This guide is general information, not legal or tax advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. It reports what each state publishes about filing deadlines, fees, and the consequences of missing them, with the sources this page cites. It cannot tell you what your own company owes: the date turns on when and where you formed, states change these rules between our reviews, and in several states an entity-level tax falls due in a year when no report does. Confirm your own dates with the filing office named on this page before you rely on one here, because the penalty for missing a deadline can be administrative dissolution of the company.
Frequently Asked Questions
Your Michigan LLC annual statement must be filed by February 15 each year with the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA), regardless of your formation date. The one exception is at the start: an LLC formed after September 30 does not file on the February 15 immediately following formation, and begins with the February 15 after that. The fee is $25 for an LLC, or $75 for a professional LLC. Filing late costs you nothing extra, because Michigan imposes no late fee on an ordinary LLC statement and the $50 late fee in circulation is a professional LLC charge. The real risk is structural: LARA dissolves, revokes, or marks not in good standing a business that stops filing after a two-year grace period, which suspends your ability to operate normally in Michigan, and getting back costs $50 for a Certificate of Restoration of Good Standing plus every missed $25 fee. The practical takeaway is that a $25 annual filing prevents a much larger cleanup. Set a calendar reminder for early February and file through the MiBusiness Registry Portal at michigan.gov/lara or by mail.
No, Michigan doesn't require LLC formation notices to be published in newspapers, unlike states such as New York or Arizona. Nothing in the Michigan Limited Liability Company Act imposes a publication requirement, which saves you the publication costs a New York LLC still faces.
What you do file is the Articles of Organization (form CSCL/CD-700) with LARA's Corporations Division, not with the Secretary of State. The fee is $50, the same online or on paper. Expedited service is optional and stacks on top of that $50: $50 for 24-hour handling, $100 for same day, $500 for two hours, and $1,000 for one hour.
The practical benefit is real. A New York LLC must publish formation notices in two newspapers for six consecutive weeks and then file a certificate of publication, a process that adds both cost and delay. Michigan owners skip it entirely and submit form CSCL/CD-700 online through the MiBusiness Registry Portal or by mail.
Your next step is to file the Articles of Organization with LARA at michigan.gov/lara/bureau-list/cscl/corps before you start doing business, which is what gives your LLC legal existence in Michigan.
Yes, you can serve as your own resident agent for your Michigan LLC if you maintain a physical street address (not a PO box) within Michigan and are consistently available during regular business hours to accept legal documents on behalf of your company. You list yourself as the resident agent on your Articles of Organization filed with the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA).
This decision carries practical implications. As your own agent you are personally responsible for receiving service of process, subpoenas, and tax notices, and missing them can produce a default judgment against your LLC or a blown tax deadline. You must also tell LARA when you move, which means filing a certificate of change of registered office or resident agent. Many Michigan LLC owners start out self-appointed to avoid the $100 to $300 a year that commercial registered agent services charge, then switch later for privacy and reliable mail handling as the business grows. Weigh your availability and your document handling before deciding.
Your next step: confirm your Michigan address meets LARA's physical address requirement, then make sure your Articles of Organization name you as resident agent before you file.
Michigan doesn't impose a franchise tax or a minimum entity-level tax on an LLC taxed as a partnership or a disregarded entity, which makes it one of the most cost-effective states for ongoing compliance. Your only recurring state filing obligation is the $25 annual statement, due each February 15 to the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA). A professional LLC pays $75 instead. The statement asks for basic information about your business address, registered agent, and member or manager details, and the $25 stays flat regardless of your LLC's revenue or asset size. Without a franchise tax you avoid the escalating charges that LLC owners face in states like California or New York. Missing the February 15 deadline adds nothing to the bill, because Michigan has no late fee on an ordinary LLC statement, but it does start a two-year clock: after that grace period LARA dissolves or revokes the business, and restoration costs $50 plus every missed $25 fee. Members still pay Michigan income tax on their share of the profits. File your annual statement online through the MiBusiness Registry Portal at michigan.gov/lara to keep the LLC active.
Sources
Each entry below is a document recorded in our verified Michigan sources, and each entry says what the document is. Some statutory text is read from an accurate mirror rather than from the state's own host, and those say so.
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Edmond Hui is a software engineer and serial entrepreneur based in New York who has founded multiple online businesses across e-commerce, media, and information publishing. Before transitioning into tech, he spent years as a commercial real estate professional closing deals totaling over 100,000 square feet, giving him firsthand experience with business formation and entity structuring. He built MyStateLLC to provide the free, state-specific LLC guidance he wished existed when forming his own companies.
