How to Get a Salt Lake City Business License, With Current Fees

First, find out who licenses your address

Salt Lake County does not hand out one license that covers the valley. Most cities run their own licensing office, so a coffee shop on 900 South in Salt Lake City gets a Salt Lake City license, and the same shop on State Street in Murray gets a Murray license. Check the city on your lease or property tax notice, not the city in your mailing address, because many Salt Lake County ZIP codes cross city lines.

These cities run their own business licensing offices with their own forms and fees: Salt Lake City, Sandy, West Jordan, West Valley City, Murray and South Salt Lake. If your shop is in one of them, go to that city's licensing page. This guide covers Salt Lake City itself.

If your address is in Kearns, Magna, Copperton, White City, Emigration Canyon, the Town of Brighton, or an unincorporated part of the county, your license comes from the Greater Salt Lake Municipal Services District, covered further down.

Who needs a Salt Lake City business license

The city's rule is short: if you do business inside Salt Lake City limits, permanently or temporarily, you need a valid, unexpired business license. The city's business page adds that this applies to businesses located in the city and to businesses based elsewhere that come into the city to work. A landscaper from Taylorsville who mows lawns in the Avenues falls under it.

Landlords need one too. Each residential rental property needs its own license for each location.

Some businesses carry extra rules on top of the standard license. The city lists these as exceptions: food trucks and other mobile food businesses, places that serve beer or liquor, single events and single event beer permits, tobacco shops, vending carts and sexually oriented businesses. Some license types also require a criminal background report from the Utah Bureau of Criminal Identification, at 4315 South 2700 West in Taylorsville.

Do you need a license for a home business in Salt Lake City?

Usually not. The city's application page says that under state law, Salt Lake City does not require a business license for a business run from your home unless it affects the neighborhood. A bookkeeper working at the kitchen table needs no license. A stylist with clients parking on the street all afternoon should ask the city.

You can still get one, which helps if a bank, supplier or landlord asks to see a city license. To get it, apply online and upload the city's Home Occupation form with both pages signed. The fee schedule lists the home occupation license as "upon request only" at $157.

Salt Lake City business license fees

Every license pays a base fee and, if you have more than one employee, an employee fee. Many business types then add a category fee on top. These numbers come from the city's Consolidated Fee Schedule, amended June 16, 2026 by Ordinance 2026-29, which raised most fees in September 2026. The city lists the business licensing fee line as (801) 535-6644.

What a first-year license costs, worked out

Take a small cafe in Sugar House with six employees. The base fee is $198, the food and restaurant fee is $128, and six employees at $29 each adds $174. That comes to $500 a year in city license fees, before any health department permit.

A solo consultant renting an office downtown pays the $198 base fee plus the $34 consulting fee, or $232. With no second employee there is no employee fee.

These are city fees only. A business with a liquor license, a food truck, or a pawnshop pays more, and the full schedule lists every category. All licenses renew every year.

How to get a business license in Salt Lake City, step by step

The city takes applications online only. Here is the order that keeps the application from stalling.

• Register the business with the state. File your LLC, corporation or assumed name (DBA) with the Utah Division of Corporations. The city asks for this registration as part of the application.
• Get a sales tax account if you sell taxable goods or services. Apply on the Utah State Tax Commission's Taxpayer Access Point, choosing the TC-69 tax account application.
• Get a federal tax ID if you need one. The city lists a federal employer number as required if it applies to your business, which it does once you hire.
• Check zoning before you sign a lease. Commercial licenses are reviewed for zoning, building code and fire code. A space zoned for offices may not pass for a restaurant.
• Apply on the Business Licensing portal. Choose the new commercial license or the new home business license. If you want help, book a kiosk appointment at the City and County Building, 451 South State Street, Room 225.
• Pass the inspections. Every commercial application has to pass city inspections before the license is issued. You get a Fire Pre-Inspection Worksheet when you apply, and the Fire Department says it will contact you within ten working days.
• Clear any state or health approvals. If the state regulates your trade, or you prepare food, you also need sign-off from that state agency and the Salt Lake Valley Health Department.
• Pay and renew each year. Fees are paid through the same portal, and renewals are paid there too.

The fire inspection

When you submit the application, the city gives you a Fire Pre-Inspection Worksheet. Fill it out and have it ready when the inspector walks the space. The Fire Department says it will call within ten working days; if it has not, call it at (801) 799-4150.

You can watch the status on the city's Citizen Access Portal. Choose Check/Renew Licenses and enter your full application number. Build that wait into your opening date.

State filings: Division of Corporations and the Tax Commission

The city license sits on top of two state registrations. The Utah Division of Corporations fee schedule it links as current lists an LLC certificate of organization at $59, articles of incorporation at $59, and an assumed name (DBA) registration at $22. LLCs, corporations and DBAs each renew every year for $18, and a late renewal adds $10. Most online filings process right away; the division says to allow 5 to 7 business days when a filing needs manual review. Its fees are nonrefundable.

If you sell taxable goods, open a sales and use tax account with the Utah State Tax Commission through its Taxpayer Access Point. The Tax Commission emails the license information. Your filing schedule depends on how much sales tax you expect to owe in a year: $50,000 or less files quarterly, due April 30, July 31, October 31 and January 31; $50,001 to $96,000 files monthly; $96,001 or more files monthly and must pay by electronic funds transfer. A second store needs Form TC-69B to add the location.

Salt Lake County business license for Kearns, Magna and unincorporated areas

The Greater Salt Lake Municipal Services District handles business licensing for Brighton, Copperton, Emigration Canyon, Kearns, Magna, White City and all of unincorporated Salt Lake County. If you searched for a Salt Lake County business license, this is almost always the office you need.

The district takes applications through its Planning and Development Services online portal. Its licensing FAQ says to register your business name with the Utah Department of Commerce first and to have proof of that registration, your sales tax number, your federal EIN, and a Property Owners/Registered Agent Form ready. If your business needs an inspection, call (385) 910-5830 before 3 p.m. to book the next business day, then call between 7:30 and 8:00 a.m. that morning to confirm. Miss the confirmation and your license stays on hold.

The district limits home businesses to work done inside the house or an attached garage, and bars some uses from homes entirely, including auto repair, towing, short-term rentals and animal-related businesses. We could not load the district's current fee schedule today, so ask for the fee when you apply.

After the license: getting found

The license gets your name onto the city's public list of new businesses. It does not bring in customers. Fill out a free Google Business Profile with the same name and address you put on the license, and list yourself in our Local Directory. Our guide to where to advertise in Salt Lake City lists published prices for KSL, billboards, mailers and newsletters.

We publish The Salt Lake Valley, a free newsletter for Salt Lake County, and we sell ads in it, so weigh this with that in mind: a new shop announcing its opening to county readers is one of the things our ad plans are built for. If you are hiring for the opening, you can also post a local job.