Georgia business license: what you need and where to get it

Is there a Georgia state business license?

No. Georgia does not issue one general business license that covers the whole state. The Georgia Secretary of State's First Stop Business Guide says business licenses may be obtained from the county and/or city in which the primary place of business would be located. Its First Stop Business Information Center adds that almost every business also needs a city or county business license.

The state still runs several registrations that a maker may need. The Georgia Department of Revenue (DOR) issues the sales tax number. The Secretary of State forms LLCs and corporations and supports 42 licensing boards for regulated trades and professions. The Georgia Department of Agriculture (GDA) oversees food made in a home kitchen. The table shows which office handles what.

Cities and counties set their own license fees and can add rules such as zoning conditions for home businesses. This page is general information, not legal or tax advice.

How to find your city or county business license in Georgia

Which government licenses you depends on your address. If your home or workshop is inside an incorporated city, start with the city. If it is in an unincorporated part of a county, start with the county. To find the right office, the Secretary of State suggests you contact your local chamber of commerce office or the county or municipal government.

The local license often goes by a different name. Cobb County, for example, calls it an occupation tax certificate, commonly known as a business license. The certificate shows that you paid the occupation tax set by local ordinance, so each city or county sets its own amount and terms.

Working from home is not an exemption in Cobb County: the certificate covers any activity, full or part-time, performed from a permanent, transient, residential or commercial location. Cobb's separate certificate of occupancy, which covers buildings, is a different matter; the county says it does NOT apply to residential businesses/customary home occupations. Other counties and cities write their own rules, so read your local ordinance or ask the license office before you start selling.

How to get a business license in Georgia, step by step

These steps apply to a small maker working from home. The order matters, because the local office may ask for your state registrations.

1. Confirm whether you are inside city limits

   Look up your address on the county's property map or call the county. Inside a city, apply to the city. Outside city limits, apply to the county.

2. Check zoning for a home business

   Ask the planning or zoning office whether your address allows a home business and on what conditions. Even the cottage food law does not affect general local requirements like business licensing or zoning.

3. Register with the state first if you need to

   File an LLC with the Secretary of State if you want one, and get a sales tax number from DOR if you sell taxable goods. Cobb County, for example, lists this among the documents to bring: A copy of the Georgia Secretary of State Certificate for Corporation or LLC, if applicable.

4. Apply to the city or county and pay the local fee

   Submit the local application with ID and any state license or registration. Ask the office for the fee and the renewal date, since both are set locally.

5. Display your certificates

   Keep the local certificate where your business operates. DOR requires a dealer's sales tax certificate of registration to be conspicuously displayed at all times at the place for which the certificate is issued.

Georgia sales tax number: the permit most sellers need

What people call a Georgia sales tax permit, sales tax license or seller's permit is the sales and use tax number and certificate of registration from the Georgia Department of Revenue. Georgia sales tax generally applies to all tangible goods sold, so a maker who sells candles, soap, jewelry, prints or clothing usually needs one.

DOR's rule is broad: anyone who meets the legal definition of a dealer must register for a sales and use tax number regardless of whether all sales will be online, out of state, wholesale, or exempt from tax. You register online through the Georgia Tax Center (GTC), DOR's self-service portal. DOR says you should receive your account number within 15 minutes by email.

Local sales taxes are added to the state rate, and in most cases the local rate is the one for the county where the buyer takes delivery. A seller who ships across Georgia therefore charges different total rates depending on where each buyer lives. The table sums up the rules DOR publishes.

Georgia sales tax when you sell online or on marketplaces

Marketplaces can take part of the work off your hands. DOR treats a marketplace facilitator as a dealer that must collect and remit Georgia state and local sales taxes on the sales it facilitates once the total of its taxable Georgia sales equals or exceeds $100,000.00 in the previous or current calendar year. Check your marketplace's tax settings to see which of your orders it already taxes.

Sales on your own website stay your responsibility. A Georgia seller with a sales tax number collects tax on taxable sales delivered in Georgia, at the rate for the delivery address. A seller based in another state must collect Georgia tax once it has gross revenue exceeding $100,000 in the previous or current calendar year from sales delivered into Georgia, or has made 200 or more separate retail sales there.

Selling online does not replace the local license. If you run the shop from your Georgia home, the city or county rules in the section above still apply to you.

Cottage food and other product permits in Georgia

The Georgia Department of Agriculture runs the cottage food program. Under House Bill 398, which took effect on July 1, 2025, cottage food operators no longer need to obtain a license with the Georgia Department of Agriculture or pay a state license fee.

You may make non-potentially hazardous food items at home and sell them to consumers directly or to retail food sales establishments like grocery stores, convenience stores, or restaurants. Training is still required: GDA says operators must complete an American National Standards Institute (ANSI) accredited food safety training program. If you do not want your home address on labels, you can ask GDA for an “Identification Number” to use instead.

Local rules still matter. The law does not affect general local requirements like business licensing or zoning, and a city or county may pass an ordinance prohibiting cottage food operators from selling cottage food items through third-party vendors, such as grocery stores or restaurants.

Other products follow other rules. Pet food and dog treats need a feed license from Agricultural Inputs, separate from cottage food. For any food outside the cottage food rules, ask GDA which permit applies before you start selling.

Georgia state business registration: LLCs and trade names

Many makers start as sole proprietors. The First Stop Business Guide says that, generally, sole proprietorships are not required to register with the state. If you sell under a shop name that is not your own legal name, that trade name is registered with the Clerk of Superior Court of the county where the business is principally located.

An LLC is optional. Forming one online costs a $110 fee ($100 filing fee + $10 service charge), and every LLC files an annual registration between January 1 and April 1 of each calendar year for $60.00 ($50 filing fee + $10 service charge). An LLC does not replace the local business license or the sales tax number; you still need both.

Where Nation fits

Questions about Georgia business licenses