Michigan MI-W4 & Withholding Calculator 2026 — Flat 4.25% Tax

Michigan's income tax is a flat 4.25%. For 2026 each personal or dependent exemption lowers the wages your employer withholds on by $5,900, according to the Michigan Treasury's 2026 Withholding Guide (Form 446, Rev. 02-26). The employer withholds 4.25% of pay after subtracting $5,900 times the number of exemptions on your MI-W4.

For example, a single employee earning $60,000 with one exemption has about ($60,000 − $5,900) × 4.25% = $2,299 withheld for the year. Each extra exemption lowers that by about $251 ($5,900 × 4.25%). There is no separate standard deduction in Michigan withholding.

Bonuses and other payments made separately from regular pay are withheld at a flat 4.25% with no exemptions. Some Michigan cities, such as Detroit, also levy their own income tax, which is withheld separately and is not included here.

Michigan requires the MI-W4, the Employee's Michigan Withholding Exemption Certificate. The federal W-4 cannot be used in its place. You give it to your employer on or before the date employment begins. If you don't, your employer must withhold Michigan tax from your pay without allowing any exemptions.

You must give your employer a new MI-W4 within 10 days if your residency status changes, or if your exemptions decrease because your spouse (whose exemption you claimed) divorces or separates from you or claims their own exemption, or because a dependent no longer qualifies.

Line 6 is the number of personal and dependent exemptions. It can't be more than you're entitled to claim on your Michigan return (Form MI-1040). Dependents include qualifying children and qualifying relatives under the Internal Revenue Code, even if your income is too high for the federal credits for them.

Don't claim the same exemption twice or too little tax will be withheld. That means no personal exemption if someone else claims you as a dependent, none with more than one employer at once, none for your spouse if they claim it with their employer, and none for dependents your spouse is already claiming. Line 7 lets you ask your employer to withhold an additional amount from each paycheck.

Line 8a lets you claim exemption only if all four conditions are met: your employment is intermittent, temporary or less than full time; your exemptions exceed your annual taxable pay; you claimed exemption from federal withholding; and you had no Michigan income tax liability last year. Line 8b covers other reasons wages may be exempt, including residents of the reciprocal states Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin who work in Michigan, nonresident spouses of military personnel stationed in Michigan, and certain tribal members.