What permits do you need to open a auto repair shop in Calhoun County Al?

Store License (Ala. Code §40-12-315, state portion only)

Under Ala. Code §40-12-311 no one may operate a store or mercantile establishment in Alabama without a license 'from the probate judge or license commissioner of the county in which the store is located', and in Calhoun County §45-8-200.05 names store and chain store licenses among those the Commissioner of Licenses (256-241-2900) collects and issues. The ALDOR Handbook of Privilege and Store Licenses (October 2022) prints the fee as $2 for one store ($1 plus a $1 fee), with higher amounts for each additional store in a chain, and §40-12-315 states that 'No license fee or license shall be due or payable for the use of any county', so it has no county portion. A general retailer needs it; ALDOR's Quick Reference Guide lists it as an add-on for restaurants, coffee shops, auto repair garages, veterinarians, gyms, exercise studios and barbershops that sell merchandise, and the Handbook states a restaurant selling any article of merchandise also owes it. A chain buys all its store licenses in one county. City licenses are separate.

Auto Garage / Repair Shop License (Ala. Code §40-12-54)

Under Ala. Code §40-12-54, garages or shops where automobiles or other motor vehicles are repaired, painted, trimmed or welded for the public pay $8.50 for the first man and $7.50 for each additional man, the combined state and county totals printed in the ALDOR Handbook of Privilege and Store Licenses (October 2022). The Handbook states the license is needed for each location, including service stations and people working from home, but not for mechanics working only from a truck at the customer's location, or for oil changes, wheel alignments or farm-machinery repair. ALDOR's Quick Reference Guide lists §54 for an auto repair shop or garage with §53 and §315 as add-ons. In Calhoun County it is bought from the Commissioner of Licenses (256-241-2900), which under Ala. Code §45-8-200.05 issues all licenses except marriage licenses. A garage inside a city also needs that city's license.

Garage and Repair Shop Privilege License

Alabama has no licensing board for auto repair — the revenue department's own list of every state board requiring a license contains no auto repair, auto body, mechanic or garage entry, and title 34 has no chapter for the trade. But a license is still required, and it is easy to miss because it is a tax license rather than an occupational one. Garages and shops where vehicles are repaired, painted, trimmed or welded for the public pay by headcount, counted at the maximum number of men employed at any point in the license year, with owners who work in the shop counted as men. It is needed for each location, including a service station or someone working from home, and the revenue department reads it to cover window tinting, fitting parts and tyres, motorcycle repair, alarm fitting and disabled vehicle lifts, but not oil changes, wheel alignment or farm machinery repair. A mechanic working exclusively from a truck at the customer's premises is outside it. Note also what is not needed: a dealer license, since every dealer class turns on selling or preparing for resale, so a shop that repairs customers' vehicles and returns them to their owners falls outside all of them.

Shared with other businesses in Calhoun County Al

• Store License — Alabama Department of Revenue, Business and License Tax Division, $2 for a single store including the issuance fee, then $16 each for stores two to five, $23.50 for six to ten, $38.50 for eleven to twenty and $113.50 each beyond that, annual — 1 October to 30 September. Also required for retail stores; what it involves is set out on the retail stores page.