BUSINESS LICENSES · 2026
Do you need a business license? Probably — from your city, not from the federal government.
What a business license actually is, who issues it (state, county or city), how to get one in an afternoon, what it costs with the real fees from the real pages, the states that license every business and the city that charges nothing — written for the trades, in plain words.
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The short version
- There is no national business license. In the US a license comes from your state, your county or your city — and most trade owners need at least one of the three, usually the city or county one.
- Eight states and DC license or register nearly every business. Alabama, Alaska, Delaware, Hawaii, Nevada, Tennessee, Washington and West Virginia and the District of Columbia each run a statewide general license or registration; California, Florida, New York and Texas don't, and leave it to the city, the county or the activity.
- It often costs less than a tank of gas. The general license itself runs from nothing (Philadelphia) to $500 for two years (Chicago) among the states and cities on this page, as read on each government's own site on October 25, 2026.
- "Business license" is five documents, not one. The general license, the DBA for a trade name, the free EIN from the IRS, the sales-tax permit if you sell goods, and — for plumbers, electricians, contractors, barbers — the trade license, which is the one that really matters.
- Home and online businesses need one too. In the US a city licenses the business, not the storefront; working from your kitchen table changes which permit you need (often a home occupation permit), not whether you need one.
The short answer
In the US there is no national business license and no single rule: whether you need one depends on your state, your county, your city and what you do. Most trade and service owners need at least one — a city or county business license or tax registration in most of the country, a statewide license or registration in eight states (Alabama, Alaska, Delaware, Hawaii, Nevada, Tennessee, Washington and West Virginia) and the District of Columbia, a sales-tax permit if you sell goods, and a trade license if your trade is licensed. The general license itself runs from nothing (Philadelphia) to $500 for two years (Chicago) among the states and cities on this page, as read on each government's own site on October 25, 2026.
This page is for the owner of a trade or service business in the US — a cleaner, a handyman, a painter, a detailer, a plumber — asking whether they need a license before the first paying job. It explains what the words mean, who issues what, how to get the license step by step, what it costs (every fee read on the government's own page on October 25, 2026), which states license everyone and which don't, how home-based and online businesses are treated, and where the trade license fits. The UK and Australia get their own sentences, because there the answer flips. We build websites, not legal advice: when a rule on this page decides something for you, read the linked government page and ask your city clerk or an attorney. Check your state, your county and your city before the first job — their own pages, linked below, are the current word.
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What "business license" actually means — five pieces of paper
In the US, "business license" is a bundle word. When a customer, a bank or a form asks whether you're licensed, they may mean any of five things, and a new owner usually needs two or three of them:
- The general business license (also called a business tax certificate, business tax receipt, occupational license or privilege license). Permission from a city, a county or — in eight states and DC — the state to operate any business there. It's a registration and a small fee, not an exam. This is what the rest of the page is about.
- A DBA ("doing business as", trade name, fictitious name or assumed name). If you trade as "Harbor Coat Painting" rather than as Sam Okafor, most states want the name registered with the state, the county or the city, so the public can find out who's behind it. It gives no permission and no protection — it's a name on a record.
- An EIN (Employer Identification Number). The business's federal tax ID, free from the IRS and issued online in minutes; you need one to hire, to run a partnership or corporation, and most banks ask for one. Not a license — but it's the number every license application asks for.
- A sales-tax permit (seller's permit, resale certificate, sales and use tax permit). Required by your state the moment you sell taxable goods — or, in some states, taxable services. Usually free: California's seller's permit has no fee (the state may ask for a security deposit), and Texas tells applicants to allow 2–3 weeks for the permit.
- A trade or professional license. Issued by a state board to a person who proved they can do the work — plumbing, electrical, HVAC, general contracting, cosmetology, pest control, real estate. This is the license that can stop you working; the general business license never asks whether you're competent.
Around those five sit permits: a zoning or home occupation permit if you work from home, a health permit for food, a sign permit for the storefront, a building permit for the shop fit-out, and the stormwater or disposal permits some trades carry. The LLC is none of these — forming one doesn't license you, and a license doesn't form one; the LLC guide covers that side. Outside the US the principle flips. In the UK there is no general business license at all — not from the government, not from the council: a sole trader registers with HMRC for Self Assessment once they earn more than £1,000 in a tax year, and only particular activities need a license, which the GOV.UK licence finder lists (selling alcohol, street trading; a food business registers with its council at least 28 days before trading). In Australia there is no general business license either: a business holds an ABN, and the licenses and permits it needs depend on the business type, the activities, the state or territory and the local council area — ABLIS, the Australian Business Licence and Information Service, lists all three levels in one search, and a home-based business may need its council's approval. Check your state, your county and your city before the first job — their own pages, linked below, are the current word.
Do you need one? Three governments, three answers
Federal: almost never, for a trade. In the US the SBA's list of federally regulated activities runs to eleven — agriculture, alcoholic beverages, aviation, firearms, ammunition and explosives, fish and wildlife, commercial fisheries, maritime transportation, mining and drilling, nuclear energy, radio and television broadcasting and transportation and logistics — and nothing else (and one of those, oversize vehicles, is actually permitted by your state; the federal agency only points you to the office). A cleaner, a plumber or a landscaper deals with the federal government for one thing only: the free EIN.
State: it depends on the state. Alabama, Alaska, Delaware, Hawaii, Nevada, Tennessee, Washington and West Virginia and the District of Columbia run a statewide general license or registration that every business, or nearly every business, must hold — the table below has each one, its fee and who it reaches. Most other states, including California, Florida, New York and Texas, have no statewide general license; what they do run is the sales-tax permit and the trade boards, and they leave the general license to the city and the county.
County and city: this is where most owners get theirs. Cities license businesses inside their limits; counties usually cover the unincorporated areas between them, and in Florida the Local Business Tax Receipt — the county's, and the city's too inside a city that levies one — is the license. A city may call it a license, a tax certificate or a registration, charge nothing or a few hundred dollars, and either stop there or add a tax on gross receipts. The one reliable rule: you need it where you're based — and a city can reach a business based elsewhere that does work inside its limits (Seattle's rule exempts only a business with $4,000 or less of Seattle income and no Seattle location), so a landscaper based in one town and mowing in three should read all three cities' pages. Check your state, your county and your city before the first job — their own pages, linked below, are the current word.
STATEWIDE · READ OCTOBER 25, 2026
The states that license or register every business
The eight states and DC where a general license or registration is a statewide rule — what it's called, what it costs and who it reaches, each read on the state's own site on October 25, 2026. Cities and counties in these states can still add their own.
| State | What it's called | What it costs | Who needs it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | Business privilege license (state and county) | Set per business type by Title 40, Chapter 12 of the Code of Alabama; the state and county license is issued through the county where the business is located, is due October 1 each year and is delinquent from November 1. | Every person, firm, company or corporation engaged in any business, vocation, occupation or profession described in Title 40, Chapter 12. |
| Alaska | Alaska business license | $50 — A year ($100 for two years); $25 a year for a sole proprietor aged 65 or over; every license expires December 31. | Anyone doing business in Alaska, before the first sale. |
| Delaware | State of Delaware business license | $75 — A year for the first location, renewed by December 31; a 75% discount for an owner aged 65 or over; the rate varies by activity. | Any person or entity conducting a trade or business in Delaware, including corporations. |
| District of Columbia | Basic Business License — General Business category | $99 — For a two-year license in the General Business category; regulated trades have their own categories and fees. | Most businesses operating in the District; General Business covers consulting, IT services, marketing, pet services, personal services, tutoring and the other unregulated lines. |
| Hawaii | General Excise Tax (GET) license | $20 — One time. Hawaii taxes a business's gross income instead of charging sales tax, so the GET license is the registration every business holds. | Every business doing business in Hawaii. |
| Nevada | State Business License | $200 — A year ($500 for a corporation), renewed each year. A natural person running a business from home whose net earnings stay at or under two-thirds of the state's average annual wage can claim an exemption by a Notice of Exemption, renewed each year. | Every business doing business in Nevada, including sole proprietors, unless an exemption in NRS Chapter 76 applies. |
| Tennessee | Business tax license | $15 — A year. Gross receipts over $3,000 and under $100,000: a minimal activity license, no tax return. $100,000 and over: a standard business license, plus a yearly business tax return to the Department of Revenue. | Every business with more than $3,000 a year in gross receipts in a county or city that levies the tax. |
| Washington | Business License Application (state business license) | $50 — To open a business; $5 a location at each yearly renewal; city and state endorsements cost extra on the same application. | A business with $12,000 or more a year in gross income, a trade name, employees within 90 days, taxable sales, or a city, county or state endorsement to add. |
| West Virginia | Business registration certificate | $30 — One time; the certificate stays valid until the business changes its name, location or ownership. A business with $4,000 or less a year in gross income is exempt. | Any person engaging in any business activity in West Virginia. |
Fees are set by statute and change, usually on January 1 or July 1 — the state's own page, linked under "Where these figures come from", is the current word. Sales-tax permits, trade licenses and city licenses are separate and come on top. Check your state, your county and your city before the first job — their own pages, linked below, are the current word.
NO STATEWIDE LICENSE
The big states without one — and what stands in for it
The four most populous states have no general state license. That doesn't mean no license: it means the city, the county or the activity decides.
| State | What a trade owner deals with instead |
|---|---|
| California | No statewide general license in CalGOLD, the state's own permit finder: for a general business it lists the city's business license or business tax certificate (the county's, outside city limits), the state's free seller's permit for anyone selling goods, and the activity permits on top. |
| Florida | No statewide general license. Counties and cities may levy a local business tax, and the Local Business Tax Receipt is the local license — sold from July 1, due by September 30, with a 10% penalty in October and 5% a month after that (Florida Statutes, chapter 205). |
| New York | No statewide or citywide general license. New York City's Department of Consumer and Worker Protection licenses specific industries — home improvement contractors, car washes, employment agencies and others, more than 45,000 businesses in over 45 industries — and leaves the rest unlicensed. |
| Texas | No general business license. The certificate of formation from the Secretary of State, or the assumed name certificate from the county clerk, stands in for it; licenses then follow the activity (the Texas Business Licenses & Permits Guide lists them). |
Each line was read on the state's own site on October 25, 2026. Check your state, your county and your city before the first job — their own pages, linked below, are the current word.
CITY BY CITY
Five cities, five answers
The same one-van business, licensed in five cities — the spread you should expect when you look up your own.
| City | What it's called | What it costs |
|---|---|---|
| Chicago, Illinois | Limited Business License | $500 — For two years, from January 1, 2026; regulated trades and home occupations have their own licenses. |
| Los Angeles, California | Business Tax Registration Certificate (BTRC) | Registration is required of everyone doing business in the city; the city then taxes gross receipts, and a business with $100,000 or less a year worldwide owes no tax if it files its renewal on time. |
| Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | Commercial Activity License | Free. You need a Business Income and Receipts Tax account first, and the license is permanent. |
| San Francisco, California | Business Registration Certificate | $55 — Plus a $4 state fee for the 2026–27 registration year at $0–$100,000 of gross receipts; since Proposition M the registration year runs April 1 to March 31 (renewal due at the end of February) and higher receipts pay more; a qualifying new business can have the first year's registration fee waived under First Year Free. |
| Seattle, Washington | Business license tax certificate | $73 — A year in 2026 for under $20,000 of taxable revenue; $147 from $20,000 to $499,999; expires December 31. A business with $4,000 or less of Seattle income and no Seattle location is exempt. |
Each read on the city's own site on October 25, 2026. A city that charges little for the license often taxes gross receipts instead — Los Angeles and San Francisco do — so the license fee is not the whole cost of doing business there. Check your state, your county and your city before the first job — their own pages, linked below, are the current word.
STEP BY STEP
How to get a business license
An afternoon, mostly online, in the US. Nothing here needs a lawyer or a filing service — the city clerk's office answers the phone for exactly this.
Settle the name and the structure first
The license is issued to a business, so decide what the business is: you as a sole proprietor, or an LLC. Form the LLC first if you're forming one, so the license, the bank account and the insurance all carry the same legal name — and register the DBA if you'll trade under a different one.
Get the free EIN from the IRS
Apply on irs.gov; the online tool issues the number in minutes and there is never a fee. License applications ask for it (a sole proprietor with no employees can use a Social Security number, but most owners want the SSN off the forms).
Look up your city
Search "<your city> business license" and stay on the .gov result, or call the city clerk. You're asking three things: is a general license or tax registration required, what does it cost, and is there a home occupation permit if you work from home. Note the renewal date while you're there.
Then the county, then the state
Outside city limits the county issues the license; in Florida the county's tax receipt is the license, with the city's on top inside a city that levies one. Then check the statewide table above — in eight states and DC the state wants its own license or registration too, and in every state with a sales tax the revenue department wants a sales-tax permit if you sell goods.
Check your trade board
If your trade is licensed — plumbing, electrical, HVAC, contracting, cosmetology, pest control — the state board's license is the one that lets you take the work, and many boards register the business entity too. California's board, for instance, requires a contractor's license for any job of $1,000 or more in labor and materials.
Apply, with the paperwork ready
The form asks for the legal name and DBA, the EIN, the structure, the start date, the address, a description of what you do (the NAICS code, if asked), an estimate of first-year receipts, and the owner's ID. Pay the fee online. Many cities issue a temporary certificate the same day and mail the permanent one.
Add the permits your work triggers
Home occupation or zoning permit for a home base; health permit for food; sign permit for the shop; the trade's own permits for the job (a building permit is pulled per project, not per business). Each is a separate application with its own fee and its own renewal.
Put every renewal on the calendar
Most general licenses renew yearly (some every two years), often on a fixed date — December 31, September 30, the anniversary. Miss it and the penalties start the next month. Then put the license number where customers see it: the website, the quotes, the invoices, the truck.
What a business license costs
Less than most people fear. In the US the general license is the cheap document in the pile. The general license itself runs from nothing (Philadelphia) to $500 for two years (Chicago) among the states and cities on this page, as read on each government's own site on October 25, 2026. Philadelphia charges nothing for the license itself; the typical city or state general license on this page is a two-digit yearly fee, and a few places register you free and tax your receipts instead. The fee is also usually the only required cost: the EIN is free, California's seller's permit is free (a security deposit is sometimes asked), and nothing about a general license needs a lawyer.
What costs more is everything around it. A trade license is a different order of money — exam fees, application fees, a bond, insurance the board requires, continuing education — and it's the cost that matters for a plumber or an electrician. A health permit for a food business, a liquor license, a contractor's registration with a big city and a home occupation permit each add their own line. And in a city that taxes gross receipts, the license is cheap because the tax comes later.
Three things that change the number. Your revenue: Seattle's fee doubles above $20,000 of taxable revenue, Tennessee's standard license kicks in at $100,000, and several places exempt the smallest businesses outright. Your structure: Nevada charges a corporation $500 where everyone else pays $200. Your age: Alaska halves the fee for a sole proprietor aged 65 or over, and Delaware takes 75% off. In the UK and Australia the general license costs nothing because there isn't one — the activity licenses and council approvals carry their own fees. Check your state, your county and your city before the first job — their own pages, linked below, are the current word.
Working from home, working online, working across city lines
A home base doesn't exempt you. In the US a city licenses the business, not the storefront: Seattle's own page says a business based in a Seattle home usually needs the certificate, and Chicago licenses a home occupation as its own category. What changes at home is the extra permit — many cities add a home occupation or zoning permit, and your planning department's page says what it limits (customer visits, employees on site, signs, storage) and what it costs. Nevada is the useful exception in the other direction: a natural person running a business from home whose net earnings stay at or under two-thirds of the state's average annual wage can claim an exemption from the $200 state license.
Online doesn't mean nowhere. An online business is based wherever you sit, and that city's rules apply as if you had a shop. Selling goods online adds the sales-tax permit in your home state, and selling into other states can mean registering there too once your sales there pass that state's threshold (Washington lists meeting its "nexus threshold" among the triggers for its license); a service business rarely crosses that line.
Working in several cities. Your license is from where you're based. A city can also reach a business based elsewhere that does work inside its limits: Seattle's rule exempts only a business with $4,000 or less of Seattle income and no Seattle location, so a contractor above that line needs the certificate without a Seattle address. A trade that regularly works in a neighboring city should read that city's page once; the fee is usually small and the penalty for working without it isn't. Outside the US: in Australia a home-based business may need the local council's approval when clients visit regularly, more than two people work there, or signs go up; in the UK a home business may need the council's permission when it brings lots of customers or deliveries, advertises outside the home or needs a license, and may owe business rates on the part of the home it uses. Check your state, your county and your city before the first job — their own pages, linked below, are the current word.
The trades: the license that matters is the trade license
For a licensed trade, the general business license is the easy part. In the US, plumbing, electrical work, HVAC, general contracting, pest control, cosmetology, barbering, real estate and a dozen more are licensed by a state (sometimes a city) board, to a person who passed the exam and showed the hours. Working without that license is the offense with teeth — fines, stop-work orders, unenforceable contracts — and no city business license substitutes for it. California's board draws the line at $1,000: since January 1, 2025, anyone doing construction work worth $1,000 or more in labor and materials, or hiring help, or pulling a permit, needs a contractor's license, whatever the business license says.
The unlicensed trades still need the ordinary paperwork. Cleaning, pressure washing, junk removal, lawn care, detailing, handyman work below the state's threshold, dog walking, photography: no board, no exam, in most states. What they need is the city or county license, the DBA, the EIN, insurance, and the specific permits the work triggers — a pressure washer's wastewater rules, a junk hauler's disposal account, a cleaner's bond if a client's property manager asks. Each Zarla how-to-start guide puts that list in the licensing step; the service business ideas hub lines up 30 of them, and the how-to-become guides — barber, notary, real estate agent — walk the exam-and-hours side of a licensed one.
Put the numbers where customers look. Your board's own rule says where the license number must appear — on advertising, bids and contracts in the licensed trades — and your city's says whether the business license goes on display. Either way the license number belongs at the top of every quote and invoice, on the website's footer and contact page, and on the truck. If your website is on Zarla, the business name you register is the name on every page, and the quotes and invoices you send from the same dashboard carry the business details — including the license number — you set once in Settings. Check your state, your county and your city before the first job — their own pages, linked below, are the current word.
Business license questions trade owners ask
In the US there is no national business license and no single rule: whether you need one depends on your state, your county, your city and what you do. Most trade and service owners need at least one — a city or county business license or tax registration in most of the country, a statewide license or registration in eight states (Alabama, Alaska, Delaware, Hawaii, Nevada, Tennessee, Washington and West Virginia) and the District of Columbia, a sales-tax permit if you sell goods, and a trade license if your trade is licensed. The one government you almost never need a license from is the federal one — it licenses alcohol, firearms, aviation, broadcasting and a handful of other activities, not trades. Check your state, your county and your city before the first job — their own pages, linked below, are the current word.
In the US, yes, if your city, county or state requires one — the license goes with doing business, not with the structure. A sole proprietor and an LLC doing the same work in the same town hold the same license. What a sole proprietor can skip is the state formation filing; what they can't skip is the city's license, the DBA for a trade name, and any trade license. Check your state, your county and your city before the first job — their own pages, linked below, are the current word.
In most US cities, yes — a general business license or tax registration, from the city (or the county, outside city limits), plus a statewide one in Alabama, Alaska, Delaware, Hawaii, Nevada, Tennessee, Washington and West Virginia and DC. None of those three trades is licensed by a state board in most states, so there's no exam; a handyman does need to watch the state's threshold for unlicensed construction work (California's is $1,000 in labor and materials). Check your state, your county and your city before the first job — their own pages, linked below, are the current word.
In the US, generally yes. The city licenses the business wherever it's based, so a kitchen-table business is licensed like a shop; what a home adds is usually a home occupation or zoning permit, and what selling online adds is the sales-tax permit. A few places exempt the smallest home businesses — Nevada's state license has a home-based exemption tied to earnings — so read your own city's page. Check your state, your county and your city before the first job — their own pages, linked below, are the current word.
In the US: settle the structure and name, get the free EIN from the IRS, then look up your city's rule (search the city's .gov site or call the clerk), then the county's, then the state's — the statewide table on this page tells you whether your state has one. Apply online with the legal name, EIN, address, start date, a description of the work and an estimate of first-year receipts, pay the fee, and note the renewal date. If your trade is licensed, the state board's license is a separate application and the one to start first, because it takes longest.
The general license itself runs from nothing (Philadelphia) to $500 for two years (Chicago) among the states and cities on this page, as read on each government's own site on October 25, 2026. Most general licenses on this page are a two-digit yearly fee. Trade licenses, health permits and liquor licenses are the expensive ones; the EIN is free, and so are the two sales-tax permits on this page (Texas and California). Check your state, your county and your city before the first job — their own pages, linked below, are the current word.
In most US cities a general license or tax registration is issued the same day online, and slower by mail (Washington says up to six weeks) — Hawaii's office quotes approximately 5–7 days online and Washington's approximately 10 business days online. A trade license takes months, because of the exam and the experience check. A sales-tax permit sits between: Texas tells applicants to allow 2–3 weeks. Check your state, your county and your city before the first job — their own pages, linked below, are the current word.
In the US, an LLC is a business structure — a legal person you create by filing with the state, which keeps the business's debts and lawsuits away from your personal assets. A business license is permission to operate from your city, county or state. You can have either without the other, and most trade owners end up with both: the LLC formed first, so the license is issued in the LLC's name. The LLC guide takes that question on its own. Check your state, your county and your city before the first job — their own pages, linked below, are the current word.
In the US, most trade owners need the business license (city or county, plus the state's in the states that have one), the free EIN, and a DBA only if they trade under a name that isn't their legal name. The seller's permit is for selling taxable goods — a detailer selling products or a landscaper selling plants needs one; a pure labor business usually doesn't, unless the state taxes that service. The trade license is the fifth, for the licensed trades.
In the US you need one where you're based, and a city can reach a business based elsewhere that does work inside its limits — Seattle exempts only a business with $4,000 or less of Seattle income and no Seattle location, so above that line a contractor needs its certificate without a Seattle address; in Florida the receipt is sold by the county and, inside city limits, often by the city too, and Alabama's privilege license is bought in the county where the business is located. Read the pages of the cities you work in most, not every address you've ever driven to. Check your state, your county and your city before the first job — their own pages, linked below, are the current word.
In the US it depends on the place and the paper. For a missing general license: back fees, late penalties and interest (Florida's statute adds 10% in the first month, 5% a month after that up to 25%, and a further 25% of the tax for operating without the receipt), sometimes a citation, and trouble opening a bank account or bidding on commercial work. For a missing trade license it's far worse — fines, stop-work orders, and in some states a contract you can't enforce in court; California's board, for one, treats an unlicensed bid above its $1,000 line as grounds for legal action. Check your state, your county and your city before the first job — their own pages, linked below, are the current word.
In the US, most general licenses renew every year, some every two years, usually on a fixed date — Alaska's and Seattle's on December 31, Florida's county receipts on September 30, Delaware's and Alabama's on a yearly cycle — and a few are permanent until something changes (West Virginia's registration, Philadelphia's license, Hawaii's tax license). The renewal notice may not come; the due date goes on your calendar the day the license is issued. Check your state, your county and your city before the first job — their own pages, linked below, are the current word.
Almost certainly not, for a trade or service business. In the US the SBA's list of federally regulated activities runs to eleven — alcohol, firearms, aviation, agriculture across state lines, fish and wildlife, commercial fishing, maritime transport, mining on federal land, nuclear energy, broadcasting, and oversize transport (that last permit is issued by your state) — each through its own agency. Everything else is state, county or city. The only federal step a cleaner or a plumber takes is the free EIN.
No general one exists in either country. In the UK a sole trader registers with HMRC for Self Assessment once they earn more than £1,000 in a tax year, and only particular activities need a license from the council or a regulator — the GOV.UK licence finder lists them, and a food business registers with its council at least 28 days before trading. In Australia a business holds an ABN, and the licenses and permits depend on the business type, the activities, the state or territory and the local council — ABLIS lists all three levels in one search. Check your council and your state or territory regulator before the first job.
Where these figures come from
Every figure and rule on this page was read on the government's own page — the SBA for the federal list and the DBA, the IRS for the EIN, the Texas Comptroller and California's tax department for the sales-tax permits, California's contractors board for the $1,000 line, GOV.UK for the UK, business.gov.au and ABLIS for Australia, and each state's and city's own revenue department, filing office, statute book or licensing department for its rows — on the dates below. Fees and thresholds change; the linked page is the current word, and your city clerk or attorney is the final one.
- US Small Business Administration — Apply for licenses and permits — no date on the page, read October 25, 2026
- US Small Business Administration — Register your business — no date on the page, read October 25, 2026
- IRS — Get an employer identification number — page dated October 16, 2026, read October 25, 2026
- Texas Comptroller — Sales and use tax permit application — no date on the page, read October 25, 2026
- California Department of Tax and Fee Administration — Seller's permit FAQ — no date on the page, read October 25, 2026
- Contractors State License Board (California) — AB 2622 implementation bulletin — page dated December 31, 2024, read October 25, 2026
- GOV.UK — Licence finder — no date on the page, read October 25, 2026
- GOV.UK — Set up as a sole trader — no date on the page, read October 25, 2026
- GOV.UK — Food business registration — no date on the page, read October 25, 2026
- GOV.UK — Running a business from your home — no date on the page, read October 25, 2026
- business.gov.au — Register licences and permits — no date on the page, read October 25, 2026
- business.gov.au — Home-based businesses — no date on the page, read October 25, 2026
- Australian Business Licence and Information Service (ABLIS) — no date on the page, read October 25, 2026
The state rules, each read on the state's own site — its revenue department, its filing office or its statute book — on October 25, 2026:
- Alabama — revenue.alabama.gov — handbook dated October 2022 · revenue.alabama.gov (second page)
- Alaska — commerce.alaska.gov
- Delaware — revenue.delaware.gov · revenue.delaware.gov (second page)
- District of Columbia — dlcp.dc.gov
- Hawaii — tax.hawaii.gov — page dated January 14, 2026
- Nevada — nvsos.gov · leg.state.nv.us (second page)
- Tennessee — revenue.support.tn.gov
- Washington — dor.wa.gov · dor.wa.gov (second page)
- West Virginia — tax.wv.gov
- California — calgold.ca.gov
- Florida — flsenate.gov
- New York — nyc.gov — industries list updated September 2026 · nyc.gov (second page)
- Texas — gov.texas.gov — guide updated December 2025 · gov.texas.gov (second page)
The city rules, each read on the city's own site on the same day:
Get the license, then put the business on a website — free to build
Describe the business in one line and Zarla builds the whole site — pages, words, photos and the Google setup — with your business name on every page and quotes and invoices in the same dashboard. Free to build and preview; you pay only when you publish.
Already have a website? Bring it across →Zarla keeps your old page addresses where it can and redirects the ones that change, helping you keep the Google standing you've built.