Do I need a business license if I have an LLC?
Asked about 550 times a month on Google, often as "what is the difference between an LLC and a business license." It comes up right after formation, when the state's approval arrives and it is not obvious whether that approval is the license or something else entirely.
The two get confused because both involve a government filing, both carry a fee, and both are things a new business owner is told to "get." The LLC approval even comes with a certificate that looks official enough to frame.
The question tends to arrive from someone about to open a storefront, sign a lease, or apply for a bank account, when a landlord, a bank, or a city asks for a license number they do not have.
Asked about 550 times a month on Google, across about a dozen phrasings.
@GaboG4·
Your LLC is not a business license. Forming the LLC registers the company with the state as a legal entity; a license is permission to carry on a particular activity in a particular place. Most businesses need both, and whether you need a license depends on what you do and where you do it.
The SBA puts it plainly: most small businesses need a combination of licenses and permits from federal and state agencies, and you may also need licenses from your county or city. Federal licenses only cover activities a federal agency regulates. States and local governments regulate far more, and the SBA lists construction, plumbing, restaurants, retail and vending machines among the activities commonly regulated locally.
Florida is a good example of the local layer. Its statutes let a city levy a business tax "for the privilege of engaging in or managing any business, profession, or occupation within its jurisdiction," and counties can levy one too. So a Florida LLC can owe a business tax receipt to its city and to its county, on top of the state filing that created it.
Start with your city and county websites for the address you operate from, then your state's licensing agency for your trade. Some licenses expire and have to be renewed, so note the dates when you get them.
