Does an LLC need a business license in Tennessee?

The filing creates the company; the license lets it trade

No. An LLC filing with the Tennessee Secretary of State creates the company, and the business license that lets it operate comes from the county clerk, plus the city clerk inside municipal limits.

The two errands are separate in both directions. The Secretary of State's office registers entities and does not issue the county license. The county clerk's office issues licenses and does not form entities. Memphis's own business page keeps them in separate headings for the same reason.

The state board that licenses shops makes the separation explicit. The Cosmetology Board's shop application lists its required attachments, and one of them is a business license obtained through your local county or city tax agent. A shop that exists only as an LLC still attaches the county license to the state application.

The Board lists a business license obtained through the local county or city tax agent among the required attachments for a cosmetology shop application. — Tennessee Cosmetology and Barber Examiners Board, retrieved 2026-09-29

Where the entity layer starts and what it costs

The entity layer is the Secretary of State's Business Services division. An LLC files Articles of Organization on form SS-4270, online through the TNCaB portal or by mail.

The fee is not flat. The form's own fee line states it: $50.00 per member, with a minimum fee of $300 and a maximum of $3,000. A single-member LLC pays the $300 minimum; a two-member LLC pays the same; the maximum binds at larger member counts. That makes Tennessee's LLC filing one of the heavier state fees a small business faces.

The annual report follows the entity, not the license. The Secretary of State's FAQ states the LLC annual report fee is $300 minimum, rising to a $3,000 maximum, $50 per member for every member over six members, while corporations file at $20.

$50 per memberThe Articles of Organization form SS-4270 states a filing fee of $50 per member, with a minimum fee of $300 and a maximum fee of $3,000. — Tennessee Secretary of State, form SS-4270, retrieved 2026-09-29

$300 to $3,000The Secretary of State's FAQ states the LLC annual report fee is $300 minimum up to $3,000, rising $50 per member over six members, while corporations file at $20. — Tennessee Secretary of State, retrieved 2026-09-29

Where the license layer starts and what it costs

The license layer starts with the business tax registration, not with the clerk's counter. You register through TNTAP, and the Department of Revenue allows up to 10 business days to complete a registration.

The clerk then issues the license on payment of the $15 registration fee. In Memphis the stack is published to the dollar: a combined City of Memphis license at $15 and a Shelby County Business License at $15, expiring on the application anniversary each year.

A sole proprietorship runs this same layer without any entity filing. The local license and the tax registration are the business's records. That is the trade-off in plain terms: the LLC adds the $300 filing and the $300-plus annual report, and it subtracts nothing from the license errand.

$15 + $15The City of Memphis states businesses within municipal boundaries need a combined City of Memphis license and a Shelby County Business License, at a $15 fee each. — City of Memphis, retrieved 2026-09-29

$15The Department of Revenue states the $15 business license registration fee is paid to the county and/or municipal clerk, and TNTAP registration takes up to 10 business days. — Tennessee Department of Revenue, retrieved 2026-09-29

What the LLC changes about the paperwork around it

The LLC does change some forms, just never the license itself. The Cosmetology Board's shop application shows the pattern: if the business is an LLC or incorporated through the Secretary of State, the owner only marks the box on the eligibility verification form, and proof of identity is not required.

The Memphis Certificate of Occupancy and the business tax account follow the business regardless of form. The annual business tax return is filed by whoever owns the receipts, and the $22 minimum applies either way.

This is the point where the entity behind the business first costs money and where many owners want help with the filing. A filing service prepares the Articles of Organization, either directly on the Secretary of State's portal or through a service such as Tailor Brands; the county license remains your own errand whichever way the company is formed.

The Board states that for an LLC or Secretary of State-incorporated business, only the box on the eligibility form must be marked and proof of identity is not required. — Tennessee Cosmetology and Barber Examiners Board, retrieved 2026-09-29

$22Tennessee's business tax return instructions state that every Class 1-4 and 5B taxpayer must pay at least a minimum tax of $22 per location. — Tennessee Department of Revenue, form BUS 428, retrieved 2026-09-29

Reading the two layers together

The full order, with every fee and deadline in one place, is how to get a Tennessee business license. It walks the stack in the order the offices expect it.

If the entity decision itself is the open question, the pages for each trade show how little of the stack changes with it. The services comparison lists what formation services publish about their own prices, next to the file-it-yourself route at the Secretary of State.

The one caution worth keeping is the calendar. The LLC's annual report and the local license's anniversary run on different clocks, and neither office chases you. Write both down the week the company is formed.

$20The Secretary of State's FAQ states that a change in registered agent or principal address requires filing Articles of Amendment with a $20 statutory filing fee. — Tennessee Secretary of State, retrieved 2026-09-29

Questions