Davidson County, TN Business Tax License Guide: Nashville-Davidson Rules

Davidson County business changes: May 1–October 2, 2026

• Metro home-occupation rules changed May 29, 2026. Ordinance BL2026-1318 revised the Metro zoning standards for home occupations. A Metro home-occupation permit is not required when the business both serves no customers on the property and has no employee who lives outside the dwelling. When a permit is required, the ordinance now allows up to 12 customers per day by scheduled appointment, allows no more than one nonresident employee, and makes the permit valid for three years before renewal.
• Metro day-care zoning rules changed May 29, 2026. BL2026-1317 revised Metro definitions, zoning tables, and standards for day-care homes and centers, including center categories of up to 50 and over 50 people. Tennessee child-care licensing remains a separate state layer.
• The old Codes permit-report search stopped serving Codes permit reports on May 18, 2026. Metro directs users to ePermits for current Codes permit records and status. Use the current system instead of an old permit-report bookmark.
• NDOT right-of-way permit fees changed July 1, 2026. The Nashville Department of Transportation and Multimodal Infrastructure says new right-of-way fees took effect under BL2026-1358. Right-of-way applications, including encroachment, sidewalk vending, sidewalk café, temporary closure, excavation, parklet, mobile food vendor, and related permits, are routed through ePermits.

First, check your exact Davidson County address and jurisdiction

Nashville and Davidson County are consolidated, while six satellite cities remain incorporated. First identify the actual parcel, service district, and zoning authority.

Use the real operating location

Use the physical place where the business activity happens: storefront, office, home, restaurant, warehouse, short-term rental, job site, commissary, or vending location. A registered-agent address, mailbox, or the city name in a postal address does not answer the zoning or permit question.

Start with the official Nashville Parcel Viewer. It shows parcel, zoning, permit, tax-district, and other property information. Metro’s zoning data also identifies parcels that are within a satellite-city jurisdiction rather than Metro zoning.

USD and GSD are service districts, not a complete permit map

The County Clerk uses USD and GSD to set the local Business Tax License or Minimal Activity License fee. That distinction is useful, but it does not tell you which government controls every zoning, building, home-business, or right-of-way question. A satellite city can have its own zoning even though the property is still in Davidson County.

The six satellite cities

Current Metro materials identify Belle Meade, Berry Hill, Forest Hills, Goodlettsville, Oak Hill, and Ridgetop as the satellite cities. Metro zoning data excludes those cities because they maintain their own zoning. If Parcel Viewer identifies one of these jurisdictions, check that city before relying on Metro zoning or home-occupation rules.

What the Davidson County Clerk and Metro may handle

Business Tax License or Minimal Activity License

The Davidson County Clerk accepts Business Tax License and Minimal Activity License applications. Use the Clerk’s online application or current instructions.

Tennessee Revenue says an in-state location with more than $3,000 but less than $100,000 in taxable gross receipts generally needs a Minimal Activity License. At $100,000 or more, a standard business license and state business tax registration generally apply. Exemptions and classifications can change the result.

Short-term rentals

Short-term rental owners should not stop at the general business tax license. Metro Codes requires a Short Term Rental Property permit before listing or operating an STRP. The current online STRP application process became effective in March 2026. The County Clerk then applies the business-tax-license layer based on current gross-receipts rules.

Other County Clerk business services

The County Clerk also lists transient vendor, pawnbroker, business liquidation sale, and STRP business-license services. These are activity-specific, not universal add-ons. The Clerk’s site still has a “Sidewalk Encroachment Permit” navigation item, but its own page states that sidewalk encroachment is now under NDOT. Use the current NDOT route for right-of-way activity.

What satellite cities may handle

Satellite cities are not just neighborhood names. They can have their own zoning, building, home-occupation, sign, or administrative rules. Check the city identified for the actual parcel.

Goodlettsville

Goodlettsville crosses Davidson and Sumner counties and has its own Licenses and Registrations page. The city provides a Business Tax License application, home-occupation requirements, peddler permit information, and beer resources. A Davidson County business address inside Goodlettsville should not assume the Metro Nashville permit path is the only local path.

Berry Hill, Forest Hills, Belle Meade, Oak Hill, and Ridgetop

These cities maintain their own zoning or building controls. Forest Hills, for example, issues its own building permits and use-and-occupancy certificates through its Building and Zoning Department. Belle Meade publishes its own zoning and building-permit process. Ridgetop publishes a zoning ordinance, map, and building-permit information.

2026 building-code note: Belle Meade says its 2024 residential-code adoption took effect July 1. Forest Hills announced a September move to 2024 IRC/IBC, with enforcement 15 days after final reading; confirm the current code edition before filing there.

Oak Hill needs special care. City materials describe Oak Hill as strictly residential and say there are no ordinary commercial businesses in the city, while the municipal code separately defines and regulates home occupations. A home business in Oak Hill therefore needs the Oak Hill rules, not Metro’s BL2026-1318 home-occupation standards.

State-level registrations to check

Local licenses do not replace Tennessee tax accounts, entity filings, employer duties, or professional licensing.

Tennessee business tax

If business tax applies, register through TNTAP. Tennessee Revenue says the business tax return is generally due on the 15th day of the fourth month after the end of the business’s fiscal year. The local business license fee is handled through the county and/or municipal clerk; it is not the same payment as the state business tax.

Sales and use tax

If you sell taxable tangible personal property or taxable services, check the Tennessee sales and use tax registration rules. New businesses can register through TNTAP. Remember the Davidson County food-rate change described above does not take effect until November 1, 2026.

Entity formation

LLCs, corporations, and other registered entities use the Tennessee Secretary of State. The current online filing system is TNCaB. Forming an LLC does not replace a local business license, zoning approval, tax registration, health permit, beer permit, or other activity-specific approval.

If the business needs an employer identification number, get it free through the IRS EIN application. An EIN is a federal tax ID, not a business license.

Federal EIN

If you hire employees

Tennessee has no state income tax on earned wages, so there is no state wage-withholding account. Employers still need to check unemployment-insurance liability through Jobs4TN Employer e-Services, report newly hired or rehired employees within 20 days, and handle separate federal payroll duties.

Professional and regulated activities

Contractors, cosmetology and barber businesses, alarm businesses, real-estate professionals, private investigators, and other regulated occupations should use the Tennessee Regulatory Boards directory. Contractors should also check Metro Codes, which licenses building and trade contractors locally and uses ePermits for registered contractors.

DBA, assumed name, and trade-name layer

Tennessee’s Secretary of State uses the term assumed name. Its guidance says Tennessee does not recognize “DBA” or “fictitious name” as the official entity-filing terminology. An assumed name filed for a registered entity is valid for five years and can be renewed.

If an LLC, corporation, or another entity registered with the Secretary of State will use a name different from its true entity name, use the Secretary of State’s business services and TNCaB route for the proper assumed-name filing.

For a sole proprietor or general partnership, do not treat the County Clerk business license as a universal “DBA certificate.” A local tax license, name filing, and name protection are different issues.

Zoning, home occupation, building, fire, health, and industry permits

A Business Tax License does not prove that a property may be used for the business. Check land use and regulated activities separately.

Zoning and commercial use

For Metro-zoned property, use Parcel Viewer and Metro Codes. The Commercial Use and Occupancy guidance says a business license does not remove U&O requirements. Restaurants require a U&O permit even when the prior use was a restaurant, and commercial changes can trigger Health, Water, Fire, or other review.

Metro home businesses: the May 2026 rule matters

For homes under Metro zoning, use the enacted BL2026-1318 home-occupation ordinance for the current substantive standards. Metro’s older home-occupation webpage still contains some pre-May wording, so do not rely on that page alone for the current limits.

A permit is not required only when the home occupation has no customers on the property and no nonresident employee. Otherwise the permit rules apply. The ordinance allows no more than one nonresident employee and 12 customers per day by scheduled appointment, sets other operating limits, and makes a required permit valid for three years.

If the home is in a satellite city, stop here and use that city’s zoning/home-occupation rules instead. Metro’s home-occupation ordinance is not a countywide substitute for satellite-city zoning.

Metro zoning and state child-care licensing are separate. BL2026-1317, effective May 29, revised Metro day-care classifications and zoning standards. Tennessee DHS separately regulates child-care agencies; its guidance says care for five or more unrelated children for three or more hours per day generally requires a state license unless an exemption applies. Use the TDHS child-care provider route for the state layer.

Child care and day care

Building, trade, signs, and permit records

For Metro projects, use the building-permit process and ePermits. The old ePAV Codes report search stopped serving Codes reports May 18, 2026. Signs generally need applicable permits, and a change in business activity can trigger U&O review.

Food and mobile food

Metro Public Health Food Protection Services handles food-service permitting and inspection in Davidson County and publishes a separate mobile-food plan review and permitting process. Retail food or food-manufacturing activities can involve a Tennessee Department of Agriculture route instead, so identify the food activity before filing.

A mobile food business can have several layers: food safety, Fire Marshal operational permits, and, when operating in the public right-of-way, NDOT’s mobile-food vendor process. NDOT does not replace health or fire approval and does not govern vending only on private property.

Beer and alcoholic beverages

Metro beer permits and state alcoholic-beverage licensing are different layers. Metro accepts beer permit applications through ePermits. The Tennessee Alcoholic Beverage Commission handles state licenses and permits through its RLPS system for liquor, wine, high-gravity beer, and other TABC-regulated activities.

Right-of-way and sidewalk activity

Use NDOT Permits for encroachment, sidewalk vending/cafés, closures, excavation, parklets, mobile food vending in the public right-of-way, and related permits. NDOT shows the July 1, 2026 fee change and uses ePermits.

Step-by-step checklist for a Davidson County business

1. Use the real operating address. Do not rely on a mailing or formation address.
2. Check Parcel Viewer. Confirm the parcel, service district, zoning, and satellite-city jurisdiction.
3. Describe the activity clearly. Note whether it is home-based, mobile, online with inventory, storefront, food, STRP, or regulated work.
4. Check the County Clerk license layer. Confirm Minimal Activity, standard Business Tax License, exemption, or special license.
5. Check the correct city. If a satellite city controls the parcel, use its zoning and permit route.
6. Check Tennessee Revenue. Register applicable business tax, sales/use tax, and other state tax accounts in TNTAP.
7. Check entity and name filings. Use TNCaB when a Secretary of State filing applies.
8. Check zoning before spending on the location. Confirm U&O, building, sign, and fire steps.
9. Route regulated activities separately. Food, mobile vending, alcohol, STRP, contractors, and right-of-way use can require extra approvals.
10. If hiring, check UI and new-hire reporting. Tennessee has no state wage withholding, but employer duties remain.
11. Keep records. Save permits, registrations, emails, and agency instructions.