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Guilford County

Guilford County Tax Department

In short

Guilford County Tax Department issues 2 permits we publish for Guilford County, last verified 2026-09-30. 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
General County Business License (privilege license tax repealed)only if it applies to youGuilford County Tax DepartmentNo feenot applicable; the statute that authorised a North Carolina county privilege license tax was repealed effective July 1, 20152026-09-30
Guilford County Malt Beverage and Wine Retail License (Beverage License)Guilford County Tax Department$5–$25 a year per license, county-only, at the amounts G.S. 105-113.78 fixes: on-premises malt beverage $25.00, off-premises malt beverage $5.00, on-premises unfortified wine or on-premises fortified wine or both $25.00, off-premises unfortified wine or off-premises fortified wine or both $25.00. The county tax is flat, with no progressive loading for additional licensesannual; G.S. 105-113.70(b) states 'All licenses issued under this section are annual licenses for the period from May 1 to April 30', the Tax Department's Important Tax Dates list states 'Beer and/or wine licenses must be renewed each year by April 30', and G.S. 105-113.70(c) states 'A license may not be transferred from one person to another or from one location to another'2026-09-30

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

General County Business License (privilege license tax repealed)

No fee applies, because the enabling statute no longer exists. The whole current text of the statute at G.S. 153A-152 states '§ 153A-152: Repealed by Session Laws 2014-3, s. 12.3(b), effective July 1, 2015.', and the city equivalent at G.S. 160A-211 states '§ 160A-211. Repealed by Session Laws 2014-3, s. 12.3(a), effective July 1, 2015.' — so Guilford County levies no general business or occupational privilege license tax, and neither does Greensboro or High Point. That is a statutory basis rather than a gap in the record. The repeal did not sweep away every local license, and this is where a blanket statement that North Carolina counties license nothing goes wrong. Two categories survive in different statutes and are live in Guilford County. First, Part 3 of Article 2C of Chapter 105, headed 'Local Licenses', was untouched, so G.S. 105-113.78 still requires a retail ABC permit holder to buy a county malt beverage and wine retail license at the fixed amounts the statute states — recorded separately on this page as the county's one mandatory business license. Second, the City of Greensboro's own Business Privilege License page states that 'Due to state legislation effective July 2015, businesses physically located in Greensboro city limits will no longer need a license, with the exception of those operating taxicabs and beer and wine privilege license holders', and that 'Also effective July 2015, peddlers, itinerant merchants, mobile food vendors, commercial solicitors, and massage businesses must obtain a business permit' — city requirements, carried at the City of Greensboro layer rather than here. What a business in Guilford County pays the county instead of a general license are the specific programme fees on this page: Environmental Health permits, Inspections building and trade permits, Planning site plan and use approvals, and Emergency Services fire plan review and inspections.

Guilford County Malt Beverage and Wine Retail License (Beverage License)

This is the one mandatory Guilford County business license, and it is the county record most often reported wrongly. G.S. 105-113.78 states: 'A person holding any of the following retail ABC permits for an establishment located in a county shall obtain from the county a county license for that activity. The annual tax for each license is as stated.' The four amounts printed in that statute are on-premises malt beverage $25.00, off-premises malt beverage $5.00, on-premises unfortified wine or on-premises fortified wine or both $25.00, and off-premises unfortified wine or off-premises fortified wine or both $25.00. Because the statute says the tax 'is as stated', these are fixed amounts and not a ceiling the county may set below or above. Guilford County's own Application for Beverage License form carries the procedure but prints no fee figures, so the statute is the fee source for these amounts. The 'or both' wording matters: a business holding on-premises unfortified and on-premises fortified wine permits pays one $25 license rather than two, although the county's form offers six separate tick boxes. The license survived the 2014 repeal of the general privilege license taxes because it sits in a different Article: G.S. 153A-152 now states only '§ 153A-152: Repealed by Session Laws 2014-3, s. 12.3(b), effective July 1, 2015.' and G.S. 160A-211 the same for cities, while Part 3 of Article 2C of Chapter 105, headed 'Local Licenses', was untouched. The county cannot decline to require it: the only opt-out in the Article is G.S. 105-113.71(c), which reaches municipalities and names only the Town of Cary. The statute also sets the order of issue, and G.S. 105-113.70(a) states that 'no county license may be issued for an establishment located in a city in that county until the applicant has received from the city the applicable license for that activity', so a restaurant, cafe or shop selling beer or wine inside Greensboro or High Point needs the city license first and then the county's, while one outside any municipality needs only the county's. The City of Greensboro's own privilege license page publishes Sales of Wine On/Off Premises at $15 and Sales of Beer On/Off Premises at $15, matching the G.S. 105-113.77(a) city rates, so the city charges an on-premises wine license rather than having used the G.S. 105-113.71(b) discretion to decline one. City licenses also carry a progressive loading of 110% of the base for each additional license of the same type under G.S. 105-113.77(b); the county license carries no equivalent. Issuance is mandatory and documentation is capped: G.S. 105-113.70(a) requires only a copy of the most recently completed State ABC application without attachments, the ABC permit for visual inspection, and payment of the prescribed tax, and the county's form marks the STATE ABC PERMIT NUMBER as required information. Apply and pay by mail to the Guilford County Tax Department, 400 West Market Street, PO Box 3138, Greensboro, NC 27402, phone 336-641-3363; a second office is at 325 E. Russell Ave., High Point, 336-641-7911. G.S. 105-113.70(d) states 'A local government may not require a license for activities related to the manufacture or sale of alcoholic beverages other than the licenses stated in this Article', and G.S. 105-113.79 gives cities alone a wholesaler license capped at $37.50, with no county equivalent.

Contact

Jurisdiction
Guilford County
Phone
336-641-3363

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. Application for Beverage License — Guilford County Tax Department; 12 numbered fields, the STATE ABC PERMIT NUMBER marked '(REQUIRED INFORMATION)', field 10 for the city license status where the business is inside a city, and the remittance address at 400 West Market Street, PO Box 3138, Greensboro, NC 27402; the form carries no fee figuresGuilford County Tax Department · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-30
  2. City of Greensboro — business privilege license, narrowed to taxicabs and beer/wine sellers since July 2015City of Greensboro · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-04
  3. G.S. 105-113.70, Local licenses — the city licence must be obtained first inside a city, issuance is mandatory on proof of the ABC permit and payment, the licence year runs May 1 to April 30, and a licence may not be transferred between persons or locations; subsection (d) bars any other local alcohol licenceNorth Carolina General Assembly · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-30
  4. G.S. 105-113.71, Refusal and exceptions — subsection (b) lists the counties and cities that may decline on-premises unfortified wine licences, naming the city of Greensboro but not Guilford County; subsection (c) names only the Town of Cary as able to decline requiring a local licenceNorth Carolina General Assembly · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-30
  5. G.S. 105-113.77, City malt beverage and wine retail licenses — on-premises malt beverage $15.00, off-premises malt beverage $5.00, on-premises wine $15.00, off-premises wine $10.00, with each additional licence of the same type taxed at 110% of the base progressivelyNorth Carolina General Assembly · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-30
  6. G.S. 105-113.78, County malt beverage and wine retail licenses — 'The annual tax for each license is as stated': on-premises malt beverage $25.00, off-premises malt beverage $5.00, on-premises unfortified or fortified wine or both $25.00, off-premises unfortified or fortified wine or both $25.00 (1985, c. 114, s. 1; 2019-6, s. 4.5)North Carolina General Assembly · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-30
  7. G.S. 105-113.79, City wholesaler license — a city may require city malt beverage and wine wholesaler licenses at a tax of up to $37.50; Part 3 of Article 2C ends here with no county equivalentNorth Carolina General Assembly · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-30
  8. G.S. 153A-152 — entire current text: '§ 153A-152: Repealed by Session Laws 2014-3, s. 12.3(b), effective July 1, 2015.' (county privilege licence taxes)North Carolina General Assembly · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-30
  9. G.S. 160A-211 — entire current text: '§ 160A-211. Repealed by Session Laws 2014-3, s. 12.3(a), effective July 1, 2015.' (city privilege licence taxes)North Carolina General Assembly · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-30
  10. Guilford County Tax Department — office addresses and phone numbers, the link to the Application for Beverage License, and the Important Tax Dates list stating 'Beer and/or wine licenses must be renewed each year by April 30'Guilford County Tax Department · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-30

Other offices serving Guilford County

The full permit list for this jurisdiction

Industry permit lists that include this agency

North Carolina jurisdictions

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