Brookhaven, Georgia Business License: How to Get Your Occupation Tax Certificate
Brookhaven, Georgia Business License: How to Get Your Occupation Tax Certificate
Brookhaven doesn’t call it a “business license.” The city calls it an Occupation Tax Certificate — and since January 2024, you get it entirely online. No trips to City Hall, no paper forms, no in-person payments. One portal handles everything.
Here’s exactly how it works.
Everything Is Online: The GovOS Portal
Brookhaven moved all business license applications to GovOS in January 2024. The portal lives at brookhavenga.munirevs.com, and it handles new applications, renewals, document uploads, and payments. That’s the whole process in one place.
You’ll create an account when you first log in. That account becomes your permanent dashboard for every business license interaction with the city — applications, renewals, status checks, correspondence. Keep the login credentials somewhere safe. You’ll need them every April.
One thing worth repeating: no applications or payments are accepted at City Hall. If you show up at 4362 Peachtree Road, Brookhaven, GA 30319 with paperwork and a check, they’ll send you to the portal. City Hall’s number is (404) 637-0500 if you have questions that need a human — but the actual filing happens online.
The GovOS system is reasonably intuitive. You’ll hit a few spots where it asks for things you may not have ready (NAICS code, E-Verify number, notarized affidavit). The sections below tell you exactly what to prepare before you sit down to apply.
How Brookhaven Calculates Your Tax
The Occupation Tax Certificate isn’t just a permit — it comes with a tax, calculated on your gross receipts. The formula is straightforward:
(Gross receipts − $20,000) × your NAICS-code rate = tax owed
The $20,000 exemption is automatic. You don’t apply for it or request it. The first twenty thousand dollars of your gross receipts simply don’t count toward the calculation. For a micro-business pulling in $40,000 a year, that cuts your taxable base in half.
The rate depends on your NAICS code. NAICS — North American Industry Classification System — is the federal standard for categorizing businesses. Brookhaven maps its rate table to 6-digit NAICS codes, and different codes carry different rates. If you don’t know your code, look it up at census.gov/naics. Enter your business description in the search tool and it’ll return the matching codes. Use the 6-digit version. That code is what Brookhaven uses to pull your rate from their table.
First-timers often get tripped up here. “Retail” isn’t a NAICS code. “Consulting” isn’t either. You need the specific 6-digit number — something like 541611 (Administrative Management and General Management Consulting Services) or 722511 (Full-Service Restaurants). Take five minutes with the census.gov tool before you open the GovOS application.
One exception: If you’re a state-licensed professional — attorney, physician, CPA, architect, engineer — you can skip the gross receipts formula entirely. Under O.C.G.A. § 48-13-9(c), professional practitioners pay a flat $400 per practitioner instead. If your firm has three licensed attorneys, that’s $1,200 flat. Much simpler, and often cheaper than the gross-receipts method for high-earning professionals.
On timing: File within 30 days of starting your business. If you miss that window — or if you miss the April 30 renewal deadline — there’s a 10% late penalty on the tax owed. After that, delinquent accounts accrue 1% interest per month. Neither is catastrophic, but neither is worth paying when the portal is available 24/7.
New Business Application Checklist
Before you start the GovOS application, pull these together. The portal will ask you to upload most of them as part of the process, and starting without them means stopping halfway through.
Zoning approval from Community Development. Brookhaven requires confirmation that your business use is permitted at your location before an Occupation Tax Certificate is issued. If you’re opening a commercial space, this comes from the city’s Community Development department. Don’t assume your landlord’s previous tenant’s use covers you — uses aren’t automatically inherited.
Certificate of Occupancy from Permits. New commercial spaces or spaces with recent buildout need a CO from the city’s Permits division. If you’re moving into an existing, unmodified space with the same use as the previous tenant, check with the city on whether a new CO is required.
SAVE Affidavit (notarized). Georgia law (O.C.G.A. § 50-36-1) requires every business license applicant to verify lawful presence in the United States. The SAVE Affidavit — Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements — must be notarized and accompanied by a Secure and Verifiable Document, typically a driver’s license or passport. This isn’t optional and it isn’t a Brookhaven quirk; it’s a statewide requirement.
E-Verify Affidavit. Also required statewide under O.C.G.A. § 36-60-6. If your business has 11 or more employees, you must be registered with E-Verify and provide your user number. Fewer than 11 employees? You file an exemption affidavit instead. Either way, something gets submitted.
Driver’s license or other secure document. Goes with the SAVE Affidavit.
State or federal license, if applicable. Some professions require a state-issued license before the city will issue an Occupation Tax Certificate — contractors, healthcare providers, childcare operators, food service establishments. If your industry is regulated at the state level, have that license ready.
Copy of your lease. For commercial locations, the portal will ask for this.
Home Occupation Form, if applicable. Running the business out of your house? Brookhaven has a specific Home Occupation Form that replaces the standard zoning and CO requirements. The business still needs to comply with the city’s home occupation rules — no customer traffic, no signage, no employees on-site, that kind of thing.
Everything gets uploaded digitally through GovOS. No mailing, no dropping off at City Hall. Scan or photograph your documents clearly before you start.
Renewal Process
Occupation Tax Certificates renew annually. The window is January 1 through April 30. You renew through the same GovOS portal at brookhavenga.munirevs.com.
At renewal, you’ll report the prior year’s gross receipts, and Brookhaven recalculates your tax based on that figure. The $20,000 exemption applies again. The NAICS-based rate applies again.
One detail that trips people up every year: the SAVE Affidavit and E-Verify Affidavit get re-submitted at every renewal. Not once and done — every time. Have your notarized SAVE Affidavit ready before you open the renewal application.
If you’re closing your business, don’t just let the certificate lapse. Submit a Close of Business Form through the portal. This formally ends your obligation and prevents the city from continuing to send renewal notices and eventually flagging you as delinquent.
And here’s the real gotcha: if you don’t renew by December 31, your application is treated as a brand new application when you finally do file. Not a late renewal. A fresh start — full documentation, full new-business process, full timeline. Missing the April 30 deadline costs you 10%. Missing December 31 costs you the entire renewal shortcut. Put April 30 in your calendar now.
Special Licenses: Alcohol, Massage, and Regulated Businesses
Most businesses in Brookhaven go through GovOS, pay their occupation tax, and that’s that. A handful of categories involve additional licenses with significantly more scrutiny.
Alcohol
Alcohol licensing in Brookhaven is handled jointly by the Finance Department and Public Safety. It’s not a quick process.
The application requires a background check — not just on the primary applicant, but on every owner with 10% or greater ownership interest in the business. All of them. Submit the application in duplicate. Include a driver’s license and two original photos (not photocopies, not digital prints — original photos) for each subject of the background check.
Alcohol employees need permits too. Workers who serve or sell alcohol must obtain an employee permit through the city. That’s a separate process from the business license.
One more timing note: alcohol license renewals run October 1 through November 30 — completely separate from the April 30 Occupation Tax Certificate renewal. If you have an alcohol license, you’re on two renewal schedules. Miss the November 30 deadline and you’re looking at a gap in authorization heading into the holidays, which is a bad time for a bar or restaurant to lose its alcohol license.
Massage and Spa Businesses
Massage establishments and spas require an additional license beyond the standard Occupation Tax Certificate. This is a separate application, not an add-on to the standard form.
Auto Sales, Pawnbrokers, Sexually Oriented Businesses
These categories trigger multi-department review, including the Law Department. The review process takes longer and involves more scrutiny than a standard business application. If you’re in one of these categories, start early and expect back-and-forth.
The One Exception to Online-Only
Special permit businesses — the categories that require multi-department review — are the one case where you apply at City Hall rather than through GovOS. For everything else, the portal is the only path. For these, City Hall at 4362 Peachtree Road is where you start.
Location Changes and Transfers
Occupation Tax Certificates in Brookhaven are not transferable. Two scenarios where this matters:
Moving your business within Brookhaven. The certificate doesn’t move with you. You’ll need to submit a change of address form and get a new fire inspection at the new location before the city updates your certificate. It’s not a full new application, but it’s not nothing either.
Selling your business. The new owner cannot operate on your certificate. They apply fresh — full new application, all the documentation, back through GovOS from the beginning. If you’re buying a business in Brookhaven, factor in the time to get a new Occupation Tax Certificate before you plan to open.
Closing your business. Submit the Close of Business Form. Don’t just stop operating and assume the city figures it out. The form is in the GovOS portal and takes a few minutes.
Before You Apply
Two things to do before you open the GovOS portal:
First, look up your NAICS code at census.gov/naics. Write down the 6-digit number. The portal will ask for it and you don’t want to guess.
Second, get your SAVE Affidavit notarized. This is the single most common reason applications stall — people start the process and realize they need a notary. Most UPS stores, banks, and public libraries offer notary services. The affidavit itself is a standard form; the city can direct you to it.
Once you have those two things ready, the GovOS application at brookhavenga.munirevs.com is manageable. Questions along the way go to (404) 637-0500. But the actual filing — that’s all online.