Michigan · Sales tax closure
Close a Michigan sales tax account.
Michigan uses one form for this and states its purpose plainly: filing Form 163 formally closes your account and stops the requirement for zero returns. Until it is filed, a business with no sales still owes a return every period saying so.
Who you are dealing with
Michigan Department of Treasury, Registration Section
- Handles:
- Sales and use tax registration, and other tax types on the same form
- System:
- Michigan Treasury Online
- Form:
- Form 163, Notice of Change or Discontinuance. Mailed to Michigan Department of Treasury, Registration Section, PO Box 30778, Lansing MI 48909-8278, or filed online
State fee. $0. Michigan does not charge to discontinue a registration. Outstanding sales and use tax has to be paid, and Form 163 is also the document used to settle delinquent tax with any penalty and interest.
When you have to close
You file when you discontinue the business or stop making taxable sales. The form wants an effective date of discontinuance of tax liability, which is a more precise thing than the date you locked the door, and getting it right determines which period is your last.
Final returns come first
Include your final tax period on the form and make sure all outstanding sales and use taxes are paid. If you are discontinuing, you are obliged to timely file all final returns for the year, so the annual obligation does not disappear because the business did.
How long it takes
Michigan does not publish a turnaround. The online route gives a record where the mailed form does not, which is the practical difference. What Michigan does tell you is the outcome: filing the form is what stops the zero return obligation.
What we do
We confirm which accounts are open, file the final returns if they are still outstanding, submit the cancellation to each agency, and follow up until both are confirmed closed. You get the written confirmations. One flat price, and the state charges nothing to close.
What makes Michigan harder than average
- Zero returns keep coming until the form is filed. Michigan is explicit that Form 163 is what stops the requirement, so a business that stopped selling and stopped filing has been accruing missed returns rather than quietly winding down.
- The form gets rejected for missing basics. Michigan lists what it needs: name, address, account number, a valid signature, a valid title, and an effective date of discontinuance of tax liability. A form short one of those comes back, and the clock keeps running while it does.
- It is the same form as the payroll discontinuance, which cuts both ways. Form 163 handles withholding and sales together, so both can go at once. It also means selecting the wrong tax type leaves one live while you believe both are closed.
- The annual return still lands. Michigan says a business owner discontinuing is obliged to timely file all final returns for the year. Closing in March does not remove the annual filing for that year.
Questions and answers
Will closing the account stop the zero returns?
Yes, and that is exactly what Michigan says Form 163 does. Filing it formally closes the account and stops the requirement to keep filing returns showing no activity. Until then they are still due.
Why was my Form 163 returned?
Usually a missing element. Michigan requires the name, address, account number, a valid signature, a valid title, and an effective date of discontinuance of tax liability. Any one of those missing is enough.
Does this close my Michigan payroll accounts too?
Form 163 can cover withholding as well as sales if you select both. It does not touch the unemployment account, which needs UIA Form 1772 with the Unemployment Insurance Agency separately.
I closed in March. Do I still file an annual return?
Yes. Michigan says a business owner discontinuing is obliged to timely file all final returns for the year, so the annual filing for that year still applies.
What do you need from me to start?
The legal name, Michigan account number, an authorised signer and their title, the effective date of discontinuance, which tax types you hold, and whether any returns or balances are outstanding.
Agency details verified 2026-08-03