Commercial Compliance Hub
Check requirements

Cobb County

Cobb County Business License Division (Community Development Agency)

In short

Cobb County Business License Division (Community Development Agency) issues 3 permits we publish for Cobb County, last verified 2026-10-02. Each carries the fee as the agency publishes it, with a link to the schedule it was read from.

What this agency issues

Permits required, with issuing agency, fee, renewal term and the date each record was last verified against its source
"Health Spa" (Massage/Spa) Licenseonly if it applies to youCobb County Business License Division (Community Development Agency)$100.00 non-refundable application fee, payable at the time the application is submitted, plus the regular gross-receipts Occupation Tax, plus a $200.00 regulatory fee.annual license; an employee or independent-contractor work permit issued separately by the Police Permits Unit runs 12 months2026-10-02
Occupation Tax Certificate / Business LicenseCobb County Business License Division (Community Development Agency)The exact dollar amount is not published in any public schedule. The county's own FAQ states that the cost is determined by the type of business activity, the business's projected total gross receipts for the calendar year, and its start date, with the county calculating and billing the specific figure after application is made; no dollar tiers are published anywhere on the county's site. The FAQ separately states the late-payment consequence in full: if a business fails to pay the tax or operates without a certificate, delinquent taxes going back up to three years may be collected with interest of 1.5% per month plus a 10% penalty per year, both mandated by the Cobb County Code of Ordinances and non-waivable.annual, calendar year2026-10-02
County Alcoholic Beverage Licenseonly if it applies to youCobb County Business License Division (Community Development Agency)New application $600.00 (non-refundable); change-of-ownership application $300.00. Annual license fees, in addition to the Occupation Tax Certificate: Liquor $5,000.00 pouring / $5,000.00 package; Beer $600.00 pouring / $600.00 package; Wine $600.00 pouring / $600.00 package; Sunday Sales $1,000.00 pouring / $500.00 package; Corkage (pouring only) $100.00; Catering (pouring only) $2,000.00. Pool tables on the premises require a separate business-license application and a $110.00 regulatory fee. A 3% tax on the price of spirituous-liquor drinks sold by the drink is remitted monthly by the 20th.annual2026-10-02

Fees shown as a range or formula are set that way by the issuing agency — we do not average them into a single number.

About each permit

"Health Spa" (Massage/Spa) License

This license reaches only a business whose primary source of income is massage therapy or similar hands-on therapy, defined verbatim in the county's own application: 'Health Spa means: a business establishment that derives its primary source of income from massage therapy as defined in State law, or any other hands-on therapy including foot massage and the practice of reiki... This term shall not include professional healthcare establishments or fitness centers utilizing equipment only and having two or fewer massage tables or other equipment for massage.' An ordinary hair or nail salon, and a standard fitness studio with at most two massage tables, fall outside this license and need only the general Occupation Tax Certificate. The licensee must be a Georgia resident and a Georgia-licensed massage therapist, and a state-licensed massage therapist must be on site at all times during operating hours. Any employee or independent contractor who does not hold a Georgia massage therapist license must separately obtain a Health Spa work permit from the Cobb County Police Permits Unit (545 Fairground St., Unit 101, Marietta, 770-499-4408) under Code §78-299, a 12-month permit; this license does not itself authorize independent contractors operating within the spa.

Occupation Tax Certificate / Business License

Any business operating at a location in unincorporated Cobb County needs this certificate from the Business License Division, 1150 Powder Springs Street, Suite 400, Marietta. A business physically located inside Acworth, Austell, Kennesaw, Mableton, Marietta, Powder Springs, or Smyrna licenses with that city instead. Before applying, the county's own FAQ page states, word for word: 'All new businesses or those with a change of business address must contact the Cobb County Zoning Division at (770) 528-2035 for approval of the business activity at the specific business location and with questions pertaining to the limitations on activities in residential and all other zoning districts.' This zoning sign-off is how Cobb resolves industry-specific siting questions (childcare, auto-repair, salon, and similar uses) rather than through a separate industry license, and it carries no separately published fee of its own. The fee mechanism and the late-payment penalty above were both read directly from the FAQ page's own answer text, which is delivered as server-rendered data in the page's initial HTML rather than inside the visible rendered page.

County Alcoholic Beverage License

A restaurant, coffee shop, retail store, or food-truck catering operation selling or serving alcohol in unincorporated Cobb County needs this license from the Business License Division, in addition to the separate state license described below. The application itself instructs: 'you must also contact the Cobb County Zoning Division at 770-528-2035 to verify that the proposed location is zoned for the type of business activity that you are proposing to conduct.' A location within 300 feet of a residence or 600 feet of a school, park, library, or church triggers an extended 12-to-16-week police investigation and Board of Commissioners review instead of the usual 4-to-6-week process; applicants must also advertise in the Marietta Daily Journal for two consecutive Fridays and obtain a certificate from a Cobb-approved RASS responsible-alcohol-sales workshop. Every employee who sells or serves alcohol must separately hold a work permit from the Cobb County Police Permits Unit (545 Fairground St., Unit 101, Marietta, 770-499-4408) under Code §6-207; no fee for that individual work permit is published in this application. All licensees must also hold the separate state alcohol license from the Georgia Dept. of Revenue and pay the federal Special Occupational Tax to the TTB. Code §6-147, despite its number appearing near the fee-bearing sections, governs only the License Review Board's hearing and appeal procedure, not a fee.

Contact

Jurisdiction
Cobb County
Phone
770-528-8410

Contact details are taken from the agency’s own site or its published fee schedule. Where we have not verified a phone number we leave it blank rather than guess.

Sources

Every fee and term above was read from one of these government pages on the date shown.

  1. Cobb County Alcoholic Beverage License Application, New Application/Change of Ownership, 03/2025Cobb County Business License Division · primary source · retrieved 2026-10-02
  2. Cobb County Business License FAQs (includes the Occupation Tax Certificate fee mechanism, late-payment penalty, and Zoning Division sign-off requirement)Cobb County Community Development Agency · primary source · retrieved 2026-10-02
  3. Cobb County Community Development — Business License pageCobb County Community Development Agency · primary source · retrieved 2026-10-02
  4. Cobb County Health Spa Application, Revised 03/06/2025Cobb County Business License Division · primary source · retrieved 2026-10-02

Other offices serving Cobb County

The full permit list for this jurisdiction

Industry permit lists that include this agency

Georgia jurisdictions

Commercial Compliance Hub publishes information, not legal advice. Requirements change — confirm anything you rely on with the issuing agency before you file.