Business Licenses and Permits

The Institute for Justice, a nonprofit group, recently released studies of eight major cities across the country.  The purpose of these studies was to assess business conditions in Milwaukee, Los Angeles, Houston, Washington, DC, Miami, Chicago, Philadelphia and Newark.  The study found varying degrees of complexity in local and state licensing laws.  In addition to …

As election season heats up we begin to see stories of candidates not following local laws.  One such story is coming out of Peoria, Arizona.  According to the Tucson Citizen, Peoria City Council candidate Jason Dragon owes $125,000 in unpaid sales taxes dating back to 2005.  The unpaid sales tax is from a computer business …

Like many other cities in California, the City of Vallejo recently hired an outside firm to help collect business license fees from delinquent businesses.  The city used Municipal Auditing Services to track down unlicensed businesses and according to the Times-Herald the firm got to keep half of what it collected.
These outside firms can be an …

County officials in Amherst County, Virginia are considering implementing a gross receipts based business license.  The county currently has a merchant’s capital tax in place to gain revenue from local businesses.  By being based on gross receipts, the new business licenses would be a more consistent way to gain revenue as the fee is based …

Any smart business owner will most certainly do research to determine if there are any licensing requirements for his or her business. For those operating a business on a military installation, their research may show that some type of license could be required.
If you’re going to be operating a business at a military base, it …

During these tough economic times, most communities have sought to raise business license fees in order to make up for lost revenue. But one California town is taking the opposite approach and hopes its plan generates increased economic growth.
City officials in Murrieta have agreed to waive the business license fee for any business planning to …

Last week we reported the ineffectiveness of the Fresno, California business tax amnesty program earlier this year.  Now, it appears that the city is ready to get proactive.  On Sunday, the Fresno Bee reported that the city has hired an outside firm, MuniServices, to track down and collect taxes from delinquent businesses.  This is a …

The City of Montgomery, Alabama is surrounded by a 3 mile area outside of the city limits that is under the jurisdiction of the city police.  Businesses in the police jurisdiction have not had to have a city business license or charge the city’s high 10% sales tax rate.  That is about to change.
According to …

On Answerpress.com an individual that will be selling candles from home recently asked, “What business licenses would I need for a DBA home retail business?” Fortunately for this person, this type of business is pretty straightforward and should not have a lot of licensing requirements.
One of the first things this entrepreneur should consider is the …

Seeking solutions to help a problem with tracking certain types of businesses, one California city is strongly considering implementing a new business license fee. The Banning City Council is set to meet soon and discuss a proposal to issue a new fee for massage therapists.
The problem tracking the therapeutic businesses arose once the city adopted …