How to pass Wise Business verification with a Michigan LLC

Wise (formerly TransferWise) must verify your business before activating international transfers and multi-currency balances. For a Michigan LLC, Wise collects the business name as registered in Michigan, the EIN, a verifiable US business address, and identity information for all beneficial owners holding 25% or more of the company. Wise also requires a description of the business's products or services and cannot accept virtual office addresses as the primary trading address.

In Michigan the entity behind that check is an LLC created by filing Articles of Organization, which costs $50. Michigan does not publish a processing time for LLC filings, so treat state approval as the open-ended step in your timeline rather than the Wise Business review. Because Michigan keeps members and managers off routine public filings, Wise Business has no public state record to match your owner name against, and relies entirely on the identification you upload.

What Wise Business requires, and how a Michigan LLC meets each

Michigan-specific things to watch

• Michigan keeps both members and managers off routine public filings, but you must still upload beneficial-owner identification directly to Wise Business. State-level anonymity does not exempt you from the platform's KYC. (Articles of Organization (Form CSCL/CD-700) require only the company name, purpose, duration, resident agent, and registered office, signed by an organizer who may be a third party, and under Michigan law the annual statement requires only the resident agent's name and registered office address. No member or manager is listed on any routine public filing. One caveat: Michigan law requires the annual statement to name the person signing and the capacity in which they sign, so a member who signs it personally appears on the public record (the law lets an authorized agent sign instead). A professional LLC is no exception (form CSCL/CD-701 names no member or manager either) but its Article V attests that all members and managers are licensed or otherwise legally authorized to render one or more of the services stated, except as Michigan's LLC Act allows; that limits who may own a PLLC, not who is disclosed.)

Michigan sales tax & nexus rules for Wise Business sellers

Michigan charges a 6% state sales-tax rate. Payments through Wise Business are not covered by marketplace-facilitator laws, so you collect and remit yourself. Registration is required before your first taxable sale if you have physical presence in Michigan (an in-state location, inventory, or employees), or once you cross Michigan's remote-seller economic-nexus threshold of $100,000 in sales or 200 transactions in the previous calendar year.

Michigan has a flat 6% state rate with no local add-ons, making it straightforward for compliance. Michigan is an SST member state. Register through Michigan Treasury Online (MTO).

Register for Michigan sales tax directly with the state: mto.treasury.michigan.gov.

How to verify your Michigan LLC on Wise Business

1. Registered business name. Use the exact LLC name as Michigan recorded it on your Articles of Organization; it must match your bank account holder name.
2. Employer / Taxpayer Identification Number. Provide your federal EIN (free from the IRS; non-US founders without an SSN must apply via Form SS-4 by fax or phone rather than the online tool), independent of Michigan.
3. Business registered and trading address. Use a US street address registered to the LLC in Michigan (your Michigan registered-agent or virtual business address), since a PO box is usually rejected.
4. Beneficial owner identity (25%+ owners). Provide a government ID for each beneficial owner, even though Michigan names none of them publicly. Michigan publishes no member or manager, so the platform relies entirely on the ID you upload, and the names on it must match your operating agreement.
5. Business registration documents. Upload the Articles of Organization Michigan returned to you, stamped and approved.

Non-US founders with Michigan LLCs

Non-US beneficial owners of a Michigan LLC can verify with a non-US government photo ID instead of an SSN. Wise still requires a real US business trading address, and a Michigan registered-agent address alone is typically insufficient for that field. Non-US founders should establish a genuine operational address, in Michigan or wherever the business actually works from, or use a co-working space address.