Michigan Vending Machine Permits and Licenses

Vending permits and licenses by state · Michigan

Michigan has no state license for vending machines, and most operators need only a free sales tax license from the Department of Treasury. Food sold from a vending machine is exempt from sales tax unless it is heated or chilled before sale, and milk, sealed drinks and fresh fruit are exempt either way. A food license from the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD) applies only if your machines sell perishable food. Below is each requirement and the law it comes from.

Michigan vending requirements at a glance

FreeSales tax license

6%State sales tax

NoneLocal sales tax

ExemptRoom-temp snacks, sealed drinks

Required

Sales tax license

Sales tax license from Treasury if you sell anything taxable. Free, and one registration lists all your locations.

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Recommended

Resale certificate

Buy inventory tax-free with Michigan Form 3372. You collect the tax when it sells.

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Depends

Tax on vending food

Exempt unless heated or chilled before sale. Milk, sealed drinks and fresh fruit are always exempt.

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Depends

Food license

Not needed for packaged nonperishable snacks, canned or bottled drinks, gum, nuts or candy.

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Not required

Trading card license

Pokémon cards need only the sales tax license.

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Not required

Mystery products

No special license. They are taxable merchandise at 6%, covered by your sales tax license.

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Varies

Local permits

Cities and townships can require business or zoning approval.

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Depends

Personal property tax

Exempt if your business property in a city or township is under $80,000 and you file Form 5076.

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Last reviewed: October 28, 2026  ·  Sources: Michigan Compiled Laws, Michigan Department of Treasury, Michigan Administrative Code, Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, Michigan Senate Fiscal Agency, federal regulations (full list at the bottom)  ·  General information, not legal advice.

• Requirements and laws
• Do you need a license?
• Sales tax
• Food and drinks
• Cards, mystery and toys
• Federal rules
• Business setup
• FAQ
• Sources

Michigan requirements and the laws behind them

Do you need a license to run a vending machine in Michigan?

Not a vending license. Michigan regulates what your machines sell and how you collect tax on it, not the machines themselves. Michigan's State License Search, the state directory of licenses and permits, lists no vending machine license. The entries in it that can apply to a vending business are the Department of Treasury's sales tax license and MDARD's food licenses.

If your machines sell anything taxable, like trading cards, toys or merchandise, the one state license you need is the sales tax license. Add an MDARD food license only if a machine sells perishable food such as sandwiches, milk or ice cream. Cities and townships can layer on their own business or zoning rules, so check with the local government where each machine will sit before you install it.

Sales tax on vending sales in Michigan

The sales tax license

Michigan requires a sales tax license from anyone who sells tangible personal property to the final consumer, which is what a vending machine does. Selling without one is a misdemeanor (MCL 205.53).

• Cost: free. Treasury's sales tax license FAQ says there is no fee.
• Coverage: one registration covers all your locations. You do not file a separate application for each one. List every location on the application and add new ones later in Michigan Treasury Online (registration FAQ). A seller with more than one location displays a copy of the license at each (Mich Admin Code R 205.1). Treasury does not say whether each machine site counts as a location, so ask when you register.
• Term: Treasury issues licenses each year, valid January through December. You print yours from Michigan Treasury Online.
• Where to apply: online through Michigan Treasury Online, or by mail with Form 518, Registration for Michigan Taxes. Treasury's registration page says an online application can take up to 48 hours to process, and its license FAQ says a mailed Form 518 takes 4 to 6 weeks.
• Filing: Treasury assigns you monthly, quarterly or annual returns each year, and every filer also files an annual return by February 28 (Treasury).

You collect the tax, so buy your inventory tax-free

The sales tax on taxable vending sales is yours to collect and send to the state. That is why you should not also pay sales tax when you buy the inventory. Retailers can buy items for "resale at retail" without paying sales or use tax, and you claim the exemption by giving each supplier an exemption certificate (Treasury exemptions FAQ).

• Form 3372, Michigan Sales and Use Tax Certificate of Exemption: check "For Resale at Retail" in Section 3 and enter your sales tax license number. Give it to the supplier. Do not send it to Treasury unless Treasury asks for it. Download Form 3372 (PDF).
• Blanket certificates: allowed. A blanket certificate needs no renewal as long as no more than 12 months pass between purchases from that supplier. Otherwise it lasts up to four years (RAB 2024-11).
• Out-of-state suppliers: Michigan accepts the Multistate Tax Commission's Uniform Sales and Use Tax Certificate and the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement Certificate of Exemption.
• No exempt numbers: Treasury does not issue tax exempt numbers. A supplier should take a completed certificate, not just a number.

The certificate covers products you resell, not the machines you sell them from. If you pull inventory for business or personal use, including gifts, you owe use tax on it (Treasury general FAQ). The Use Tax Act taxes property bought for an exempt use and then converted to a taxable one (MCL 205.93).

Sales tax rate

The rate is 6% everywhere in the state. Michigan does not allow cities, counties or other local units to add a sales tax, so every machine charges the same rate (Treasury).

The tax is levied on your gross proceeds (MCL 205.52). The law lets you add it to the price (MCL 205.73), but you owe it either way. If your machine prices include tax, ask Treasury how to report them.

What is taxable in a Michigan vending machine

Michigan exempts "food and food ingredients" from sales tax, a term that leaves out only alcoholic beverages and tobacco. Vending machines get their own rule in MCL 205.54g(2), which Treasury explains in RAB 2026-2, approved January 29, 2026:

• Always exempt: milk, nonalcoholic drinks in a sealed container, and fresh fruit, at any temperature.
• Exempt at room temperature: chips, candy, chocolate bars and other food that is not heated or chilled before sale.
• Taxable: any other food or drink heated above an average of 75°F or chilled below 65°F before sale. Treasury's examples are coffee in unsealed cups, ice cream and premade sandwiches. The rule turns on temperature, so a snack the machine keeps below 65°F is taxable too.
• Machines that sell both: you choose how to figure the tax. Pay on your actual taxable sales, or pay on 45% of all food and drink sales from the machine except carbonated drinks. Under the 45% method temperature does not matter, and milk and fresh fruit count toward the total.

Anything that is not food is taxable at 6%: trading cards, sealed Pokémon product, mystery items, toys and general merchandise.

Food and drinks: when you need an MDARD food license

MDARD licenses vending, not your local health department. A 2016 change to the Food Law moved vending machine locations from local health department licensing to MDARD (Senate Fiscal Agency analysis of SB 774). Cities and counties cannot adopt their own licensing ordinances for businesses the Food Law regulates (MCL 289.4101).

You need no food license if your machines dispense only these (MCL 289.4105(1)(k)):

• Bottled or canned soft drinks.
• Other packaged nonperishable foods or beverages, like sealed chips, crackers and candy bars.
• Bulk gum, nuts and panned candies.

MDARD's food licensing page says the same: a vending machine that only dispenses canned or bottled sodas, packaged nonperishable snacks, or bulk items like gum, nuts and candy does not need a license.

Perishable food, like sandwiches, salads, milk or ice cream, puts you under a license. Michigan licenses the business that stocks the machines, not each machine:

• Vending company base location: the licensed food establishment your employees load the machines from. The machine locations it serves need no separate license, as long as your employees transport the prepackaged food and maintain the machines (MCL 289.4105(5)).
• Out-of-state base: if you stock Michigan machines from another state, one Michigan vending location gets the license and the rest are covered under it.
• Fee: a base license plus a fee set by how many vending locations you serve in Michigan. With more than one base, all your locations count toward the fee on one base's license (MCL 289.4111). MDARD's food vending application lists $686 for 1 to 20 locations, $936 for 21 to 50, $2,186 for 51 to 75 and $3,186 for more than 75.
• Timing: the license year runs May 1 to April 30. Apply at least 30 days before you open (MDARD fees and schedule).
• Labeling: each vending machine the Food Law covers must show the operator's name, address and phone number (MCL 289.4119).

Water refill machines are separate. Each water dispensing machine is registered with MDARD for $25 a year (MCL 289.4115).

Michigan rules for trading cards, mystery products and toys

Pokémon and other trading cards

Michigan has no special license for selling trading cards. They are taxable merchandise, so the sales tax license covers you. The legal questions with card machines are about intellectual property, not state permits: stock authentic product, and keep Pokémon characters and logos off the machine itself. Our guide to the legal side of trading card vending machines covers both, and the Pokémon vending machine guide covers the business.

Mystery products and toys

Blind boxes, mystery bags and capsule toys are merchandise, like any other toy. They are taxable at 6%, so the sales tax license covers them. We found no special license for selling them from a vending machine. See our mystery vending machines page.

Federal rules that apply in Michigan and every other state

ADA reach ranges

Where vending machines are provided, at least one of each type has to meet the operable parts rules in the 2010 ADA Standards (sections 228.1 and 309). The parts a customer operates, like the screen, card reader and pickup door, have to sit within reach: between 15 and 48 inches above the floor for an unobstructed reach (section 308).

Calorie labeling for food

If you own or operate 20 or more vending machines that sell food, federal rules require calorie information for any item whose Nutrition Facts label the buyer cannot see before buying (21 CFR 101.8). In glass-front machines, packages that show calories on the front in large enough type can meet the rule.

Schools

Machines that sell food to students during the school day may stock only items that meet the USDA's Smart Snacks nutrition standards. The school day runs from midnight until 30 minutes after the official school day ends (7 CFR 210.11).

Setting up the business in Michigan

• Entity: form an LLC with the Corporations Division of the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA). Articles of Organization (Form CSCL/CD 700) cost $50. Every LLC then files an annual statement by February 15 ($25), starting the year after it forms. An LLC formed after September 30 skips the first February 15.
• Corporate income tax: the 6% CIT applies to C corporations and businesses taxed as corporations federally. Those with less than $350,000 in Michigan gross receipts do not file or pay it (Treasury).
• Personal property tax: vending machines you own may be taxable business personal property. If the business property you own in one city or township is worth less than $80,000, you can exempt it by filing Form 5076 with that local unit by February 20. From $80,000 to under $180,000, the exemption takes a yearly filing (MCL 211.9o; Treasury).
• Local rules: your city or township may require a business license or zoning approval. Check with the local government where each machine sits.

Michigan vending permit and license FAQ

Do I need a license to put a vending machine in Michigan?

Michigan has no general vending machine license. If you sell taxable items, you need a sales tax license from the Department of Treasury, which is free. Add an MDARD food license only if your machines sell perishable food.

Do I need a food license for a snack vending machine in Michigan?

Not if the machine dispenses only bottled or canned soft drinks, other packaged nonperishable foods, or bulk gum, nuts and panned candies (MCL 289.4105). Sandwiches, milk, ice cream and other perishable food need an MDARD license, issued to the base location your employees stock the machines from.

Is vending machine food taxed in Michigan?

Only if it is heated above 75°F or chilled below 65°F before sale. Milk, sealed nonalcoholic drinks and fresh fruit are exempt at any temperature, and room-temperature snacks and candy are exempt (MCL 205.54g(2); RAB 2026-2). A machine that sells both can pay on actual taxable sales or on 45% of food and drink sales other than carbonated drinks.

Do I need a license to sell Pokémon cards from a vending machine in Michigan?

No special license. Trading cards are taxable merchandise, so the sales tax license covers you and you collect 6%. Stock authentic product and keep Pokémon characters and logos off the machine itself.

How much does a Michigan sales tax license cost?

Nothing. Treasury charges no fee for a sales tax license. Register online through Michigan Treasury Online, or mail Form 518, Registration for Michigan Taxes.

Do I pay sales tax on inventory I buy for my vending machines in Michigan?

Not if you buy it to resell. Give your supplier Form 3372, the Michigan Sales and Use Tax Certificate of Exemption, marked for resale at retail with your sales tax license number. You then collect and send in sales tax when the items sell from your machines. Inventory you take for your own use or give away is subject to use tax.

Is there local sales tax on vending sales in Michigan?

No. Michigan does not allow cities, counties or other local units to impose a sales tax, so the rate is 6% wherever your machine sits.

Sources

1. Michigan General Sales Tax Act, 1933 PA 167: MCL 205.52, MCL 205.53 and MCL 205.73
2. MCL 205.54g, food exemption and vending machine rule
3. MCL 205.93, use tax
4. Michigan Department of Treasury, Sales and Use Taxes: rate, license term and due dates
5. Michigan Department of Treasury, Sales Tax License FAQ
6. Michigan Department of Treasury, New Business Registration and Registration FAQs
7. Michigan Department of Treasury, Form 518, Registration for Michigan Taxes
8. Michigan Administrative Code R 205.1, sales tax licenses
9. Michigan Department of Treasury, Form 3372, Michigan Sales and Use Tax Certificate of Exemption
10. Michigan Department of Treasury, Exemptions FAQ and General FAQ (use tax on inventory)
11. Revenue Administrative Bulletin 2024-11, Sales and Use Tax Exemption Claim Procedures and Formats
12. Revenue Administrative Bulletin 2026-2, Sales and Use Tax: Food for Human Consumption (vending machines)
13. State of Michigan, State License Search
14. MDARD, Food Industry Licenses and Exemptions
15. MDARD, Fees and Schedule by Type of License
16. MDARD, New Food Vending Application
17. Michigan Food Law, 2000 PA 92: MCL 289.1111, 289.4101, 289.4105, 289.4111, 289.4115 and 289.4119
18. Senate Fiscal Agency, S.B. 774 Analysis as Enrolled (June 20, 2016), vending machine regulation
19. LARA, Form CSCL/CD 700, Articles of Organization, filing fee schedule and Annual Reports and Annual Statements
20. Michigan Department of Treasury, Corporate Income Tax
21. Michigan Department of Treasury, Personal Property Tax Exemptions and MCL 211.9o, small business taxpayer exemption
22. 2010 ADA Standards for Accessible Design and U.S. Access Board guide to operable parts
23. 21 CFR 101.8, calorie labeling of food in vending machines
24. 7 CFR 210.11, competitive food standards (Smart Snacks)