Form 163 online?
Yes. In Michigan Treasury Online you can select Discontinue next to the Payroll and Pension Withholding Tax type. The paper form mails to the Registration Section at PO Box 30778 in Lansing.
I owe back tax. Can I still discontinue?
Form 163 is also the mechanism for paying delinquent tax with any penalty and interest, so the two are handled on the same document. Closing the registration does not erase what is owed.
What do you need from me to start?
The legal name and FEIN, the Michigan Treasury account number and UIA account number, the discontinuance date, whether this is a closure or a sale, and whether any returns or balances are outstanding.
Also in Michigan
Agency details verified 2026-08-03
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.