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How to Start a Nail Salon in Michigan: Licenses, Costs & Requirements

Michigan builds a nail salon out of two limited licenses: the manicurist license, which reaches manicuring services and nothing else, and the limited cosmetology establishment license, which licenses a nails only studio for its specified services and nothing more. The fees are small, $63 for the technician and $75 for the studio, and the training course just got longer for new students, 600 hours for anyone who began on or after July 1, 2024. The discipline in a Michigan nail salon is scope, on both layers at once.

Researched from Michigan state sources. Our guides are free. We may earn a commission when you use a partner service, at no additional cost to you.

The regulator: the Board of Cosmetology in LARA

A Michigan nail salon answers to the Board of Cosmetology, part of the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA), Bureau of Professional Licensing. Manicuring is regulated as part of cosmetology under Article 12 of the Occupational Code, Act 299 of 1980. The board licenses manicurists on the personal side and cosmetology establishments on the premises side, and applications and renewals for both run through MiPLUS, the Michigan Professional Licensing User System.

Two features of the Michigan system matter most in a nail business. First, the manicurist license is a limited license by design, and the premises license for a nails only studio is limited in the same way, so scope discipline is built into both layers. Second, the calendar is personal rather than fixed. Under rule R 339.1003, cosmetology licenses and establishment licenses renew every 2 years on the biennial anniversary of the issue date, so each technician, and the salon itself, can carry a different renewal date.

Michigan nail salon requirements at a glance

Practitioner licenses: the manicurist limited license

Every nail technician working in your salon must hold their own license. The manicurist license is the nail credential of Article 12, and section 339.1209 of the Michigan Compiled Laws sets its routes. The school route is 400 hours in a licensed school of cosmetology, or 600 hours for an individual who begins training on or after July 1, 2024, under 2024 PA 78. Two technicians with the same license may have completed different length courses depending on when each started training, and both are properly licensed. The apprenticeship route is not less than 6 months in a licensed cosmetology establishment where manicuring is practiced. Either way, the applicant must be age 17 or older, hold an education equivalent to completion of the ninth grade, and pass the required examination.

The fee follows the individual license line of the State License Fee Act, section 338.2225: a $15 application processing fee plus a license fee of $24 per year, which is $63 for the initial 2 year license and $48 at renewal, at rates in effect for payments through September 30, 2027. The defining feature of the license is its limit. Under section 339.1203a(3), the manicurist license is a limited license, and its holder may perform only manicuring services. A manicurist may not drift into skin care or hair services because the salon has a free chair and a willing client. The broader license on the floor is the cosmetologist license: a cosmetologist's license also covers manicuring, which is why a salon that wants technicians who can legally cross over into other services staffs cosmetologists beside its manicurists, and verifies every applicant's license in MiPLUS before their first shift.

The establishment credential: the limited cosmetology establishment license

A nails only studio does not need the full establishment license, because Michigan offers the limited version of the same credential. Under section 339.1204, a limited cosmetology establishment license covers premises providing only specified cosmetology services, and a manicuring studio fits it directly. The limit cuts both ways: a cosmetologist in a limited establishment may not perform services the establishment is not licensed to provide, so the premises license caps the menu even for a broadly licensed practitioner. Adding hair or skin services later means changing the establishment license, not just the price list.

The application and operating rules are the same as the full establishment license. The owners or managers apply; the application includes the address and a drawing or diagram showing the required equipment and facilities, and full partition and door separation from any adjacent dwelling or school; and the premises must pass a department inspection for sanitation and equipment standards. The fee is the establishment line of the State License Fee Act schedule: a $25 application processing fee plus a license fee of $25 per year, which is $75 for the initial 2 year license and $50 at renewal, at rates in effect for payments through September 30, 2027. Once licensed, the establishment license and the license of each practitioner working in the studio must be displayed prominently; an individual license may be posted at the practitioner's workstation.

The void on transfer rule applies to the limited license exactly as it applies to the full one. Under section 339.1204(4), the establishment license is void on a sale or other transfer of the establishment, on a sale or other transfer of its ownership, or, except for a mobile salon, on a change of location, and a new license must be applied for. Buying an operating nail studio does not buy its license, and moving your own studio does not move its license either. Price the fresh application, and the inspection that comes with it, into any purchase or relocation plan from the start.

Forming your LLC and the February 15 annual statement

Most Michigan nail salon owners form a limited liability company so the business's debts and legal problems stay with the business instead of following them home. An LLC is formed by filing Articles of Organization, Form 700, with the Corporations Division of LARA, and the filing fee is $50. A professional LLC files Form 701, also $50. The recurring duty is the annual statement of resident agent and registered office, due not later than February 15 of each year under section 450.4207, at a fee of $25. An LLC formed after September 30 skips the immediately following February 15.

Michigan's penalty structure for a missed statement is unusual, and worth understanding precisely. There is no late fee for a standard LLC. If an LLC fails to file annual statements for 2 consecutive years, the administrator sends a notice; if the missing statements and fees are not filed within 60 days after that notice, the LLC is not in good standing under section 450.4207a. Not in good standing means no certificate of good standing will issue, the company's name becomes available for use by another entity, and the administrator accepts no filings from it except a certificate of restoration of good standing, which costs $50. The LLC is not dissolved: it remains in existence and may continue to transact business. A studio that cannot produce a certificate of good standing will still feel it with landlords, lenders and payment processors, so the February 15 date belongs on the calendar from year one.

Registering your assumed name

If your studio will trade under a name different from the legal name of the person or entity that owns it, Michigan calls that name an assumed name, and where you file depends on your structure. Sole proprietors and general partnerships file a certificate of assumed name with the county clerk of each county where business is conducted or a location is maintained, under Act 101 of 1907. The filing fee is $6, the certificate runs 5 years, and a renewal certificate filed before expiration costs $4 and extends the name another 5 years; letting it lapse is treated as abandonment of the name.

An LLC files its certificate of assumed name with LARA instead, for $25. The LLC certificate expires December 31 of the fifth full calendar year after the filing year, and renews for $25, filed within 90 days before expiration. A corporation pays $10 on the same term. An assumed name filing is not a license and does not create your entity: it puts the public on notice of the trade name, and your bank will typically want to see it.

Getting your federal Employer Identification Number

Your EIN is your business's federal tax ID, issued by the IRS, and it is free. You need one to hire employees, open most business bank accounts, and file business taxes. Apply directly through the IRS and ignore any website that offers to obtain one for a fee. If the business has an EIN, it doubles as the Treasury account number for state tax registration, so apply early, after the entity exists.

Sales tax: services sit outside the tax, retail products are taxed

Michigan charges a 6 percent state sales tax on retail sales of tangible personal property, and there is no city, local or county sales tax anywhere in the state, so the rate at your register is the same in Detroit, Grand Rapids or Marquette. The tax reaches retail transfers of property. The service charge itself sits outside the tax, while products the client takes home are taxable retail sales: the polish, cuticle care and aftercare products sold at the front desk are rung up with tax, and Treasury guidance treats any property that goes with the customer in connection with a service as a sale at retail. Set your booking and point of sale system to itemize services and products separately from day one, so the tax lands on the products and not on the manicure.

A business that sells tangible personal property in addition to providing a service must hold a sales tax license. Register through Michigan Treasury Online e-registration, or on paper with Form 518. The online application is recognized within 15 minutes and processed within up to 48 hours. The license runs January through December and renews annually.

Booth rent in Michigan: no booth renter license

Michigan takes the opposite approach to station rental from Ohio, and owners moving between the two states get this wrong in both directions. Article 12 contains no booth renter license, no booth rental permit and no booth rental fee line: a technician who rents a station or a room in your salon works under their own manicurist or cosmetologist license, inside your licensed establishment, without a second state credential for the rental itself. What Michigan does define is the room. A cosmetology suite is a room or suite located inside a licensed cosmetology establishment that is leased or rented from the owner of the establishment for the purpose of offering or providing cosmetology services, under section 339.1201(e), and the definition of a cosmetology establishment includes a cosmetology suite.

The absence of a renter license settles the licensing question, not the classification one. A renter who sets their own prices and hours and collects their own money is running a business inside your business; a technician whose schedule and prices you set looks like an employee to the tax and unemployment agencies. Put rental agreements in writing, keep payment handling separate, and read the Michigan salon suite guide if the model you are building is a building of leased rooms rather than stations inside one studio floor. Remember the scope rule while you structure the rental: a manicurist renting a station in a limited establishment is limited twice over, by their own license and by the premises license, to manicuring services.

Hiring staff: withholding, unemployment, and wages

The first hire triggers the employer stack, and Michigan lets you start most of it with one form. Form 518 registers a business for sales tax, use tax, income tax withholding, corporate income tax and unemployment insurance tax, and the Michigan Treasury Online e-registration replaces it online. The Unemployment Insurance Agency issues the unemployment account number, in as little as three days online. An employer required to withhold federal tax must also withhold Michigan income tax, at 4.25 percent.

Unemployment tax is paid entirely by the employer. A new non-construction employer pays 2.7 percent plus one third of its chargeable benefits component in year 1, two thirds in year 2, and the full experience rated formula from year 3. The tax applies to the first $9,000 of each employee's wages for 2026 for employers in good standing, and the first $9,500 for employers who do not meet those criteria. Quarterly Wage and Tax reports are due even with no employees and no wages, and late submission can bring penalties and interest. Accounts are managed in the new MiUI system: MiWAM was permanently retired on November 2, 2026.

The wage floor is set by the Improved Workforce Opportunity Wage Act. From January 1, 2026, the minimum wage is $13.73 an hour, and the tipped wage is $5.49 an hour, provided the employee receives at least $8.24 in tips. On January 1, 2027 the full rate rises to $15.00 and the tipped rate to $6.30, so build the increase into first year pricing. Workers' compensation sits under the Worker's Disability Compensation Act, which reaches private employers who regularly employ 3 or more employees at one time, and employers with fewer than 3 if at least one employee has worked 35 or more hours a week for 13 of the preceding 52 weeks. Coverage is bought from an insurer authorized to sell workers' compensation insurance in Michigan.

The local layer: zoning, and services that live elsewhere

State licenses do not guarantee your location is legal. Your city or township controls zoning, and a nail salon has to be a permitted use at the address you choose, with local sign off on the buildout, occupancy and signage. Ventilation and plumbing for pedicure stations are building questions answered locally, so bring the floor plan to the building department before the lease is signed. The establishment application itself, with its diagram and its partition and door separation from any adjacent dwelling or school, assumes a premises you are entitled to occupy.

Menu discipline is the other trap, and in Michigan it is a state one with two locks. A limited establishment license covers the specified services the studio is licensed for, and a manicurist's limited license covers manicuring only, so facials, waxing and hair services need both a practitioner licensed for the service and an establishment license that covers it. Lash services sit on the skin care side of Article 12, as the Michigan lash studio guide works through, and microblading is body art, performed only at a body art facility licensed by the Department of Health and Human Services, following the framework in the Michigan microblading guide. Plan the menu against the licenses you actually hold, not the ones you intend to hire.

Insurance and the costs that keep coming back

Beyond the workers' compensation duty covered in the hiring section, nail salon owners typically shop for general liability coverage, professional liability coverage for the services performed, and property coverage for the buildout, stations, equipment and retail inventory. Premiums vary widely with your city, service menu and team size, so this guide does not quote benchmark prices that would be wrong for your shop. Get quotes before your lease starts, because many landlords require proof of liability coverage as a lease condition.

Your recurring state costs are small and predictable: license renewals on the 2 year MiPLUS cycle, the $25 LLC annual statement each February, sales tax on retail products, and quarterly employer reports. The expensive mistakes in a Michigan nail salon launch are almost never the state fees. They are the lease signed before zoning was checked, the menu that quietly outgrew a limited license, and the purchased studio whose establishment license turned out to be void on the sale.

Your Michigan renewal calendar

• Every 2 years, on the biennial anniversary of the issue date: manicurist licenses renew through MiPLUS at $48 each, and the limited cosmetology establishment license renews at $50. The State License Fee Act rates in this guide are in effect for payments through September 30, 2027
• February 15, every year: LLC annual statement due to LARA, $25. An LLC formed after September 30 skips the immediately following February 15
• January through December: the sales tax license runs with the calendar year and renews annually
• Every quarter: Wage and Tax reports to the Unemployment Insurance Agency in MiUI, due even with no employees and no wages
• January 1, 2027: minimum wage rises to $15.00, and the tipped wage to $6.30
• On any sale, ownership transfer or move: the establishment license is void, and a new license must be applied for before the studio operates under the new owner or at the new address
• Every 5 years: an assumed name certificate renews, $4 at the county clerk for a sole proprietor or $25 with LARA for an LLC, filed before expiration

Official Michigan sources for this guide

• Michigan Compiled Laws section 339.1209: manicurist qualifications, the 400 hour course, the 600 hour course for training begun on or after July 1, 2024, and the apprenticeship of not less than 6 months
• Michigan Compiled Laws section 339.1203a: the limited licenses, including the rule that a manicurist may perform only manicuring services
• Michigan Compiled Laws section 339.1204: the cosmetology establishment license and the limited establishment license, inspection, partition, display, and the void on transfer rule
• Michigan Compiled Laws section 338.2225: the State License Fee Act rates for cosmetology licenses in effect for payments through September 30, 2027
• Administrative rule R 339.1003: the biennial renewal cycle keyed to the anniversary of the issue date for cosmetology licenses and establishments
• Michigan Compiled Laws section 450.4207a: good standing, the 2 consecutive year notice rule, and restoration for an LLC that misses annual statements
• Department of Treasury, who needs a sales tax license: the 6 percent state rate, the absence of local sales tax, and which service businesses must hold a license
• Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity, minimum wage release: the January 1, 2026 minimum wage of $13.73, the tipped wage, and the January 1, 2027 increase

This guide is general information researched from official Michigan sources, not legal or tax advice. Requirements, fees and forms change; verify the current rules with the agencies linked above before you file, sign or spend.

Frequently asked questions

How many hours of training does a Michigan manicurist need?

A manicurist completes 400 hours in a licensed school of cosmetology, or 600 hours for an individual who begins training on or after July 1, 2024, or serves as an apprentice for not less than 6 months in a licensed cosmetology establishment where manicuring is practiced. The applicant must be age 17 or older, hold an education equivalent to completion of the ninth grade, and pass the examination. The license costs $63 initially and $48 to renew every 2 years.

What services can a Michigan manicurist perform?

Manicuring services only. The manicurist license is a limited license under section 339.1203a, and its holder may perform only manicuring services. A cosmetologist holds the broader license, which also covers manicuring, so a salon that wants a technician to offer hair or skin care services as well needs that technician to hold a cosmetology license.

How much does it cost to license a nails only studio in Michigan?

A nails only studio licenses as a limited cosmetology establishment, for specified services only. The license costs $75 for the initial 2 year license, made up of a $25 application processing fee plus a license fee of $25 per year, and $50 to renew. The application includes a drawing or diagram, requires full partition and door separation from any dwelling or school, and the premises must pass a department inspection.

What happens to the studio license when a Michigan nail salon is sold or moves?

The limited cosmetology establishment license is void on a sale or transfer of the establishment, on a sale or transfer of its ownership, or on a change of location, with mobile salons excepted from the location rule. The new owner or the studio at its new address must submit a new license application and obtain a new license. Buying an operating studio does not transfer its establishment license to you.

Are manicures and pedicures subject to sales tax in Michigan?

The service charge itself sits outside the Michigan sales tax. Products the client takes home are taxable retail sales at the 6 percent state rate, and Michigan has no city, local or county sales tax. A studio that sells products needs a sales tax license, registered through Michigan Treasury Online or on paper Form 518, and the license runs January through December and renews annually.

When do Michigan nail salon licenses renew?

Manicurist licenses and the limited cosmetology establishment license renew every 2 years on the biennial anniversary of the issue date, through MiPLUS. Renewal is $48 for an individual manicurist license and $50 for the establishment license. Because the date follows the license rather than a fixed calendar day, each license in the studio can carry a different renewal date.