Register a company in Michigan

Yes. LARA accepts the articles online through the MiBusiness Registry Portal, and the organizer who files them need not be a member, so we file while you stay home. The EIN comes from the IRS by fax, usually within 4 business days, or by phone on its international line, with no SSN required. Annual statements are online-only anyway. A traditional bank may want a US footprint; fintech applications are made remotely.

Formation starts from $2,400 all-in, including the Michigan filing fee ($50), the resident agent for the first year, the EIN and the operating agreement. With a fintech or bank account set up, from $4,400. Michigan's own yearly filing charge for an LLC is then the $25 annual statement due by 15 February; LARA's expedite fees, if you want them, are itemised separately.

An LLC suits founders who will take profit out rather than raise equity: with one member it is disregarded for federal tax, with two or more it is a partnership, and Michigan follows that. A C-Corp pays 21% federally plus Michigan's 6% from $350,000 of Michigan gross receipts, and it is the usual choice when investors are coming. S-corp status is closed to you, because non-resident aliens cannot be S-corp shareholders. Decide early: an election to change classification generally locks the choice for 60 months.

Federally, a C-Corp pays 21%, and an LLC normally passes its profit through to the owners. Michigan's 6% corporate income tax applies to C-Corps and LLCs taxed as corporations, due 30 April for calendar-year filers, with no return at all under $350,000 of Michigan gross receipts. Dividends from a C-Corp to non-resident owners carry 30% withholding unless a treaty lowers it. Sell taxable goods in Michigan and you register with Treasury and remit the 6% sales tax; cities cannot add their own.

The state filing can be done in 24 hours if you pay LARA's $50 expedite fee, or the same day for $100 if it reaches LARA by 1:00 pm Eastern time. Without expedite, we confirm LARA's current turnaround when we file. The EIN by fax generally comes within 4 business days; by mail it takes about 4 weeks. The bank account follows the EIN, and its timing depends on the platform and your file.

There are two routes. Fintech platforms of the Mercury or Relay kind take applications online and usually suit a new company run from abroad; a traditional bank makes sense where you already have a US footprint. We choose the route for your profile, prepare the application with the articles, the EIN and your KYC documents, and set up ACH, wires and Stripe. The bank makes the decision, and we tell you beforehand where your file looks weak.

It is Michigan's term for a registered agent, named in the articles together with the registered office. The agent must be a Michigan resident, or a corporation or LLC authorised in Michigan, with its office at that address, so a founder living abroad cannot do it. LARA records the agent's name publicly. Ours is included for the first year; renewal after that is from $600 a year.

Not to LARA, for an LLC: the articles and the annual statement ask for the resident agent and the registered office, not members. A C-Corp's annual report does list its officers and directors. Federally, FinCEN's final rule, in force since 14 August 2026, exempts US-formed companies from BOI reports. The IRS still knows who controls the company, because the EIN application names a responsible party, and that must be a natural person.

Form 5472. A single-member LLC owned by a non-US person files it every year with a pro forma Form 1120, due by the 15th day of the fourth month after its tax year ends. Money you put in or take out counts as a reportable transaction, so no sales does not mean no form. It cannot be filed electronically, only by fax or mail, and missing it costs $25,000, plus $25,000 for each further 30 days once 90 days have passed after an IRS notice. Our accounting add-on files it from $800 a year.

It depends on where the business runs. A Delaware or Wyoming LLC that transacts business in Michigan must first obtain a Certificate of Authority from LARA ($50) and keep a Michigan resident agent too. If your staff or warehouse are in Michigan, forming here saves that second registration. If you sell online from abroad and plan to raise money, Delaware is the usual default, and we will say so on the call.