Before you can pay employees, make sure you've registered for payroll in their applicable work state. This can sometimes take several weeks—the sooner you start the process, the sooner you'll have the tax account info required to pay them.
Gusto partners with CorpNet to help you register in the state—learn more below.
If you've already registered in the state, you'll need to enter your tax account details in Gusto in order to pay employees. Learn where to find your tax account information by clicking The company is already registered with the state below.
Since Gusto can only be report your payroll withholding, you'll need to file an additional Form 5080/5081 with the completed sales tax details for the amount of sales and use tax owed—learn more below.
Gusto partners with CorpNet to help you register your business in new states.
Once a work address has been added in a new state and a new employee has been hired and assigned a work address in that state, you can get registration assistance in Gusto. Here’s a snapshot of the process:
CorpNet can walk you through entering any info that they themselves do not enter in Gusto on your behalf.
After you send your order, we’ll email you with status updates and add your order total to your next monthly invoice.
When your order is complete you’ll receive emails from both Gusto and CorpNet. They’ll detail the next steps which include:
Before your order is completed, you can use the link in the state registration confirmation email from Gusto to check the status of your order.
You can also head to the Taxes & compliance and select Tax setup, scroll to the state tax setup section and click the link to Check the status of your registration.
Changing your order
To update your order, contact CorpNet at [email protected] or 1(888) 449-2638. They’re open Monday-Friday from 7am-5pm PT.
Q: Can I run payroll for my employees before my registration is complete?
A: Not in most cases—you typically need to have a withholding account number and required tax rate(s) in Gusto before you can run payroll.
If you’re registering in a state where there is no income tax withheld, you can use the state-specific “new employer rate” in this article until you receive your company-assigned rate from the agency.
Q: Can I use Gusto to register in a new state if I don't have a Federal Employer Identification Number (FEIN) yet?
A: No–you must have a FEIN entered in Gusto to order a state tax registration.
Q: Where can I see all my tax information?
A: You can see all tax details in the following locations:
Gusto’s state tax registration service does not contain tax, legal, financial, or HR advice. Since rules and regulations change over time and can vary by location, consult a lawyer, HR expert, or accountant for specific guidance.
During the registration process you will be asked if you are using a payroll service and need a power of attorney form to be filled out. Once you enter in the MI information in your Gusto account, we will formulate this Power of Attorney (POA) form for you to electronically sign along with the other forms.
Income tax withholding and Unemployment tax
You can register for both income tax withholding and unemployment tax online:
You''ll receive your UIA Employer Account Number a few days after registering. Click here to view state-by-state new employer rates and wage bases.
If you have any questions regarding your unemployment tax rate, please contact the agency at (855) 484-2636, option 5. If you have any questions about withholding tax, contact the agency at (517) 636-6925.
Multiple cities in Michigan levy an income tax on residents and nonresidents who work in these specific cities. These taxes are typically 1% income tax on residents and .5% on nonresidents. The cities of Detroit, Grand Rapids, Highland Park and Saginaw have rates that differ from the rest.
Gusto will handle the payment of these taxes but as a business owner you will need to register with the city/cities that your employees are working in—registration in each city is unique.
By clicking on the respective city below you'll be provided with the form that needs to be mailed to that city to register.
“Predominant” work city—employee action required
If you have multiple business locations in Michigan, each of your employees will have a "Predominant Work City" field in their Michigan Tax Setup in Gusto.
There's a dropdown of all of your company's work cities that have a Michigan local income tax, as well as an option of “No Predominant City.” Employees must identify their predominant work city on the city's W-4 by December 1 for the next calendar year.
Some agencies require special authorization for Gusto to pay or file your taxes.
To ensure successful authorization, please verify that the following information you have entered into Gusto matches what is on file with the Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency:
If Gusto is having trouble gaining access to your account, please verify that the above information matches exactly what the agency has on file by giving them a call at (855) 484-2636, option 5.
Income tax withholding
If you've run payroll in the past in Michigan, you can find your 9 digit (XX-XXXXXXX) MI Withholding Tax ID Number on notices you've received from the Department of Treasury. This number is always the same as your company's FEIN. If you have any questions, call the agency at (517) 636-6925.
Unemployment tax
If you've run payroll in Michigan previously you'll find your 10 digit (XXXXXX XXX) MI UIA Account number on notices that you have received from the agency. If you have a 7 digit UIA Account number please enter 000 for the last three digits to make it 10 digits. If you're unsure of your ID you should call the agency at (855) 484-2636, option 5.
Your total unemployment rate appears on the bottom right of Form UIA 1771, the Tax Rate Determination For Calendar Year notice that you receive annually from the Unemployment Insurance Agency. This rate includes the Obligation Assessment (OA) Tax.
Click here to view state-by-state UI rates and wage bases. If you're unsure of your rate you should call the agency at (855) 484-2636, option 5.
Form 5080/5081 are the monthly, quarterly, and annual forms filed by businesses operating in Michigan. These forms are combined returns, meaning they include payroll withholdings alongside sales tax reporting.
Because this form includes reporting of sales tax and this is information that Gusto does not have, we will file this form with only the withholding tax information.
Since Gusto will only be reporting your payroll withholding, you will need to file an additional Form 5080 / 5081 with the completed sales tax details for the amount of sales and use tax owed. If sales and use tax are not owed, enter zeros on this form for these amounts. Please leave the withholding tax portion of the form blank.
Michigan will then be able to combine the sales and use tax amounts from your filed form with the payroll withholding amounts from the form filed by Gusto.
Form 5080
The sales tax portion must be filed no later than the 20th of the month following the end of the return period (e.g. monthly filers must file by the 20th day of the following month and quarterly filers file by the 20th day after the end of the quarter).
If you owe sales and use tax in Michigan, this form must be completed either by paper or electronically. If you complete it by paper you should mail it to the address below:
Michigan Department of Treasury
P.O. Box 30324
Lansing, MI 48909-7824
Form 5081
This annual form is due by the end of February, and can be filed electronically via the state website or on paper and mailed to:
Michigan Department of Treasury
P.O. Box 30401
Lansing, MI 48909-7901
If the due date falls on a weekend or holiday, the due date will be the business day following the weekend or holiday.
Asterisks info—only if applicable
Filings marked with an asterisk (*) are coupons, payment vouchers, or other forms that are filed electronically, and will not appear in your Tax documents tab.
Filings marked with a double-asterisk (**), are forms that will only be available for January 1st, 2020 and beyond.
Some states require that you enter specific information about Gusto to grant us Third Party Access (TPA) or register—TPA is also sometimes necessary in order for us to file and pay your taxes.
If at any time an agency needs information about your payroll agent, first reference the Register a company with the state dropdown above for any state-specific information or detail that may be required.
If there is no mention of TPA in that section, you can use the information below:
Agent name: Tomer London
Firm Name: ZenPayroll Inc (dba: Gusto)
FEIN: 453942850
Email: [email protected]
Address: 525 20th Street San Francisco, CA 94107
Phone: (415) 935-0230
Reminder: if state-specific codes/IDs are requested and you can not match them to the information above, check the first dropdown of the article.