Business licenses and permits in Arizona

Arizona has no general state business license. Start with your city or town, then the state agencies that license your kind of work.

What’s different in Arizona

• The general business license is local, where one is required. Your city or town issues it, or the county outside city limits. The Corporation Commission, where you formed, doesn’t issue licenses.
• The TPT license comes first for most sellers. It’s a state tax license from the Arizona Department of Revenue (ADOR), and operating without one when it’s required can be a misdemeanor.
• One state starting point. Arizona Business One Stop brings together the state’s tools for planning and starting a business.

Do this

1. Start at Arizona Business One Stop. It has tools to plan and start a business in Arizona, and new businesses apply for the TPT license through it.
2. Get a local business license if your city or town requires one. Ask its business license or tax office, or the county if you’re in an unincorporated area.
3. Check zoning before you sign a lease. Home or rented space, ask your city’s planning department (or the county’s) whether your activity is allowed at that address.
4. Get any state license your work needs. Contractors license with the Registrar of Contractors; alcohol sellers with the Department of Liquor Licenses and Control. Other trades and professions have their own boards.
5. Selling taxable goods or services? You also need a TPT license.
6. Ask for help if the list gets long. The SBA’s Arizona District Office offers counseling and connects you to partner organizations that help small businesses.

What you get back

A local business license where one is required, plus one license or permit per state agency that regulates your work. Each renews on its own schedule, and the TPT license renews every year by January 1, so note the dates.