How to Fill Out and File Michigan Form 4913: CIT Quarterly Return

Michigan Form 4913 is the one-page Corporate Income Tax Quarterly Return that C-corporations use to send estimated CIT payments to the Department of Treasury. You need to file it if your corporation expects an annual CIT liability over $800, and you file it four times a year.¹ The form itself takes minutes. The calculation behind the number you enter is where most of the work lives.

Who Has to File

Michigan’s CIT applies to standard C-corporations and any entity treated as a corporation for federal tax purposes, taxed at a flat 6% on the apportioned corporate income tax base, provided the business has nexus in the state.² If that’s you and your projected annual CIT will top $800, Form 4913 is how you remit each quarter.¹

A few boundaries worth knowing before you start. Insurance companies and financial institutions are taxed under separate chapters of the Income Tax Act and don’t use this form.³ S-corporations and partnerships generally don’t owe CIT either, unless they’ve elected corporate-level taxation. And if your tax year will run shorter than four months, you’re exempt from estimated payment requirements for that year.

What You Need Before You Fill It Out

Form 4913 is a single page available as a PDF on the Treasury website or through the Michigan Treasury Online (MTO) portal.⁴ Before you open it, pull together:

Your Federal Employer Identification Number (FEIN), which Treasury uses to match the payment to your account.
Your Michigan Treasury account number, if one has been assigned.
The beginning and ending dates of your tax year, which identify the quarterly installment you’re paying.
Your estimated annual CIT liability, calculated using one of the methods below.

Enter the entity’s legal name exactly as it’s registered with both the State of Michigan and the IRS. A name or FEIN mismatch can cause the payment to be misapplied and trigger a delinquency notice even though you paid. Then enter the quarterly payment amount. That’s the form.⁴

How to Calculate the Quarterly Amount

Each payment should approximate either your actual CIT liability for the quarter or 25% of your estimated annual liability.¹ Project your Michigan business income for the full year, apply the 6% CIT rate, and divide by four. Payments two, three, and four should adjust for any over- or underpayment in earlier quarters so the four installments together cover your full annual tax.

The 85% Rule

You avoid penalty and interest when your total estimated payments equal or exceed 85% of your final CIT liability and each quarterly payment reasonably approximates the tax owed for that quarter. A payment counts as reasonable if it equals at least one-fourth of that 85% threshold.¹ You don’t have to hit the number exactly, but you have to stay close.

Safe Harbor for Prior Liability of $20,000 or Less

If your prior year’s CIT liability was $20,000 or less, you can skip the forecasting and use a safe harbor: submit four equal installments that together equal last year’s CIT. As long as every payment is on time, no underpayment penalty applies, even if your current-year liability jumps.¹ If your prior tax year was shorter than 12 months, annualize that liability before applying the $20,000 test.

Annualized or Seasonal Income

Corporations that use the annualized income installment method or the adjusted seasonal installment method for federal estimated tax under IRC 6655(e) may use the same methodology for Michigan CIT.¹ This helps when income arrives unevenly across the year, letting you weight payments toward the quarters that actually generate the revenue.

Quarterly Deadlines

Calendar-year corporations owe payments on April 15, July 15, October 15, and January 15 of the following year.¹ When a due date falls on a weekend or legal holiday, it shifts to the next business day.

Fiscal-year filers pay 15 days after the end of each fiscal quarter. A corporation with a fiscal year starting July 1 would owe its first quarterly payment on October 15.

Michigan’s schedule does not match the federal corporate estimated tax calendar. Federal payments for calendar-year filers fall on April 15, June 15, September 15, and January 15, so the second and third federal installments arrive earlier than Michigan’s. Keep both calendars in front of you.

If you’ve elected under the IRC to file an annual return by March 1 without estimated payments, or to file a tentative return with payment by January 15 followed by a final return by April 15, you can apply the same approach to Michigan CIT.¹

How to Submit the Form

Online

The fastest route is Michigan Treasury Online at mto.treasury.michigan.gov. Log in or create a user profile and follow the fast-pay instructions to send your payment.⁴ You get immediate confirmation and avoid mail transit risk. The portal accepts electronic funds transfers and direct debits from a business bank account.⁵

By Mail

To file on paper, print the form and enclose a check. Don’t fold or staple. Make the check payable to “State of Michigan” and write your FEIN or Treasury number, the tax year, and “CIT Q” on it.⁴ Mail to:

Michigan Department of Treasury
P.O. Box 30774
Lansing, MI 48909-8274

If you’re mailing close to a deadline, use certified mail to preserve proof of the mailing date, and confirm sufficient funds in the account so the check clears.

What Happens If You Underpay or File Late

Failure to file or pay on time carries a penalty of 5% of the unpaid tax for the first two months, plus 5% for each additional month or partial month, up to a 25% maximum. Interest also runs on the unpaid balance.⁶

For estimated payments, the 85% rule and the safe harbor are what shield you from an underpayment assessment. Fall below both, and Treasury will add penalty and interest to the shortfall. If your income is predictable and last year’s CIT was $20,000 or less, the simplest safe path is paying one-fourth of last year’s liability each quarter. If income is growing or uneven, recalculate every quarter and aim to cover at least 85% of what you’ll ultimately owe.

1
State of Michigan. Revenue Administrative Bulletin 2024-10
2
Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 206.623 – Corporate Income Tax; Levy and Imposition; Base; Adjustments
3
State of Michigan. Insurance Companies and Financial Institutions
4
Michigan Department of Treasury. Michigan Corporate Income Tax Quarterly Return
5
Michigan Treasury Online. Welcome to Michigan Treasury Online
6
Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 205.24 – Failure or Refusal to File Return or Pay Tax; Penalty; Interest