Licenses and permits in Missouri

Forming the company is not permission to do the work. Missouri does not issue one statewide license that covers every business. It does require a credential when the work is on a state board’s list, and a city or county may add a license of its own.

What’s different in Missouri

• There is no general state business license on the pages read for this guide. The profession list is a named set of occupations. Electrical contracting is on it.
• A general contractor is not on that state list. A plumber is not on it either. Local offices still license construction. Check the city and the county before you treat the state list as the last word.
• Home food is a short statutory list, not a permit you apply for first. There is no longer an annual gross-income cap. The old cap was $50,000⁴.
• Alcohol is a state license by class, from the Division of Alcohol and Tobacco Control. The index does not print one fee.

Do this

1. Read the profession list for the work you will do. Electrical contractors are on the state profession list. A general contractor and a plumber are not¹. Accountants, barbers, cosmetologists, real estate brokers, and many health professions are on the same list. Use the board for your profession. The Secretary of State filing is not that board’s license. This page does not list board fees.* Use the fee on the application for the profession you are entering.
2. Ask the city and the county where you will operate. This page does not print a city or county license fee.* A local license is not the sales-tax license. Sales tax registration is on Get your tax IDs.
3. If the work is contracting, separate the state list from the local rule. The Division of Professional Registration issues a statewide electrical contractor license. The statewide electrical contractor license is not required to keep working where the city or county requires no local license, or where you hold the local license it requires². The profession list does not name a general contractor or a plumber. Kansas City, St. Louis, and other cities may still require a local contractor credential. Read that city’s page before you bid. Do not guess a statewide threshold. These pages do not print one.
4. Selling food from home? Read RSMo 196.298 and the March 2026 department guidance before you treat it as a permit. The foods are a baked good that is not a potentially hazardous food, a canned jam or jelly, or a dried herb or herb mix, sold directly to the consumer. The operation is not a food service establishment, and a local health department does not regulate the production. There is no food permit or license for a cottage food production operation. There is no longer an annual gross-income cap. The old cap was $50,000. Internet sales are allowed only when both the producer and the buyer are in Missouri. The seller is the person who prepared the food, or a household member who knows the product well⁴. The statute requires the producer's name and address and a statement that the food is not inspected. The department's guidance also requires the common name, ingredients by weight, net weight, allergens, and a statement that the product was prepared in a kitchen the department does not inspect³. A food that is not on the list is not in the exemption. The guidance says that food may have to be made in an approved commercial kitchen and inspected by the local public health agency.
5. Selling alcohol? Start at the Division of Alcohol and Tobacco Control licensing index. It lists separate licenses for retail by the drink, package sales, temporary events, wholesalers, and manufacturers⁵. The index does not print one fee for every class.* Use the fee for the class you are applying for. A city can require its own alcohol license on top of the state license. Ask the city.
6. Keep each expiration on its own line. A profession license, an alcohol license, and a city license do not share a renewal date with a corporation’s registration report. A fictitious name lasts 5 years from the filing date, if it was filed on or after August 28, 2004⁷. The company report, for a corporation, is on Stay compliant.

What you get back

A profession credential if your work is on the state list, a cottage-food exemption only while you stay inside the statute, and an alcohol license if you sell alcohol. A city or county license only if that place requires one. Each one stands on its own. None of them is the LLC filing.