10 published records

Business licenses and permits in Tacoma, Washington

The Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department, a joint city-county health department, is the sole food-permitting authority here, like Public Health – Seattle & King County is for Seattle. Tacoma's own annual business license and B&O tax are separate charges from the Washington state Business License Service, already covered at the state layer.

What are you opening in Tacoma?

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 Tacoma

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
City Business & Occupation (B&O) Taxonly if it applies to you	City of Tacoma Finance Department, Tax & License Division	No tax owed if companywide gross income is under $250,000/year (a separate $20,000 in-Tacoma-activity threshold applies to outside businesses). A partial credit applies from $250,001 to $300,000, sliding from 90% down to 25%. Rates by classification: Manufacturing 0.11%, Wholesale 0.102%, Retailing (including construction contractors) 0.153%, Service & Other 0.40%.	annual return due January 31; quarterly filers due April 30, July 31, October 31, January 31	2026-09-05
City Business License	City of Tacoma Finance Department, Tax & License Division	Tiered by companywide gross income: $37 under $12,000; $190 for $12,000–$250,000; $435 for $250,001–$1,000,000; $1,500 for $1,000,000–$5,000,000; $2,000 above $5,000,000.	annual	2026-09-05
Certificate of Occupancy	City of Tacoma Planning and Development Services	$450 for a new Certificate of Occupancy not associated with a current building permit. A Temporary Certificate of Occupancy is $450; extending one is $230; re-issuing an expired one is $450.	issued once per qualifying occupancy	2026-09-05
Commercial Building Permit	City of Tacoma Planning and Development Services	Valuation-based (Table 8-1): $55 for $1–$500; $170 + $32 per $1,000 over $2,000, to $25,000; $2,240 + $13 per $1,000 over $100,000, to $500,000; $7,420 + $11 per $1,000 over $500,000, to $1,000,000; $12,600 + $8.50 per $1,000 above $1,000,000. Plan review is 65% of the permit fee ($56 minimum). A tenant improvement inside a shell building is billed at 50% of the ICC Building Valuation per square foot. A commercial demolition permit is a flat $310.	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 Tacoma?

City Business & Occupation (B&O) Tax

A Jobs Tax Credit of up to $1,500/year per new full-time position is available for up to 5 years per hire.

City Business License

A separate, older undated PDF shows lower, likely-superseded figures ($25/$110/$250); the current dated tacoma.gov page is used here instead. Separate from the Washington state Business License Service fee already covered at the state layer.

Certificate of Occupancy

The fee schedule has no separate line item for a Certificate of Occupancy tied to a current building permit, suggesting — though this was not explicitly confirmed — that it may be bundled into the permit fee in that case.

Commercial Building Permit

Valuation for new construction comes from ICC's Building Valuation Data; for remodels/tenant improvements it is total actual construction cost, including finish, electrical, plumbing, HVAC, and fire-system work.

Sources

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

City of Tacoma — Tax & License Workshop: Business & Occupation TaxCity of Tacoma, Finance Department · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-05
City of Tacoma — Business License FeesCity of Tacoma, Finance Department · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-05
City of Tacoma Planning and Development Services — Fee Schedule, effective January 1, 2025City of Tacoma, Planning and Development Services · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-05

Who issues business permits in Tacoma?

Permitting in Tacoma 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.

Tacoma 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.