8 published records

Business licenses and permits in Seattle, Washington

Public Health – Seattle & King County, a joint city-county health department, is the sole food-permitting authority here. Seattle's own Business License Tax Certificate is a separate charge from the state Business License, and its B&O tax-owing threshold rises from $100,000 to $2,000,000 effective January 1, 2026.

What are you opening in Seattle?

RestaurantsFull-service restaurants carry the densest permit load of any small business: food, fire, occupancy, waste, and usually alcohol.See the full permit list
Coffee shopsCafés are permitted as food service establishments even where no cooking happens, and the plan review step catches most operators by surprise.See the full permit list
Retail storesRetail is the lightest common permit load, but the sales tax permit and the certificate of occupancy are non-negotiable in every jurisdiction.See the full permit list
Salons and barbersPersonal care is licensed at state board level as well as locally, so the shop license and the practitioner licenses are separate obligations.See the full permit list
Food trucksMobile food is the one category with no certificate of occupancy — but it gains a commissary agreement, and the unit itself is inspected rather than the premises.See the full permit list
Fitness studiosPrepaid memberships trigger state registration and often a surety bond, which catches operators who budgeted only for the fit-out.See the full permit list
Childcare centresThe heaviest permit load of any small business: state agency licensing, per-person background checks, and a stricter fire standard than ordinary commercial use.See the full permit list
Contractors and tradesLicensed at state board level rather than locally, and the only common category with no premises permits at all — the bond is usually the long pole.See the full permit list
Auto repair shopsOrdinary commercial permitting plus an environmental layer: waste oil, solvents and stormwater are each registered separately.See the full permit list
Veterinary clinicsA state facility permit, controlled substances registration at both state and federal level, and a medical waste manifest — none of which a general business license covers.See the full permit list

Permits that apply to every type of business in Seattle

Permits required, with issuing agency, fee, renewal term and the date each record was last verified against its source
Permit	Issuing agency	Fee	Renews	Last checked
Business License Tax Certificate	Seattle Finance and Administrative Services	$73 a year for gross Seattle income under $20,000; $147 for $20,000–$499,999.99; $667 for $500,000–$1,999,999.99; $1,604 for $2,000,000–$5,000,000; $3,210 above that. New applicants starting July 1 or later pay half the applicable tier.	annual — every certificate expires December 31	2026-09-05
Certificate of Occupancy	Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections	No fee	not applicable — required only when use or dwelling-unit count changes	2026-09-05
Commercial Building Permit	Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections	Valuation-based via the city's Development Fee Index (Table D-1), e.g. $325 flat up to $1,000, then $325 plus $1.60 per $100 up to $25,000, rising in bands to $554,359 plus $2 per $1,000 above $200,000,000. A standard permit pays 100% of the Index for both the permit fee and plan review; a tenant alteration filed within 18 months of the building's first Certificate of Occupancy pays only 50% of the Index for both. Minimum fee $292. A $25 Washington State Building Code Council surcharge applies to every commercial building permit.	one-time, per project	2026-09-05

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

What do these permits involve in Seattle?

Business License Tax Certificate

Confirmed directly against the city's own current page. A business is exempt entirely if its Seattle gross income is $4,000 or less and it keeps no place of business in the city. This is separate from the Washington state Business License Service fee ($50 to open, $5 to renew) already covered at the state layer. Effective January 1, 2026 the separate B&O tax-owing threshold — a different question from whether this certificate itself is required — rises from $100,000 to $2,000,000 with a new $2,000,000 standard deduction.

Certificate of Occupancy

No separate fee when tied to an active building permit — the city's own fee subtitle states directly that the permanent Certificate of Occupancy fee "is not assessed in addition to the building permit fee." Without a construction valuation, the minimum building permit fee of $292 applies instead. A temporary Certificate of Occupancy is half that base fee ($146), and a duplicate/reissued certificate is $48.85. A single-family home or duplex never needs one.

Commercial Building Permit

A 5% technology fee surcharge applies on top of all Chapter 22.900B–H fees. This is a rate schedule tied to construction valuation by design, not a flat number — the specific total for any project depends on its own estimated cost.

Sources

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

City of Seattle — Business License Tax Certificate fee tiers and threshold, 2026Seattle Finance and Administrative Services · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-05
Seattle Municipal Code chapter 22.900, 2026 Fee Subtitle — Certificate of Occupancy, building and sign permit feesSeattle Department of Construction and Inspections · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-05

Who issues business permits in Seattle?

Permitting in Seattle is split across 4 agencies we hold records for, with tax registration handled at state level. No single office issues everything, which is why an opening usually means filing in several places rather than one.

Seattle issuing agencies

Other Washington jurisdictions we cover

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