Michigan LLC Business Licenses & Permits (2026)
Michigan has no statewide general business license — but that doesn't mean zero paperwork. Between Michigan Treasury Online registration for the 6% sales tax, state professional boards, local permits, and the city income tax accounts in about two dozen cities, here's your full stack.
Michigan requires no statewide general business license. What you may need instead: Michigan Treasury Online (MTO) registration for the 6% sales & use tax (no local sales taxes anywhere); state professional licenses through LARA's boards for regulated fields; local permits (zoning, health, signage) from your city or township; and — if you're in Detroit, Grand Rapids, or another taxing city — a city income tax account. An assumed name (DBA) is filed with LARA for $25 (5-year term).
- Statewide general license
- None
- Sales tax registration
- MTO · 6%
- Local sales tax
- None anywhere
- City income tax
- ~24 cities (Detroit, GR…)
- Professional boards
- LARA
- Assumed name (DBA)
- LARA · $25 / 5 yrs
Michigan's 3 License Layers
State: Michigan Treasury Online registration
Selling taxable goods or certain services means registering with the Treasury through MTO for the 6% sales & use tax — one statewide rate, zero local sales taxes. Hiring adds withholding registration through the same portal.
State: profession-specific licensing
LARA licenses regulated fields — building trades, cosmetology, real estate, healthcare, accounting, and many more. The license attaches to the activity, not the LLC. Certain professional services must form as a PLLC.
Local: city/township permits & city income tax
Cities and townships handle zoning, health, and signage permits. And critically, about two dozen Michigan cities — Detroit, Grand Rapids, Lansing, Flint, and more — levy a city income tax that means an extra registration and filing.
The city income tax is Michigan's hidden layer: a business in a non-taxing township pays only the 6% sales tax and state income tax. But operate in Detroit or Grand Rapids and there's a whole additional city income tax regime — including employer withholding if you have staff working in the city. Founders who move into a taxing city, or hire someone who works there, routinely discover this the hard way.
Find Your Likely Stack
Michigan License Finder
Business type × city · your likely license & registration stack
Educational estimate — requirements vary by city, township, and industry. Confirm with Michigan Treasury Online, LARA, and your local clerk. About 24 Michigan cities levy an income tax.
MTO & the 6% Sales Tax
- Sales & use tax — 6% statewide: register through Michigan Treasury Online before making taxable sales. There are no local sales taxes anywhere in Michigan — one rate, one set of returns.
- Filing frequency: monthly, quarterly, or annually depending on your sales volume, assigned by the Treasury.
- Use tax: owe 6% use tax on taxable goods bought out of state without sales tax charged.
- Employer accounts: hiring adds Michigan withholding through MTO plus unemployment insurance registration.
The City Income Tax (Michigan's Distinctive Layer)
About 24 Michigan cities levy their own income tax — most at 1% for residents and 0.5% for non-residents, with Detroit higher at roughly 2.4% resident / 1.2% non-resident. This matters two ways for your LLC: your own pass-through profits may face city tax if you live or work in a taxing city, and if you have employees who work in the city, you generally must withhold city income tax from their pay and register as a withholding employer. The taxing cities include Detroit, Grand Rapids, Lansing, Flint, Saginaw, Pontiac, and Battle Creek, among others — if your address or your employees' work location is in one, budget for the extra layer. Full detail in Step 8.
Professional & Local Licensing
LARA licenses regulated professions — builders, electricians, plumbers, cosmetologists, real estate agents, accountants, healthcare providers — and certain professionals must form a Professional Limited Liability Company (PLLC) rather than a standard LLC. Restaurants clear local (county/district) health departments; alcohol runs through the Michigan Liquor Control Commission plus local approval. Layer in city/township zoning and signage permits. Your LLC never substitutes for the professional license — verify your board's rules before the first client.
Ahmad Adil's Take: Michigan's licensing is genuinely light at the state level — one sales tax registration, no general business license, a clean assumed-name process. The trap is entirely local, and it's the city income tax. I've watched founders who nailed every state filing get blindsided because they set up shop in Grand Rapids or hired someone who works in Detroit, and suddenly there's a city withholding obligation nobody told them about. Before you sign a lease or your first employee's paperwork, make one call to your city's income tax office and ask two questions: "does my business owe city income tax here, and do I have to withhold for employees who work in the city?" Twenty minutes closes a gap that otherwise surfaces as a penalty letter.
- ✓Forms your Michigan LLC for $39 + the $50 state fee
- ✓Files with LARA — the MiBusiness Registry Portal
- ✓Free Michigan resident agent the first year
- ✓No upsells · No data selling · Privacy by Default
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Michigan LLC — FAQ
Ahmad Adil is the founder and CEO of LLC School. The figures here — the $50 Articles of Organization, the $25 annual statement due February 15, and Michigan’s flat 4.25% income tax with city income taxes in Detroit, Grand Rapids, and elsewhere — reflect current LARA and Michigan Department of Treasury guidance. This is educational content, not legal or tax advice.
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