Keep Form MI-8453 with your records.
Michigan says:
If the MI-8453 is used to sign the e-file return and the return is e-filed by an individual taxpayer, the MI-8453 should be retained by the taxpayer.
Do not mail this form to the Michigan Department of Treasury unless requested to do so.
If the MI-8453 is used to sign the e-file return and the return is e-filed by a tax preparer, Michigan Department of Treasury recommends that the preparer retain it for six years. Do not mail this form to the Michigan Department of Treasury unless requested to do so.
Where do I mail the Michigan Individual Income Tax Certification for e-file MI-8453?
Thanks, but the guidance you cited only applies "If the MI-8453 is used to sign the e-file return . . ." and I didn't use MI-8453 to sign my Michigan return, at least not to my knowledge. In fact, the Michigan return wasn't "signed" at all, at least not in the usual sense. I input various info from my drivers license into the TT program, and clicked the "transmit" button, but there was no actual signature or e-signature that I saw. There is an entry on the MIchigan Information Worksheet that says "Yes __ No__ Use Federal Signature (PIN) in place of MI-8453 (See Help)" but neither response is checked and there is no "Help" section that explains this. Is it possible that my Federal self-selected 5-digit PIN used to e-sign my Federal return was automatically used by TT to e-sign my Michigan return? If so, why would the TT instructions say that I need to sign the MI-8453 within 3 days? I'm stumped.
You can't transmit your return without electronically "signing" it. Your five-digit IRS PIN is your "shared secret" that constitutes your e-signature.
OK, then that means that the MI-8453 was not used to sign the e-filed return, which means that the guidance you quoted in your first reply is not applicable (because that guidance applies only if the MI-8453 is used to sign the return). Which gets back to my original question: why do the TT instructions say that I need to sign the MI-8453 within three days? Where do I get the form? What does signing it signify? What do I do with it after I sign it? I know you're trying to help, and I appreciate it. Hopefully you can see how a non-expert would be puzzled when told to sign a form without being told where to get the form, what the form means, and so forth. Why would TurboTax tell me to sign a form within 3 days without providing any explanation of the form? I'm still unclear on what to do.