How to start an LLC in Michigan

The state filing fee is $50, same online or by mail. If you serve as your own resident agent, that is the true minimum startup cost. Add $25 every February 15 for the Annual Statement going forward. If you use a commercial resident agent service, expect $99 to $249 a year on top of the $50 filing. The takeaway: $50 is the floor, but most founders who want privacy will spend $150 to $300 in year one.

LARA says standard review can take up to 10 business days, and the MiBusiness Registry Business Entity Search posts a live "processed through" date that tells you how current the queue is. If timing matters, Michigan offers expedited tiers on top of the $50 base fee: 24-hour for an extra $50, same-day for $100, 2-hour for $500, and 1-hour for $1,000. Mail filings can take noticeably longer because of transit and receipts processing — if you are in a hurry, do not mail it.

Registering, forming, and filing a Michigan LLC all mean filing Articles of Organization (Form CSCL/CD-700) with LARA's Corporations Division, not the Secretary of State. The fee is $50, and that is the whole state formation step. After approval, register with the Michigan Department of Treasury only if you will collect sales tax or have employees; Michigan has no general state business license. If you will operate under a different name, register an assumed name with LARA for $25.

File on the MiBusiness Registry Portal at mibusinessregistry.lara.state.mi.us, which replaced COFS in June 2025. Create an account, search your name, start Articles of Organization for a domestic LLC, and enter the resident agent, the registered office street address, and an organizer signature. Add a manager-managed statement only if you want one; otherwise Michigan defaults to member-managed. Pay $50. Standard review takes up to 10 business days, and 24-hour review costs $50 more. Keep the Customer ID and PIN you get after approval; you need them for every Annual Statement.

You do not need to file one with the state. But you should still have one. Banks ask for it to open a business account, and it is what actually keeps your personal assets separate from the company if things ever get tested. Treat it as part of a clean LLC setup, not as optional paperwork.

It is Michigan’s term for the person or company that receives legal notices and official state correspondence for the LLC. Other states call this role a registered agent or a statutory agent, but on your Michigan filing you will use the term resident agent. The agent must have a physical Michigan street address (no P.O. boxes) and be available during business hours.

Yes, if you are a Michigan resident with a physical Michigan street address where you can be reached during business hours. The tradeoff is privacy and reliability. Your address becomes part of the permanent public record, and if you are not there when a process server shows up, you can miss a lawsuit. If you work from home or travel, a commercial resident agent is usually the better choice.

Yes, and many founders do, especially if they are their own resident agent. The problem is that the address becomes permanently tied to the public filing, anyone can look it up, and you may be served with legal process in front of customers or family. If privacy matters, put a commercial resident agent’s address on the filing instead.

Michigan requires every LLC to keep a resident agent and registered office on file at all times. If the role lapses or the agent resigns without a replacement, you can miss legal notices and state correspondence — and service of process can end up with the state administrator by default. The practical takeaway: if you do not want to manage that reliably yourself, pay for a service and remove the risk.

Not an annual report — an Annual Statement. That is Michigan’s own terminology, and the distinction matters because a lot of generic LLC guides wrongly say Michigan has no annual filing. For a standard LLC, you file Form CSCL/CD-2700 every year by February 15, the fee is $25, and as of the 2025 portal change, it is filed online only through MiBRP. There is no late fee for a standard LLC, but miss two years in a row and the LLC falls out of good standing 60 days after LARA’s notice. Restoring it costs $50 plus $25 for every missed year.

No. Michigan has no publication requirement for LLCs. You do not have to run a formation notice in a newspaper the way you would in a state like New York, which keeps the setup cost predictable and lower overall.

No. FinCEN’s final rule, effective August 14, 2026, made permanent the exemption first issued in March 2025: companies created in the U.S. — including Michigan LLCs — do not file Beneficial Ownership Information reports. Ignore any checklist written before 2025 that says otherwise, and recheck FinCEN’s BOI page before filing in case the rules change again.

No. Michigan does not have a Commercial Activity Tax, a franchise tax, or any gross-receipts tax on LLCs. The Michigan Business Tax was repealed in 2012 and is now a narrow legacy item for certain credit holders. If you have read that Michigan has a CAT, that was a mix-up with Ohio — Ohio has a CAT, Michigan does not.

For most small founders there are two real issues. First, Michigan’s individual income tax at 4.25% flows through to LLC owners by default. Second — and this is the one people underestimate — 24 Michigan cities levy their own income tax. Detroit, Grand Rapids, Lansing, and others can create separate filing and withholding obligations depending on where you live, where you work, and where the business operates. If you touch any of those cities, factor city tax into your compliance plan from the start.

Michigan does not have a blanket statewide business license that every LLC needs. Licensing is industry-specific: contractors, cosmetologists, healthcare providers, liquor retailers, food handlers, and regulated professions all have their own paths, typically through LARA, MDARD, or local health departments. If you sell tangible goods, you will need to register for sales tax through Michigan Treasury Online. Check with LARA and your city or township before assuming no license applies.

Yes. Michigan does not require organizers, members, or managers to live in the state. The one in-state requirement is that the LLC must continuously maintain a resident agent at a Michigan street address. If you are out of state, that almost always means using a commercial resident agent service — it is the cleanest way to meet the requirement without opening a Michigan office.

Most Michigan LLCs are taxed as pass-through entities by default — single-member LLCs are disregarded, multi-member LLCs are partnerships. Either way, income flows to the owners and is taxed at Michigan’s 4.25% individual rate. Eligible pass-throughs can elect the Flow-Through Entity tax at the same 4.25% rate as a SALT-cap workaround. LLCs that elect C-corp treatment federally owe Michigan’s 6% Corporate Income Tax. And owners in municipal-tax cities owe local tax on top of all of that.

Yes. Michigan lets you set a delayed effective date of up to 90 days after LARA receives the Articles. That is worth using intentionally if you want the LLC to start on a specific future date for tax, contract, or launch reasons.

No. Michigan has not enacted Series LLC provisions, so you cannot form a Michigan Series LLC. If you need a series structure to silo multiple ventures under one legal umbrella, you will need to form in a state that supports it, such as Delaware, Texas, Illinois, or Wyoming.