Starting a Business in Lansing: Licenses, Registrations & Checklist
A step-by-step plan to open a business in Lansing: what to file first, what depends on what, and which permits come before opening day. Change the business details to fit yours.
Permits and registrations specific to Lansing, MI
- Form the business: Michigan LARA, Corporations Division
- Register for state taxes: Michigan Department of Treasury
- Register as an employer: Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency
Startup sequence and prerequisites in Lansing
This example plan has 26 steps. What you file first decides what you can do next: later registrations and licenses wait on the ones below.
Do these first
- Maintain a registered agent in Michigan
- File formation documents with the Michigan LARA, Corporations Division
- Obtain an Employer Identification Number (EIN)
Then, once those are done
- Register for unemployment insurance (Michigan) — after: Obtain an Employer Identification Number (EIN)
- Register for state income tax withholding (Michigan) — after: Obtain an Employer Identification Number (EIN)
- Michigan sales tax license (Michigan) — after: Obtain an Employer Identification Number (EIN)
- Register for and file Michigan entity-level taxes — after: Obtain an Employer Identification Number (EIN)
- City business license — Lansing, Clinton County, Michigan — after: Obtain an Employer Identification Number (EIN)
- Obtain food service establishment / health permit — after: Obtain an Employer Identification Number (EIN)
- Ensure certified food protection manager on staff — after: Obtain an Employer Identification Number (EIN)
- Obtain certificate of occupancy for premises in Lansing — after: Obtain an Employer Identification Number (EIN)
- Report new hires to the Michigan new hire directory — after: Obtain an Employer Identification Number (EIN)
- Carry workers' compensation insurance (Michigan) — after: Obtain an Employer Identification Number (EIN)
- Display required federal labor law posters — after: Obtain an Employer Identification Number (EIN)
- Complete Form I-9 for each new hire — after: Obtain an Employer Identification Number (EIN)
- Display required Michigan workplace notices — after: Obtain an Employer Identification Number (EIN)
- Provide paid sick leave (Michigan) — after: Obtain an Employer Identification Number (EIN)
Known charges: $25.00 per year.
Total incomplete: some fees unknown
24 of 26 steps have no fee amount in our data. The figures above count only the 2 steps with a recorded fee. Check each agency's fee schedule. Fees that depend on your situation: File wage reports and pay unemployment insurance contributions (Michigan).
Things the formation documents depend on: a registered agent and any professional approvals.
File the formation documents with the state.
Obtain the EIN (and apply for tax-exempt status, for nonprofits). Most registrations need it.
State tax accounts, trade name, foreign qualification and publication requirements.
Licenses and permits you need before you operate: state, industry, local and professional.
Insurance, employment paperwork, new-hire reporting and workplace notices.
Recurring filings and payments, in the order they fall due.
Common questions about Lansing
The state licenses your industry through its own regulator, and the city and county add local permits. These are the authorities and local items on record for Lansing:
- Contractor licensing: Michigan LARA (residential builders and maintenance and alteration contractors)
- Real estate licensing: Michigan LARA
- Alcohol licensing: Michigan Liquor Control Commission
- Child care licensing: Michigan LARA, Child Care Licensing Bureau
- Health facility licensing: Michigan LARA
In the example restaurant plan above, the licenses and permits are: Michigan sales tax license (Michigan); Obtain food service establishment / health permit; Ensure certified food protection manager on staff; City business license — Lansing, Clinton County, Michigan; Obtain certificate of occupancy for premises in Lansing. Change the industry in the form to see yours.
Sources: michigan.gov, michigan.gov, michigan.gov
In the example plan for Lansing, requirements come from four levels. Michigan sets formation, state taxes and employer rules; the city and county add local licenses and taxes.
- Federal (8): Obtain an Employer Identification Number (EIN); File federal income tax return: Form 1040 with Schedule C; Deposit federal payroll taxes; File Form 941 (Employer's Quarterly Federal Tax Return)…
- State (14): Maintain a registered agent in Michigan; File Annual Statement (Michigan); Register for and file Michigan entity-level taxes; Michigan sales tax license (Michigan)…
- County (1): Obtain food service establishment / health permit
- City (2): City business license — Lansing, Clinton County, Michigan; Obtain certificate of occupancy for premises in Lansing
Sources: michigan.gov, michigan.gov
- Register for unemployment insurance with Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency.
- Workers' compensation: Michigan Workers' Disability Compensation Agency. Required when: 3 employees, or 1 employee working 35+ hours per week for 13 weeks
- Register to withhold Michigan income tax from wages.
- The example plan adds these employer steps: Report new hires to the Michigan new hire directory; Carry workers' compensation insurance (Michigan); Display required federal labor law posters; Complete Form I-9 for each new hire; Display required Michigan workplace notices.
Sources: michigan.gov, michigan.gov, michigan.gov