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 has no universal statewide general business license. Check actual professional/industry licensing and local permits separately. Ordinary sales tax is 6%, with no local sales-tax add-on. Remote sellers review prior-calendar-year gross sales over $100,000 or 200 or more Michigan transactions. Marketplace-only sellers whose sales are all facilitated should not register/file sales/use returns merely for those facilitated sales; direct sales and other tax obligations require separate analysis. Check physical presence, taxable activities, marketplace records and current Treasury instructions. The sales-tax license has no application fee; follow current account renewal instructions.
- 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
Michigan has no universal statewide general business license. Check actual professional/industry licensing and local permits separately. Ordinary sales tax is 6%, with no local sales-tax add-on. Remote sellers review prior-calendar-year gross sales over $100,000 or 200 or more Michigan transactions. Marketplace-only sellers whose sales are all facilitated should not register/file sales/use returns merely for those facilitated sales; direct sales and other tax obligations require separate analysis. Check physical presence, taxable activities, marketplace records and current Treasury instructions. The sales-tax license has no application fee; follow current account renewal instructions.
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 activity/location checklist. Requirements vary; confirm current state, local, professional and marketplace rules. It does not establish nexus or a complete license determination.
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.
- ✓Optional formation assistance; confirm filing scope, service pricing and submission responsibilities.
- ✓Optional formation assistance; confirm filing scope, service pricing and submission responsibilities.
- ✓Confirm registered-agent eligibility, coverage, included periods and renewal charges.
- ✓Review address-use rules and privacy policies; a service does not remove all information from public filings.
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Remote and Marketplace Sales
Michigan has no universal statewide general business license. Check actual professional/industry licensing and local permits separately. Ordinary sales tax is 6%, with no local sales-tax add-on. Remote sellers review prior-calendar-year gross sales over $100,000 or 200 or more Michigan transactions. Marketplace-only sellers whose sales are all facilitated should not register/file sales/use returns merely for those facilitated sales; direct sales and other tax obligations require separate analysis. Check physical presence, taxable activities, marketplace records and current Treasury instructions. The sales-tax license has no application fee; follow current account renewal instructions.
Treasury marketplace collection rules.
Michigan LLC — FAQ
Ahmad Adil is the founder and CEO of LLC School. For filing and ongoing compliance, confirm the requirements with the responsible state agency. This is educational information, not legal or tax advice.
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