Mich. Admin. Code R 206.3 — Employer

Rule 3. (1) The term "employer" is defined in section 8(3) of Act No. 281 of
the Public Acts of 1967, as amended, being S206.8(3) of the Michigan Compiled
Laws.
(2) The term "employer" means any person for whom an individual performs or
performed any service, of whatever nature, as the employee of such person.
(3) It is not necessary that the services be continuing at the time the wages are
paid in order that the status of employer exist. Thus, fo r purposes of withholding, a
person for whom an individual has pe rformed past services for which he is still
receiving wages from such person is an employer.
(4) An employer may be an individual, a corp oration, a partnership, a trust, an
estate, a joint-stock company, an associati on, or a syndicate, group, pool, joint
venture, or other unincorporated organizati on, group, or entity. A trust or estate, rather
than the fiduciary acting fo r, or on behalf of, the trust or esta te, is generally the
employer.
(5) The term "employer" embraces not only individuals a nd organizations
engaged in a trade or business, but also organizations exempt from income tax, such
as religious and charitable organiza tions, educational institutions, clubs, social
organizations and societies, as well as the governments of the United States, the
states, territories, Puerto Rico, a nd the District of Columbia, including their
agencies, instrumentalities, and political subdivisions.
(6) The term "employer" also means any person paying wages on behalf of a
nonresident alien individual, foreign partnership, or foreign corporation, not

engaged in trade or business within the Un ited States, including Puerto Rico as if a
part of the United States.
(7) If the person for whom the services are or were performed does not have legal
control of the payment of the wages for such services, the term "employer" means,
except for the purpose of the definition of "wages," the pe rson having such control. For
example, where wages, such as certa in types of pensions or retirement pay, are paid
by a trust and the person for whom the services were performed has no legal control
over the payment of such wages, the trust is the employer.
(8) The term "employer" also means a person making a payment of a
supplemental unemployment compensation benefit when it is treated as if it were wages
under the internal revenue code, 26 U.S.C. S3401. For example, if supplemental
unemployment compensation benefits are paid from a trust which was created under the
terms of a collective barg aining agreement, the trust shall generally be deemed to be
the employer. However, if the person making such payment is acting solely as an
agent for another person, the term "employe r" shall means such other person and
not the person actually making the payment.
(9) It is a basic purpose to centralize in the employer the responsibility for
withholding, returning, and paying the tax, and for furnishing the statements required
under chapter 7 of the Michigan income tax act of 1967.