Guilford County
North Carolina Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission
In short
North Carolina Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission 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
| Permit | Issuing agency | Fee | Renews | Last checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| State Retail ABC Permit (NC ABC Commission)only if it applies to you | North Carolina Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission | $50–$1,000 per application, paid to the NC ABC Commission rather than to Guilford County, at the amounts G.S. 18B-902(d) sets: on-premises malt beverage $400.00, off-premises malt beverage $400.00, on-premises unfortified wine $400.00, off-premises unfortified wine $400.00, on-premises fortified wine $400.00, off-premises fortified wine $400.00, brown-bagging $400.00 (or $200.00 where the application is for a restaurant seating fewer than 50), special occasion $400.00, limited special occasion $50.00, mixed beverages $1,000, culinary $200.00 | the permit continues while the annual registration under G.S. 18B-903(b1) is paid by May 1 each year; failure to pay that fee results in revocation of the permit | 2026-09-30 |
| State ABC Annual Registration and Inspection Fee (NC ABC Commission) | North Carolina Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission | $400 a year for each permit held, paid to the NC ABC Commission rather than to Guilford County; non-refundable | annual; G.S. 18B-903(b1) requires registration by May 1 of each year and states that 'Failure to pay the annual registration and inspection fee shall result in revocation of the permit' | 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
State Retail ABC Permit (NC ABC Commission)
Every retail alcohol permit in North Carolina is issued by the NC ABC Commission, not by Guilford County, and the Commission's fees dwarf the county's. G.S. 18B-902(d) provides that an application 'shall be accompanied by payment of the following application fee' and sets $400.00 for each of the six malt beverage and wine permits, $400.00 for brown-bagging or $200.00 where the application is for a restaurant seating fewer than 50, $400.00 for a special occasion permit, $50.00 for a limited special occasion permit, $1,000 for a mixed beverages permit and $200.00 for a culinary permit. A business selling beer or wine in Guilford County therefore faces three separate obligations, and this is only the first: the State permit here, the county malt beverage and wine retail license under G.S. 105-113.78 at $25 or $5 per license, and — inside Greensboro or High Point — the city license, which G.S. 105-113.70(a) requires before the county will issue its own. Spirits add only the State permit and the local sign-off. The local role is a statutory sign-off rather than a license: G.S. 18B-901(c) requires the local governing body to return a Zoning and Compliance Form showing compliance with all applicable building and fire codes, and directs the Commission to weigh 'The recommendations of the local governing body'. G.S. 18B-901(b) identifies that body — notice goes to the city where the establishment is located, and 'If the establishment is not inside a city, the Commission shall give notice to the governing body of the county', with 15 days from mailing for a written objection. Guilford County charges $75 from Inspections and $75 from Emergency Services for that work. A point often reported wrongly: the NC ABC Commission's list of local ABC boards contains no Guilford County ABC Board — the boards seated in the county are the Greensboro, High Point and Gibsonville ABC Boards, and a local board operates liquor stores rather than issuing retail permits.
State ABC Annual Registration and Inspection Fee (NC ABC Commission)
This is the recurring State charge that a Guilford County alcohol retailer pays every year, and it is larger than anything the county charges. G.S. 18B-903(b1) provides that each holder of a malt beverage, fortified wine or unfortified wine permit issued under G.S. 18B-902(d)(1) through (6) 'shall register by May 1 of each year on a form provided by the Commission', that the registration 'shall be accompanied by an annual registration and inspection fee of four hundred dollars ($400.00) for each permit held', that the fee 'shall be paid by May 1 of each year', that it is not refundable, and that 'Failure to pay the annual registration and inspection fee shall result in revocation of the permit.' The per-permit basis is the part that catches operators out: a restaurant holding on-premises malt beverage and on-premises unfortified wine permits pays $400 for each, so the annual State cost scales with the number of permits held rather than being a single establishment charge. The May 1 deadline coincides with the start of the county license year, since G.S. 105-113.70(b) runs local beer and wine licenses from May 1 to April 30 and the Guilford County Tax Department states that beer and wine licenses must be renewed each year by April 30 — so the county renewal falls due immediately before the State registration, and both should be diarised together. G.S. 18B-903(b2) adds a further annual obligation without a fee: holders of on-premises malt beverage, on-premises unfortified wine, on-premises fortified wine or mixed beverages permits must file a recycling plan. The county's own beer and wine license at $25 or $5 per license is recorded separately on this page and is a tax fixed by G.S. 105-113.78 rather than a State charge.
Contact
- Jurisdiction
- Guilford County
- Phone
- Not verified — use the website
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.
- 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
- G.S. 18B-901, Issuance of permits — the local governing body shall return a Zoning and Compliance Form showing compliance with building and fire codes, the Commission weighs the recommendations of the local governing body, and notice goes to the city or, where the establishment is not inside a city, to the countyNorth Carolina General Assembly · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-30
- G.S. 18B-902(d), ABC permit application fees — $400.00 for each of the six malt beverage and wine permits, brown-bagging $400.00 or $200.00 for a restaurant seating fewer than 50, special occasion $400.00, limited special occasion $50.00, mixed beverages $1,000, culinary $200.00North Carolina General Assembly · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-30
- G.S. 18B-903(b1) — holders of malt beverage, fortified wine or unfortified wine permits shall register by May 1 each year with an annual registration and inspection fee of $400.00 for each permit held, non-refundable, and failure to pay results in revocation; (b2) requires a recycling plan of on-premises and mixed beverage permitteesNorth Carolina General Assembly · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-30
- NC ABC Commission list of local ABC boards — the boards seated in Guilford County are the Greensboro ABC Board (333 North Greene St, Suite 300, Greensboro, 336-895-4570), High Point ABC Board (201 W. Fairfield Rd, High Point, 336-434-2146) and Gibsonville ABC Board (112 Piedmont Ave, Gibsonville, 336-449-0159); the listing contains no Guilford County ABC BoardNorth Carolina Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-30
Other offices serving Guilford County
- Guilford County Division of Public Health — Environmental Health
- Guilford County Inspections Department
- Guilford County Planning & Development
- Guilford County Emergency Services, Fire Marshal's Office
- North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Public Health — Environmental Health Section
- Guilford County Tax Department
- North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality, Division of Air Quality
The full permit list for this jurisdiction
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