Business licenses and permits in Florida

What applies everywhere in Florida

13 requirements are set by Florida itself and apply whichever city you open in. Local permits sit on top of them.

Sources

Every statewide figure above was read from one of these government pages on the date shown.

1. Florida Statutes section 607.0122 — Division of Corporations fees for corporationsThe Florida Senate · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-03
2. Florida Statutes section 607.193 — annual supplemental corporate fee of $88.75 and the $400 late charge after 1 MayThe Florida Senate · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-03
3. Florida Statutes section 605.0213 — Division of Corporations fees for limited liability companiesThe Florida Senate · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-03
4. Florida Administrative Code rules 61G3-20.003, 61G3-20.0035 and 61G3-20.010 — barbershop application, original license and biennial renewal feesFlorida Department of State, Administrative Code · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-03
5. Florida Statutes section 212.18 — registration for sales and use tax; the former $5 registration fee no longer appearsThe Florida Senate · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-03
6. Florida Business Tax Application, Form DR-1 (R. 01/26)Florida Department of Revenue · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-03
7. Florida Statutes section 402.315 — child care licensing fee of $1 per child, minimum $25 and maximum $100 per facilityThe Florida Senate · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-03
8. Florida Statutes section 402.306 — counties may designate a local licensing agency, re-affirmed annually by the county commissionThe Florida Senate · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-03
9. Florida Administrative Code rule 61G4-12.009 — construction industry licensing fees (effective 30 October 2017)Florida Department of State, Administrative Code · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-03
10. Florida Administrative Code rules 61G5-24.005 and 61G5-24.009 — cosmetology salon license and biennial renewal feesFlorida Department of State, Administrative Code · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-03
11. Florida Statutes section 509.049 — food service employee training, valid three years, within 60 days of employmentThe Florida Senate · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-03
12. Florida Statutes chapter 205, Local Business Taxes — county and municipal authority to levy a business tax receiptThe Florida Senate · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-03
13. Florida Administrative Code rule 61C-1.008 — public lodging and public food service establishment license fees (effective 24 August 2023)Florida Department of State, Administrative Code · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-03
14. Florida Statutes section 509.251 — license fees; the aggregate fee per public food service establishment may not exceed $400The Florida Senate · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-03
15. Florida Administrative Code rule 61G18-12.014 — veterinary premises permit and mobile clinic permit fee (amended 9 November 2023)Florida Department of State, Administrative Code · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-03

Which Florida city are you opening in?

• Hillsborough County, FLHillsborough County is one of Florida's five self-licensing child care counties under Fla. Stat. §402.306 — Broward, Hillsborough, Palm Beach, Pinellas and Sarasota — so a child care facility here is licensed by Hillsborough County Department of Childcare Licensing, not the Florida Department of Children and Families. Hillsborough's own Tax Collector page states this directly: 'Child Care Facilities must be registered by Hillsborough County Dept of Childcare Licensing (813-264-3925).' A separate group of county regulators reaches every business physically in the county regardless of which of Hillsborough's three incorporated cities (Tampa, Plant City, Temple Terrace) it sits in, on top of that city's own receipts and permits: the Local Business Tax Receipt, the Environmental Protection Commission (EPC) of Hillsborough County's hazardous-waste/pretreatment/air/storage-tank programs, the Contractor Licensing Board (recognized inside all three cities via interlocal agreement, though each city layers its own registration on top), and Childcare Licensing. A third group reaches unincorporated Hillsborough County only, because each incorporated city runs its own separate department instead: Zoning Verification, the Certificate of Occupancy/building-permit pathway, the Sign Permit, the Alcoholic Beverage Development Permit (a zoning/land-use product, separate from the state ABT license), Hillsborough County Fire Rescue's Fire Marshal plan review and inspections, and the Mobile Food Vendor/Temporary Vendor zoning rules. Every requirement below states which of these three scopes it falls into.22 published records
• Palm Beach County, FLPalm Beach County contains 39 incorporated municipalities, and a business's county-level obligations depend on which of two patterns applies. Countywide programs, reaching every municipality plus the unincorporated area in addition to that city's own requirements, are: the Tax Collector's Local Business Tax Receipt; the Construction Industry Licensing Board's Certificate of Competency; Environmental Resources Management's Wellfield Protection and other environmental permits; Animal Care and Control's animal-establishment permit and rabies-tag program; the Consumer Affairs Division's towing/wrecker permit; and the county's self-administered Child Care Facility and Family Child Care Home licenses (Palm Beach is one of five Florida counties, with Broward, Hillsborough, Pinellas and Sarasota, that license child care locally under §402.306, Fla. Stat., rather than through the state). Unincorporated-Palm-Beach-County-only programs, because each municipality runs its own version instead, are: PZB's Certificate of Use/zoning approval, building permit, certificate of occupancy, sign permit, and the Chapter 3 alcohol-beverage zoning layer. PBC Fire Rescue (PBCFR) is narrower still — it directly inspects unincorporated PBC plus a named list of contract cities, dispatches only for a second list, and is entirely absent from Boca Raton, Boynton Beach, Briny Breezes, Golf, Hypoluxo, Ocean Ridge and the Town of Palm Beach, each of which runs its own independent fire department. PBC Water Utilities' backflow-prevention program reaches only the parcels it actually serves with water, not every address countywide. PBC Code Chapter 3's exact alcohol-sales distance requirements were unreachable on two independent research passes and are not published here with a specific figure; confirm the current standard with PZB Zoning before selecting a site for an alcohol-related use.22 published records
• Manatee County, FLManatee County, Florida (county seat Bradenton) prices building, trade, sign, pool, flood and inspection work for unincorporated Manatee County under Resolution R-23-043, and zoning products under Resolution 25-135. On the county business tax, the Manatee County Tax Collector's help center states: “Check with the appropriate City and County to see if a local business tax receipt (Occupational License) is required. Businesses located in Manatee County, but not within a city, are not required to pay a local business tax (Occupational License).” The county's Development Services FAQ states that Manatee County “only has jurisdiction over the unincorporated area of the county”. The county's Incorporated Municipalities page lists six: the City of Anna Maria, the City of Bradenton, the City of Bradenton Beach, the City of Holmes Beach, the City of Palmetto and the Town of Longboat Key; a business inside one of them contacts that city or town for its own requirements, which stack on the state and county ones. The county issues local certificates of competency for a short list of trades through its Construction Trades Board, and state-certified contractors register their state license with the county. Septic and public pool permits are issued by the Florida Department of Health in Manatee County. The Florida Department of Children and Families' About Child Care Licensure page lists Broward, Palm Beach, Pinellas and Sarasota as the four counties that regulate child-care licensing themselves; Manatee is not on that list, so DCF licenses child-care facilities in Manatee directly. The population figure of 458352 is the U.S. Census Bureau's 2024 estimate.20 published records
• Miami-Dade County, FLMiami-Dade County levies a countywide Local Business Tax Receipt (LBTR) that reaches every one of the County's 35 municipalities in addition to any city business tax receipt — a business inside Miami, Hialeah, Coral Gables or any other city still owes the County LBTR on top of its city receipt. Zoning approval (the Certificate of Use) works differently: Regulatory and Economic Resources (RER) issues it directly only in unincorporated Miami-Dade; inside a municipality the process runs city-then-county, with the County performing a separate confirmatory review of Building, DERM, WASD and Fire concerns after the city signs off. DERM's Chapter 24 environmental, hazardous-materials and grease-discharge jurisdiction is countywide, reaching businesses inside every municipality as well as the unincorporated area. The Construction Trades Qualifying Board (CTQB), which licenses contractors, is also explicitly countywide by its own code text. Miami-Dade Fire Rescue (MDFR) is not countywide: it covers unincorporated Miami-Dade plus 29 contract municipalities, but not Miami, Miami Beach, Coral Gables, Hialeah or Key Biscayne, each of which runs its own independent fire department. Miami-Dade does not license child care facilities (the State of Florida's Department of Children and Families does, statewide, since Miami-Dade is not one of the four counties that self-license under §402.306, Fla. Stat.), does not run its own food-safety inspection program for restaurants or mobile food vendors (Florida Statutes §509.032(7)(a) and §509.102 preempt that to the state DBPR, leaving the County only its ordinary building-code and fire-code inspection role), and has no county-level tattoo or body-piercing ordinance (state-regulated through the Florida Department of Health's Miami-Dade County field office). The County's own web pages differ on whether a business that boards or grooms animals needs an Animal Services 'Pet Care Center/Pet Groomer' license; confirm that point directly with Animal Services.17 published records
• Broward County, FLBroward County levies a countywide Local Business Tax Receipt (LBTR) that reaches every one of the county's 31 municipalities in addition to any city business tax receipt — a business inside Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood or any other city still owes the county LBTR on top of its city receipt, the same pattern as Miami-Dade. The Certificate of Use works differently and applies only in unincorporated Broward, where it certifies Florida Building Code, Broward Zoning Code and Fire Marshal compliance before a new tenant or change of occupancy opens; every incorporated city runs its own zoning-compliance process instead. Broward's Central Examining Board of Construction Trades licenses contractors countywide, separately from and in addition to state DBPR/CILB licensing. Broward is one of only five Florida counties — with Hillsborough, Palm Beach, Pinellas and Sarasota — that elected under §402.306, Fla. Stat. to self-license child care facilities and homes rather than defer to the state Department of Children and Families; this is a countywide obligation. The Resilient Environment Department's Environmental Permitting Division (EPD) issues HazMat, Storage Tank and Air Quality licenses countywide, reaching every municipality as well as the unincorporated area, and both the Motor Vehicle Repair Shop License and the separate Motor Vehicle Body Repair and Paint Shop License are also countywide, administered by the Consumer Protection Division on two different annual cycles. Industrial Pretreatment/FOG compliance, by contrast, reaches only wherever Broward County Water and Wastewater Services — not a separate municipal utility — is the actual sewer provider; several large Broward cities run their own utilities instead. Fire-rescue operational inspection is currently split between Broward Sheriff's Office (BSO) Fire Rescue, which covers unincorporated Broward plus a named group of contract cities, and each city's own independent department elsewhere, and that split is in the middle of a multi-year change: the County Commission voted on September 23, 2026 to end BSO's management of county fire-rescue by 2028, and Deerfield Beach separately is building its own standalone department after its BSO contract expired in September 2025, targeting Fall 2027. Broward runs no separate county food-safety permit for restaurants, coffee shops or food trucks: Florida law gives the state (DBPR for restaurants, and an outright preemption under §509.102 for mobile food dispensing vehicles) exclusive authority over that regulation, leaving Broward only its zoning, fire and noise authority over those businesses.16 published records
• Orange County, FLOrange County, Florida (the Orlando area) is a different county from Orange County, California, which is listed on this site separately. Orange County layers two opposite geographic scopes onto the same ten industries. The Local Business Tax Receipt, from the Orange County Tax Collector, is countywide: it applies inside Orlando, Winter Park, Apopka, Maitland, Winter Garden, Ocoee and every other incorporated city, in addition to each city's own business tax receipt. The Use Permit (the county's zoning/Certificate-of-Use equivalent) and Building Permits, from the County Zoning Division and Division of Building Safety, are unincorporated-county-only — every incorporated city runs its own separate zoning and building-permit process. Orange County Fire Rescue serves unincorporated Orange County plus, by service arrangement, the five smaller municipalities of Belle Isle, Eatonville, Edgewood, Oakland and Windermere; Orlando, Apopka, Winter Park, Maitland, Ocoee and Winter Garden each run independent fire departments. A third authority sits inside Orange County's own borders: the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District (CFTOD, formerly Reedy Creek Improvement District), covering the Walt Disney World footprint, retains independent building-code, permitting and fire authority comparable to a county government, so a business physically inside CFTOD (for example at Disney Springs) falls under CFTOD's own permitting rather than Orange County's. Contractor licensing at the county level is administered by the Division of Building Safety's own Contractor Licensing section. Childcare, veterinary practice and cosmetology/salon establishment licensing are state functions: Florida DCF's 'About Child Care Licensure' page names Broward, Palm Beach, Pinellas and Sarasota as the only counties that license child care themselves under Fla. Stat. §402.306, Fla. Stat. §474.215 places veterinary premises permits with the state Department of Business and Professional Regulation, and the Board of Cosmetology licenses salons under Fla. Admin. Code Ch. 61G5; in Orange County those businesses otherwise need only the ordinary county business tax receipt and, in unincorporated areas, county zoning approval.16 published records
• Pasco County, FLPasco County, Florida (county seat Dade City) runs two scopes. The Business Tax Receipt from the Pasco County Tax Collector reaches most businesses operating in the county, and the Tax Collector's page states that all cities in Pasco County also require a city Business Tax Receipt for businesses inside their boundaries. Building permits, trade permits, contractor certificates of competency and zoning products priced by the county reach unincorporated Pasco County only. The six incorporated municipalities are Dade City, New Port Richey, Port Richey, San Antonio, St. Leo and Zephyrhills, and each stacks its own license and permit regime on top of the county's. For building permits, New Port Richey, Port Richey and Zephyrhills each run their own department, and Dade City's Building Department states that it also issues building permits for San Antonio and St. Leo by local agreement. Septic and public pool permits are issued by the Florida Department of Health in Pasco County under statewide rules. The Florida Department of Children and Families' About Child Care Licensure page lists Broward, Palm Beach, Pinellas and Sarasota as the four counties that regulate child-care licensing themselves; Pasco is not on that list, so DCF licenses child-care facilities in Pasco directly. The population figure of 659114 is the U.S. Census Bureau's 2024 estimate.16 published records
• Volusia County, FLVolusia County, Florida, seat DeLand, governed under a home rule charter by the County Council. The county's municipalities page lists 16 cities: Daytona Beach, Daytona Beach Shores, DeBary, DeLand, Deltona, Edgewater, Holly Hill, Lake Helen, New Smyrna Beach, Oak Hill, Orange City, Ormond Beach, Pierson, Ponce Inlet, Port Orange and South Daytona. Each city runs its own business tax, zoning and building permit regime, which stacks on the county and state requirements. The county's Business Help page states that, effective January 1, 2024, the ordinance requiring a Volusia County business tax receipt is repealed (Ordinance 2023-43) and refers businesses to the city in which they are physically located for any city receipt. County building, trade and pool permits, itinerant merchant licenses, fire operational permits, alcohol sale hours and alarm registration listed here apply in unincorporated Volusia County. The county Contractor Licensing office lists state-licensed contractors for the unincorporated county and the cities named on its listing application. Tattoo, body piercing and tanning licenses come from the Florida Department of Health in Volusia County, a State agency office. The population figure of 602,772 is the U.S. Census Bureau's 2024 estimate.14 published records
• Osceola County, FLOsceola County, Florida, seat Kissimmee, lies directly south of Orlando; it is a different county from Osceola County, Iowa and Osceola County, Michigan. The Osceola County Tax Collector issues the county Local Business Tax Receipt, a flat $30.00 per business location under County Code Sec. 13-27, and its Local Business Tax Receipt page states: "In Osceola County, a business located within a city limit requires both a municipal license and a County Local Business Tax Receipt to operate." That page names the county's two cities, the City of Kissimmee (101 N. Church St., 407-518-2120) and the City of St. Cloud (1300 9th St., 407-957-8422); a business inside either city also needs that city's license and should check the city's own zoning and permit requirements, which stack on the county receipt and are not described here. County building permits, the Change of Use/Occupancy Permit and the county's fire code apply in the unincorporated area: F.S. 125.56(1) limits county building and fire code enforcement to buildings outside the corporate limits of any municipality, and County Code Sec. 10-1 adopts the fire codes for the unincorporated area of Osceola County. Building, community development, fire prevention and animal services fees come from the appendices of the county fee schedule that took effect on October 1 and October 2, 2026. Septic and public pool permits come from the Florida Department of Health in Osceola County, and child care is licensed by the Florida Department of Children and Families. The population figure of 468,058 is the U.S. Census Bureau's 2024 estimate.12 published records
• Tampa, FLA Tampa business owes both a City of Tampa Business Tax Receipt and a Hillsborough County Business Tax Receipt — confirmed on both agencies' own sites. Restaurants and grocery stores are not locally permitted at all; the state DBPR/DOH structure already recorded at the Florida state layer is the only food-permitting layer that applies. City-level contractor registration became free after the state fully preempted local licensing; Hillsborough County's separate Contractor Licensing program remains active and fee-charging.12 published records
• Brevard County, FLBrevard County, Florida, seat Viera. The county's About Brevard County page states that the county is home to 16 municipalities. The Brevard County Tax Collector collects the county Local Business Tax: its FAQ states that a Business Tax Receipt is required for business in the incorporated or unincorporated areas of the county, and its Business Tax Receipt page states that the tax is levied by Brevard County and municipalities and tells a business located within a municipality to contact that municipality, so each city's own business tax, zoning and building requirements stack on top of the county receipt. The County Planning and Zoning fees listed here apply to locations in unincorporated Brevard County. Onsite sewage permits come from the Florida Department of Health in Brevard County, and public pool operating permits follow the State fee rule; those are State fees. The population figure of 658,447 is the U.S. Census Bureau's 2024 estimate.11 published records
• Jacksonville, FLConsolidated city-county government — Duval County and the City of Jacksonville share one Code of Ordinances and one set of agencies. Restaurants and grocery stores are not locally permitted at all; DOH-Duval's local food-hygiene permit reaches only a narrow list of institutional facility types. The Local Business Tax Receipt's per-classification dollar figures are confirmed directly against ordinance sections 770.306, 770.307, 770.322 and 770.324, supplied by the requester once Municode was confirmed durably blocked to automated access.11 published records

These are the 12 Florida jurisdictions where we publish the most. All 26 jurisdictions we cover lists the other 14.

Is there a single Florida business license?

Who issues permits in Florida?

• Florida Department of State, Division of CorporationsArticles of organization and incorporation · Registered agent designation · Annual reports5 permits
• Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation, Board of Cosmetology and Barbers' BoardCosmetology and specialty salon licenses · Barbershop licenses2 permits
• Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation, Division of Hotels and RestaurantsPublic food service establishment licenses · Mobile food dispensing vehicles · Food service manager certification oversight2 permits
• Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation, Board of Veterinary MedicineVeterinary premises permits · Mobile clinic permits · Premises inspections1 permit
• Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation, Construction Industry Licensing BoardCertified and registered contractor licensing · Business organization qualification1 permit
• Florida Department of Children and Families, Child Care LicensureChild care facility licensing in 63 of 67 counties1 permit
• Florida Department of RevenueBusiness tax application (Form DR-1) · Sales and use tax registration1 permit

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