Licenses and permits in Minnesota

Forming the company is not permission to do the work. Minnesota does not require or issue a general business license. Licensing is handled by sector, by municipality, or both⁶. A credential is required when the work is regulated, and a city can add its own.

What’s different in Minnesota

• The residential contractor rule is about skills and receipts. More than one special skill needs a license. Roofing needs one even alone. A smaller practice can stay outside the license only with gross residential receipts under $15,000, plus a Certificate of Exemption¹.
• The license fee is a base plus a recovery-fund amount. The base is $180¹. The fund fee depends on gross receipts.
• Home food is a registration you do before the first sale, not a license you skip under a dollar amount. The current tiers stop at $78,000. A later law, effective August 1, 2027³, is printed on the same page and is not in effect yet.
• Alcohol is a license or permit before any commercial sale. Section 340A.401 does not print the fee or the counter where you apply.
• A Secretary of State filing has to stay active or a contractor license cannot be renewed.

Do this

1. Separate the company filing from the permission to do the work. Register your business creates the company. This step is the credential for the work. Search License Minnesota, the state’s licensing portal, by activity or agency for the license your work needs.
2. If the work is residential contracting, read the skill test before you bid. From the licensing page: you need a residential building contractor or residential remodeler license, if you contract with the owner of a one-to-four unit home for more than one special skill. Roofing alone needs a residential building contractor, remodeler, or roofer license. One special skill, other than roofing, does not need that state license¹. A remodeler license does not cover building a new home. Buildings with more than four units are outside this residential license.
3. Use the small-receipts path only if you also get the certificate. The exemption is gross residential receipts under $15,000, plus a Certificate of Exemption. Gross receipts are the total from the work, wherever it is done, and are not reduced by costs or expenses¹. The certificate is $10², on the application packet.
4. Budget the license fee and the recovery fund, then the insurance and the exam. The base fee is $180. The Contractor Recovery Fund adds $320, $420, or $520. Liability insurance has to be at least $100,000 per occurrence, $300,000 aggregate, and $25,000 property damage. The qualifying person has to pass a written exam from the Department of Labor and Industry. The license cannot be renewed unless the Secretary of State filing is active. The name on the insurance has to match the Secretary of State filing exactly. An entity that will use any name other than the exact name on its Secretary of State filing has to file that name as an assumed name¹.
5. Commercial work and subcontracting are a registration, not that residential license. Commercial contractors do not need the residential license, and they do have to register in the Construction Contractor Registration Program¹. Subcontractors who do not contract with the homeowner register the same way. The licensing page does not print the registration fee in that list.* Use the fee on the registration you submit.
6. Selling food from home? Register on the cottage food page before you sell. Register with the Department of Agriculture each year before selling, no matter how little you sell. At or under $7,665, you take the online training and exam each year. The second tier is from $7,666 to $78,000, with an approved food-safety course once every three years. The fee in that band is $50. Stop at $78,000 or you need a food license instead. The label has to say these products are homemade and not subject to state inspection. Food for people cannot be shipped. Cottage pet treats can. The city, county, or township can still prohibit the sales because of zoning. The sales are subject to income tax and may be subject to sales tax³. Ask the Department of Revenue before you treat the food as exempt.
7. Do not use the August 1, 2027 rules yet. The later rules replace today’s two tiers with one, add a yearly fee of $30, and permit shipping human cottage foods within Minnesota. The department said it would start planning in 2026. Until August 1, 2027³, the tiers above are the rule.
8. Selling alcohol? A license or permit is required before you sell alcoholic beverages as part of a commercial transaction⁴. The statute is section 340A.401. It does not name the office that issues a retail license or a statewide fee.* Ask the city or county where the business will sell, and read the manufacturer or wholesaler permit if that is the business you have. A local license can sit on top of a state permit.
9. Keep each expiration on its own line. A contractor license, a cottage-food registration, and an alcohol permit do not share a date with the December 31⁸ company renewal. That renewal is on Stay compliant.

What you get back

A contractor credential if the work crosses the skill or roofing line, a cottage-food registration if you stay inside the current cap, and an alcohol license or permit if you sell alcohol. Each one stands on its own. None of them is the LLC filing.