How to Get a Business License in Florida

The Florida state steps most owners should check

1. Check Open MyFloridaBusiness by business type

Florida’s official business portal is built around business categories. The portal says it focuses on State of Florida government requirements and resources, and its checklists also include local and federal information.

Use the portal before you assume your business is “unregulated.” A retail shop, food business, contractor, salon, alcohol seller, rental operator, or health-related business can have a different checklist.

2. Register or form your business with Sunbiz when needed

The Florida Department of State Division of Corporations is the state’s central filing office for corporations, LLCs, limited partnerships, fictitious names, trademarks, judgment liens, and similar filings.

If you form a Florida LLC, you file Articles of Organization. If you form a Florida corporation, you file Articles of Incorporation. If you are an out-of-state entity doing business in Florida, you may need to register as a foreign entity.

Sunbiz currently lists $100 for Florida LLC Articles of Organization plus a required $25 registered agent designation. For ongoing filings, the LLC annual report is $138.75 and a profit corporation annual report is $150. For 2026, a $400 late fee applies after May 1. Sunbiz also says annual reports must be filed by the third Friday in September to avoid administrative dissolution.

Businesses formed or effective after January 1 of the current year are not due an annual report in that same year. Their first annual report is generally due the following calendar year.

New in 2026: Florida’s protected-series provisions took effect July 1, 2026. An existing active Florida LLC may designate one or more protected series. A protected series is a legally distinct portion of the LLC, but it is not a separate entity and does not receive its own Sunbiz record number.

3. Use Florida’s real DBA term: fictitious name

Florida uses the term fictitious name for a business name that is different from your personal legal name or your entity’s legal name.

Before filing, the Florida Division of Corporations says the name must be advertised at least once in a newspaper located in the county where your principal place of business is located. The applicant certifies the advertisement when signing the application.

A Florida fictitious name registration is for public notice. The state says it does not give you ownership of the name and does not stop someone else from using or registering the same name.

As of the source page checked for this guide, the state lists the registration fee for a fictitious name as $50. The state also says a fictitious name registration is valid for five years and expires on December 31 of the final year. Confirm the current fee and term on the official Sunbiz page before filing.

4. Register with the Florida Department of Revenue when your activity requires it

The Florida Department of Revenue says you may be required to register to collect, accrue, and remit taxes or fees if you are engaged in activities tied to a tax or fee.

If your business will sell taxable goods or taxable services, the Department says you must register as a sales and use tax dealer before you begin conducting business in Florida.

Florida’s online Florida Business Tax Application uses an interactive wizard to help determine tax registration requirements. The same registration path can cover several taxes and fees, including sales and use tax, reemployment tax, communications services tax, rental car surcharge, documentary stamp tax, and other Florida-administered items.

Florida’s general state sales tax rate is 6%, with exceptions for some categories. Many counties also impose a discretionary sales surtax, so the actual rate can depend on where a taxable sale is delivered or occurs.

If you are an out-of-state seller with no Florida physical presence, Florida generally requires registration when taxable remote Florida sales exceeded $100,000 in the previous calendar year. Marketplace providers have separate collection rules, and a marketplace seller may still need its own Florida registration for taxable sales made outside the marketplace.

Florida commercial rent tax was repealed

Florida repealed state sales tax and discretionary sales surtax on rent or license fees for commercial real property for rental or occupancy periods beginning on or after October 1, 2025. This includes many office, retail, warehouse, and self-storage rentals. Tax can still apply to older rental periods and to categories that were not part of the repeal, such as transient lodging and certain parking, marina, and aircraft-storage charges.

5. Understand the Florida Annual Resale Certificate

Florida does not usually call this a “seller’s permit” on official Department of Revenue pages. The Department says businesses that register to collect sales tax are issued a Florida Annual Resale Certificate for Sales Tax.

The certificate lets a registered business buy or rent certain property or services tax-free when the property or service will be resold or re-rented. It is not a general business license, and it does not replace city or county requirements.

The Annual Resale Certificate expires December 31 each year. As long as the business remains active and registered to collect sales tax, the Department issues a new certificate for the next calendar year.

6. Set up employer accounts if you hire workers

If you hire employees, you may need a federal EIN from the IRS. The official Florida startup checklist also points employers to the Florida Department of Revenue for tax registration and new hire reporting.

Florida calls its unemployment tax system reemployment tax. The Florida Department of Revenue registers employers, collects the tax and wage reports due, assigns tax rates, and audits employers for reemployment tax.

Florida’s official startup checklist says employers must report newly hired, re-hired, and temporary employees, and in some cases contractors, through the State of Florida’s New Hire Reporting program managed by the Department of Revenue.

For 2026, Florida’s reemployment-tax wage base is the first $7,000 of wages per employee. New employers generally start at 2.7% for the first 10 quarters. Experience-rated employers can fall between 0.1% and 5.4% for 2026.

Newly hired or rehired employees generally must be reported within 20 days. Florida also requires reporting of independent contractors paid $600 or more per calendar year for services in the course of a trade or business, generally within 20 days of the start date or first payment.

Florida’s minimum wage is $14.00 per hour through September 29, 2026. It rises to $15.00 on September 30, 2026. The tipped direct-wage floor is $10.98 through September 29, 2026 under the state’s current tip-credit calculation.

Workers’ compensation rules depend on industry and headcount. Florida generally requires coverage for construction employers with one or more employees and non-construction employers with four or more employees, subject to statutory exemptions and special agricultural rules.

Florida city and county rules may be the step that actually lets you open

Many Florida owners get stuck because they finish the state filings but skip the local layer.

Florida’s official city website directory says new businesses are encouraged to explore local websites for local business tax receipts, building permits, plan reviews, inspections, code compliance, planning, zoning, and economic development resources.

What is a Local Business Tax Receipt?

A Local Business Tax Receipt, often shortened to BTR or LBTR, is a local tax receipt issued by a city or county. Some local pages still call it an occupational license because that older term remains common.

Florida Statutes Chapter 205 covers local business taxes. The local details depend on the city or county ordinance, business category, location, and exemptions.

City and county receipts can both apply

Some Florida places require both a city receipt and a county receipt. For example, Miami-Dade County says businesses located within a municipality must obtain both a city receipt and a Miami-Dade County receipt. The City of Orlando also tells applicants to get an Orange County business tax receipt after the city business tax receipt is issued.

Local business tax receipts usually follow a fall renewal cycle

Where a Florida county or municipality levies a local business tax under Chapter 205, state law generally says receipts are sold beginning July 1, are due on or before September 30, and expire September 30 of the following year. Local fees, categories, exemptions, and application steps still depend on the issuing jurisdiction.

Not every city uses the same setup

Do not assume every city has the same form. Some local governments use a business tax receipt. Some require a certificate of use. Some route businesses through zoning first. Some may not issue a city occupational license at all but still require zoning or other approvals. For example, the City of Tallahassee states that it does not require or issue business or occupational licenses, but it still points businesses to zoning, building, county, state, and federal checks.

Industry licenses: common Florida examples

Many Florida businesses do not need a state-issued industry license, but some do. The right office depends on the activity.

Home-based Florida businesses still need local checks

Working from home does not automatically remove licensing rules. A home-based Florida business may still need:

• A city or county local business tax receipt.
• Home occupation approval or zoning clearance.
• A certificate of use in some cities.
• Florida Department of Revenue tax registration if selling taxable goods or services.
• A fictitious name registration if using a name that is not your legal name or entity name.
• An industry license if the work is regulated.
• HOA, landlord, or lease permission if applicable.

Home-based food, beauty, construction, childcare, health, tattooing, automotive, warehouse, delivery, short-term rental, or customer-visit businesses can trigger extra rules.

Florida law also limits how local governments may regulate a qualifying home-based business. A business that meets the criteria in section 559.955, Florida Statutes, may operate in a residential area and generally may not be licensed or regulated differently from other businesses except as the statute allows. The law does not erase state or federal licensing requirements, safety rules, applicable local business taxes, or private HOA, condominium, cooperative, lease, or covenant restrictions.

Florida city guides on BusinessLicenseGuide

Use these city guides when your business is in one of these Florida cities. Local rules can change, so also verify each step with the official city, county, and state links in the guide.

Official Florida agency directory