Georgia Business License: No State License, the Local Occupation Tax Certificate and the E-Verify Step

If you searched for a georgia business license, start with this fact: Georgia does not issue one at the state level. The Secretary of State issues no business license, and registering for sales tax with the Department of Revenue is not a license either. The license most people mean is the local occupation tax certificate, also called a business license or business tax certificate. A city or county issues it, depending on where your business operates. This guide explains who issues it, how local rules work, and where the E-Verify affidavit fits.

Informational content only. This guide is not legal or tax advice. Local rules change often, and a business with multiple locations, employees, or regulated activities should have its setup reviewed by a Georgia business attorney or a CPA.

The Short Answer

Georgia has no general state business license. The Secretary of State handles entity filings such as Articles of Organization and Articles of Incorporation, but it issues no license for doing business. The Department of Revenue handles sales tax registration, which is not a business license. The local occupation tax certificate comes from a city or, for unincorporated areas, a county, under Title 48, chapter 13 of the Georgia code. Beyond that certificate, your activity may require state licenses, zoning approval, and other permits.

Do I Need a Business License in Georgia?

Many businesses do need a local occupation tax certificate, but whether yours does depends on the city or county where you operate and on what you do there. Each of Georgia's 159 counties and about 537 cities and towns sets its own formula, deadlines, and prerequisites. The practical answer is to ask the issuing government before you open or start operating. Do not assume that a state filing or sales tax registration covers the local requirement.

Which Government Issues Your Certificate

The rule is based on location:

• A business inside city limits pays the city, not the county.
• A business on unincorporated land pays the county.
• A business with locations in both a city and unincorporated county land pays the government for each location it serves.

This matters more than many people expect. More than half of Georgians live outside any city, so for them the county is the issuer. A county does not collect for businesses inside a city, and a city does not collect for businesses on unincorporated land.

Consolidated governments work differently. Columbus-Muscogee, Augusta-Richmond, Macon-Bibb and Athens-Clarke are each one government covering the whole county, so there is one issuing authority for the area. In Columbus, the Finance Department's occupation tax section issues the certificate. Before you apply, you also need a certificate of occupancy, so plan for that step first.

How Local Occupation Tax Is Set

Georgia law sets the outer limits, and each locality chooses its own method within them. Key rules include:

• Cities and counties may levy the tax. A business pays one occupation tax per office or location.
• Total local occupation tax may not exceed 100% of gross receipts.
• A locality may not charge a fee for checking whether you paid another government.
• A business with no Georgia location is taxed once, in the place where most of its dollar volume is done.
• Localities classify businesses by number of employees, profitability ratio, gross receipts with profitability, or a flat fee. They may also add an administrative fee.
• For gross receipts, the base excludes sales tax, returns, subcontractor payments, and sales delivered outside Georgia.
• A location does not include a temporary or construction site or a delivery vehicle.
• Regulatory fees for building trades, food service, taxis, tattoo, pawn, and scrap metal businesses are separate from the occupation tax. They should roughly match the cost of the regulation.
• Some localities let listed professions pay a set amount of up to $400 per professional instead of the usual formula. That $400 is a ceiling the locality may set for those professions. It is not a flat statewide fee.
• Starting July 1, 2026 (Act 435, HB 141), a CPA affidavit may replace tax returns when a locality figures the tax.

Do not rely on a general formula from another city or county. Ask your issuing government for its current rate method, deadlines, and forms.

What Stacks on Top of the Local Certificate

Most businesses meet these requirements in a specific order. Here is the sequence you will usually encounter:

1. State licenses where the activity requires one. Professional licensing boards in the Secretary of State's Professional Licensing Boards Division license many occupations. The Department of Revenue covers alcohol and tobacco, and alcohol also requires a bond and a local license. The county health department handles food service, and the Department of Agriculture covers some food businesses. For child care, DECAL (Bright from the Start) is the agency, not DFCS. Check with each agency for the current requirement.
2. Zoning approval and a certificate of occupancy. Your city or county confirms that the location and use are allowed before it issues the occupation tax certificate.
3. The local certificate and the E-Verify affidavit. Private employers with more than 10 employees must use E-Verify and file an affidavit with the city or county to get the local certificate (O.C.G.A. 36-60-6). Employers with 10 or fewer employees file an exemption affidavit instead.

One rule affects licensed professionals. A locality may not issue a certificate to a business licensed by a state professional board without evidence of that state license. Bring your state license to the local application so the issuing office can verify it.

The E-Verify Step

The E-Verify requirement is the step most often missed by employers who expect the local certificate to be routine. The rule works this way:

• More than 10 employees: You must use E-Verify and file the affidavit with the issuing city or county before the certificate is issued.
• 10 or fewer employees: You file an exemption affidavit instead.

Confirm the current affidavit forms and filing location with your city or county clerk or tax office. Check with E-Verify, the federal program, on enrollment questions.

Contractors and Trades

Contractors face an extra layer. The State Licensing Board for Residential and General Contractors licenses contractors by type of building work: Residential-Basic, Residential-Light Commercial, General Contractor, and General Contractor Limited Tier. Electrical, plumbing, conditioned air, low-voltage, and utility contractors are licensed separately. Check with the Secretary of State for the current license thresholds and which tier fits your work. Your local certificate application may ask for proof of the state contractor license.

Cottage Food Businesses

Cottage food producers need no state license as of July 1, 2025 (HB 398). Local business licensing and zoning still apply, so you still need to confirm the local certificate and any home occupation rules with your city or county.

Separate Registrations You Also Need

These filings are separate from the local certificate, and they have different offices:

• Entity filing with the Secretary of State. An LLC files Articles of Organization, and a corporation files Articles of Incorporation, both through the eCorp portal at https://ecorp.sos.ga.gov/ or on paper.
• Sales tax registration with the Department of Revenue. Register through the Georgia Tax Center at https://gtc.dor.ga.gov/ if you sell taxable goods or have employees. Registration is free, and it is not a business license. The state rate is 4%, and combined state and local rates run from 6% to 9% by county and city (Atlanta is 8.9%). Georgia issues no separate resale permit. Resale purchases use Form ST-5, the certificate of exemption. Remote sellers must collect Georgia sales tax once they reach $100,000 of Georgia sales or 200 separate transactions.
• Trade name (DBA) with the county clerk. Trade names are filed with the Clerk of Superior Court of the county where the business is chiefly carried on, not with the Secretary of State. The clerk fee is about $165 plus the newspaper charge, and notice must run in the county legal organ once a week for two weeks. Confirm the exact amount with your county clerk.

Costs at a Glance

Item	Cost	Where to file
LLC Articles of Organization	$110 total ($100 fee plus $10 service charge)	Secretary of State
Corporation Articles of Incorporation	$110 total ($100 fee plus $10 service charge)	Secretary of State
Annual registration	$60 ($50 plus $10), filed January 1 to April 1	Secretary of State
Name reservation	$35 for 30 days	Secretary of State
Expedited review	$120 (2 business days), $275 (same day if received by noon), or $1,200 (one hour on business days)	Secretary of State
Reinstatement after administrative dissolution	About $260	Secretary of State
Trade name (DBA)	About $165 clerk fee plus newspaper charge (confirm with the clerk)	County Clerk of Superior Court
Sales tax registration	Free	Department of Revenue, Georgia Tax Center
Local occupation tax certificate	Set by each city or county (confirm with the issuing government)	City or county

Expect online entity filings to take about 7 to 10 business days and paper filings about 15 business days. Confirm the current annual registration window and late penalty with the Secretary of State.

Taxes That Affect Your Entity

Georgia levies no franchise tax on a typical single-member or partnership LLC. Corporations, and LLCs taxed as corporations, owe a net worth tax of $0 to $5,000 depending on net worth. Income passes through at one flat rate: 5.19% for 2025 and 4.99% for 2026. The corporate income tax rate equals the individual rate.

Employer Requirements to Check Early

Workers' compensation insurance is required once you have three or more workers, including part-time workers. Georgia has no state paid sick leave or family leave mandate, though federal rules may still apply. Check these before you hire, because they affect your local application if you include employees.

How to Get a Business License in Georgia: Step by Step

1. Choose your entity and file with the Secretary of State at https://sos.ga.gov/corporations-division.
2. Confirm whether your business location is inside a city or in unincorporated county land, and identify the issuing government.
3. Check the state license requirements for your activity with the relevant agency.
4. Get zoning approval and a certificate of occupancy.
5. Apply for the local occupation tax certificate. If you have more than 10 employees, file the E-Verify affidavit. If you have 10 or fewer, file the exemption affidavit.
6. Register for sales tax at https://gtc.dor.ga.gov/ if you sell taxable goods or have employees.
7. File a trade name with the county clerk if you operate under a name other than your legal entity name.
8. Calendar your annual registration for January 1 to April 1 each year, and confirm the deadline and late penalty with the Secretary of State.

Where to Confirm Current Requirements

• Georgia Secretary of State, Corporations Division: https://sos.ga.gov/corporations-division
• Secretary of State business search: https://ecorp.sos.ga.gov/BusinessSearch
• Georgia Department of Revenue: https://dor.georgia.gov/
• Georgia Tax Center (sales tax registration): https://gtc.dor.ga.gov/
• Trade name and business FAQ: https://sos.ga.gov/page/business-division-faq
• Georgia Small Business Development Center at the University of Georgia: https://www.georgiasbdc.org/
• SBA Georgia district office: https://www.sba.gov/district/georgia

The Georgia Small Business Development Center offers free advising for new and growing businesses. For city and county specifics, including formulas, deadlines, and application forms, contact the issuing government directly, since each sets its own rules.

When to Get Professional Help

A single-owner business with one location and no employees can often handle its own filings. Get professional advice if you have multiple locations across city and county lines, employees, regulated activity, or a question about how gross receipts are calculated. A Georgia business attorney can review entity structure and contracts, and a CPA can review tax filings and the local tax calculation.

Disclaimer: This guide is informational only and is not legal or tax advice. Fees, deadlines, and rules change, so confirm each item with the agency named before you file or pay.