Michigan · Sales tax registration
Michigan sales tax registration, done for you.
Michigan uses one registration for a lot of ground. Form 518 covers sales tax, use tax, income tax withholding, corporate income tax, and unemployment insurance together, which is genuinely convenient and also means it is easy to register for something you did not intend to.
Last updated:
Who you are dealing with
Michigan Department of Treasury
- Handles:
- Sales and use tax registration, alongside withholding, corporate income tax, and the unemployment account
- System:
- Michigan Treasury Online
- Form:
- Form 518, Registration for Michigan Taxes. On paper for unemployment purposes it must include Schedule A, the Liability Questionnaire, and Schedule B, the Successorship Questionnaire
State fee. $0 for the registration. Our flat fee covers preparing and filing Form 518 and any schedules it needs.
Our fee. $180 per state, flat. State fees are passed through at cost.
When you have to register
Register before making taxable retail sales in Michigan. If you are registering for payroll at the same time, note that unemployment liability begins with the first calendar quarter in which you had payroll, so the same form is doing two jobs on two clocks.
What comes next
The exit is not symmetrical: Form 163 discontinues the Treasury registrations, and Michigan states that filing it is what stops the requirement to keep filing zero returns. UIA Form 1772 handles unemployment separately.
How long it takes
Michigan does not publish a turnaround we could confirm from the agency. The route is what matters: Michigan Treasury Online is materially faster than posting the form and its schedules to the Registration Section in Lansing.
What we do
We work out which accounts you need, submit each registration, and hand you the account numbers, rates, and deposit schedules your payroll system asks for. One flat price per state, and any state fee passed through at cost. You keep the client. We never email them.
What makes Michigan harder than average
- One form covers a lot, which cuts both ways. Sales, use, withholding, corporate income tax, and unemployment all sit on Form 518. Ticking a box you do not need creates a filing obligation that outlives the decision, because Michigan expects zero returns until the account is discontinued.
- Schedule B decides your unemployment rate in an acquisition. The Successorship Questionnaire is how Michigan works out whether you inherit a predecessor's experience rating. If you bought the business, that answer changes what you pay rather than just what you file.
- Zero returns continue until you formally discontinue. Michigan is explicit that Form 163 is what stops the requirement. A dormant registration keeps generating filing obligations, which is why registering narrowly matters.
- One form in, two forms out. Form 518 opens everything. Closing takes Form 163 with Treasury and UIA Form 1772 with the Unemployment Insurance Agency.
How Michigan compares
If Michigan is one of several states on the list, the order you register in changes what each one asks for.
Questions and answers
Does one Michigan form cover sales tax and payroll?
Yes for registration. Form 518 covers sales tax, use tax, withholding, corporate income tax, and unemployment insurance. Closing them later is not combined in the same way.
Should I register for tax types I might need later?
No. Michigan expects zero returns on an open registration until it is formally discontinued on Form 163, so an unused account is an ongoing filing obligation rather than a dormant login.
What are Schedules A and B?
Schedule A is the Liability Questionnaire and Schedule B the Successorship Questionnaire, both required with a paper Form 518 for unemployment purposes. Schedule B matters most if you acquired the business, because it determines whether you inherit the predecessor's experience rating.
What is the fastest route?
Michigan Treasury Online. Michigan does not publish a turnaround we could verify, but the online route avoids posting the form and schedules to the Registration Section in Lansing.
What do you need from me to start?
The legal name and FEIN, entity type, Michigan locations, what you sell, the date taxable sales begin, which other tax types you genuinely need, and whether the business was acquired from an existing Michigan business.
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.