Business licenses and permits in Georgia

Start with the city or county where the business will operate. Then check the state boards that license your kind of work.

What’s different in Georgia

• The operating license is local. The SBA tells you to contact the business license office where you plan to locate.
• Professional licenses sit with the Secretary of State, across 42 boards, not with the Corporations Division that formed the company.
• A home business is a zoning question. You may not be permitted to operate from the house.
• Alcohol is both a state license and a local one. The Department of Revenue says the state registration also requires a local license.

Do this

1. Call the city or county business license office where the business will sit. That office issues the license to operate there. Outside a city, start with the county. What the license is called varies.* Check the official source for that city or county.
2. Ask about zoning before you sign a lease, including a home address. The SBA notes that you may not be permitted to conduct business from home, or to run an industrial use in a retail district.
3. Check the Licensing Division if the work is a licensed profession or trade. It supports 42 boards. Apply, renew, and look up a license in GOALS.
4. Selling alcohol? The Department of Revenue requires a state alcohol license for retail or wholesale, for beer, wine, or liquor, including sales by the drink. That registration is investigated, renewed every year, and it also requires a local license.
5. Selling as a dealer? You also need a sales and use tax number. It is not the city license.
6. Ask for help if the list gets long. The SBA’s Georgia District Office in Atlanta offers counseling and connects you to partner organizations.

What you get back

A city or county license where one is required, plus a license from each state board that regulates the work. Each renews on its own schedule. The sales and use tax certificate does not renew.