How to get a Tennessee business license

What a Tennessee business license actually is

A Tennessee business license is a local document from your county and city, not a state permit. The state registers the entity and the tax account; the county clerk hands you the license.

The Department of Revenue puts the split in one sentence: a separate $15 business license registration fee must be paid to the county and/or municipal clerk for each new business. Once you register for business tax, you contact the county or city clerk to pay that fee and obtain the license.

That is why the order below matters. The state registration comes first, the local license second, and the state lets you count every step in between. If you are deciding whether to form an LLC at all, read does an LLC need a business license alongside this guide.

$15The Tennessee Department of Revenue states that a separate $15 business license registration fee must be paid to the county and/or municipal clerk for each new business. — Tennessee Department of Revenue, retrieved 2026-09-29

Register the entity with the Secretary of State first

If you form an LLC, the entity filing comes before any license. The Secretary of State's office is where the company itself is created.

An LLC files Articles of Organization on form SS-4270. The form's own fee line states the filing fee plainly: $50.00 per member, with a minimum of $300 and a maximum of $3,000. A single-member LLC pays the $300 minimum. The form is filed online through the Secretary of State's TNCaB portal or by mail.

The Secretary of State's business filings are entity filings: the forms page covers corporations, LLCs, and partnerships, with no form for a one-person business trading under its owner's name. For a sole proprietorship, the county business license is the document that records the business. That difference is the reason the license layer and the entity layer are worth keeping straight, and the walkthrough in one Memphis business, three licenses shows the whole sequence in one example.

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

$300 minimumThe Secretary of State's FAQ states the LLC annual report fee is $300 minimum up to $3,000, and the corporation annual report fee is $20. — Tennessee Secretary of State, retrieved 2026-09-29

Register the business tax account through TNTAP

The state registration that leads directly to the license is the business tax account. You register it online through the Tennessee Taxpayer Access Point, TNTAP.

The Department of Revenue allows up to 10 business days to complete a registration, so start it early. The business tax itself is annual, based on gross receipts, and your return is due on the 15th day of the fourth month after your fiscal year ends. A calendar-year business files on April 15.

Every business taxpayer owes at least a minimum tax of $22. The rates above that floor vary by classification and by whether you sell as a retailer or a wholesaler, which is a separate conversation from the license itself.

10 business daysThe Department of Revenue states it takes up to 10 business days to register a business, and the return is due the 15th day of the fourth month after the fiscal year ends. — Tennessee Department of Revenue, retrieved 2026-09-29

$22 minimumTennessee business tax rates vary by classification and retailer or wholesaler status, but every taxpayer must pay at least a minimum tax of $22. — Tennessee Department of Revenue, retrieved 2026-09-29

Obtain the license from your county clerk

Once the tax registration is underway, the county clerk is the office that issues the license. The fee is the $15 registration fee, and in Shelby County the clerk's business tax division states the timing plainly: register within 20 days after commencing business.

The size of your business decides which license you get. If an in-state location grosses more than $3,000 but less than $100,000, you obtain a minimal activity license. At $100,000 or more, you need a standard business license. The Department of Revenue adds a warning worth printing: you are not allowed to operate until your required license is obtained and posted at your business location.

Some occupations are exempt from the license requirement in Shelby County. The published list includes accountants, attorneys, dentists, doctors, insurance agents, loan companies, manufacturers, public utilities, religious organizations, schools, security exchanges, veterinarians, and any business grossing less than $3,000 per year. The threshold change behind the $100,000 line is covered in what changed in Tennessee business licensing.

20 daysThe Shelby County Business Tax Division states that businesses must register with the County Clerk within 20 days after commencing business, with a $15 remittance submitted with each application. — Shelby County Business Tax Division, retrieved 2026-09-29

$100,000The Department of Revenue states an in-state location grossing over $3,000 but under $100,000 needs a minimal activity license, and $100,000 or more needs a standard license. — Tennessee Department of Revenue, retrieved 2026-09-29

Add the city license if you operate in municipal limits

A county license does not finish the job inside a city. A separate city business license is required if the business operates within a municipality, and the two are usually obtained together.

Memphis publishes its version of the rule with the fees attached: businesses within the Memphis municipal boundaries need a combined City of Memphis license at a $15 license fee and a Shelby County Business License at a $15 license fee. Both licenses expire on the anniversary of the date you applied, and renewal runs through the Shelby County Clerk's office.

Memphis also requires a Certificate of Occupancy before most businesses open in a building. The certificate requires an application and inspection, and Construction Enforcement issues it through the Develop 901 portal. This is the zoning layer, and it is separate from the license layer even though both must be cleared before opening day.

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

The City of Memphis states business licenses expire on the application anniversary the following year, with renewal through the Shelby County Clerk's office. — City of Memphis, retrieved 2026-09-29

The same stack, priced differently per county

The license structure is uniform because the Business Tax Act sets it statewide. The office that issues it and the paperwork around it are local.

Shelby County dates its rule to state law: Chapter 530 of the Public Acts of 2009, effective January 1, 2010, requires all businesses operating within Shelby County to obtain a business license and report gross receipts to the Department of Revenue annually. The county clerk collects the fee. Knoxville runs its license through the city's Business License and Tax Office. Every county clerk office applies the same $15 registration fee.

The lesson is not to assume a neighboring county copies the office layout you already know. The license is the same document; the counter that issues it, and the city permit that rides on top of it, move around. The fee totals sit side by side in what Tennessee business licenses cost.

Public Chapter 530 (2009)Shelby County states Public Acts of 2009 Chapter 530, effective January 1, 2010, requires all businesses in the county to obtain a business license and report gross receipts to the state yearly. — Shelby County Business Tax Division, retrieved 2026-09-29

Keep the licenses current, and close them out properly

The license renews annually on its own anniversary, and the business tax return follows the fiscal-year calendar. Miss the renewal and the license lapses while the tax obligation keeps running.

Closing a business has a deadline of its own. Memphis lists the steps: contact the Shelby County Trustee's Office, and file a final business tax return with the Department of Revenue within 15 days of closing, paying any tax due, with the $22 minimum applying. A business that stops trading but never files the final return keeps generating obligations.

Put both dates in one calendar, the renewal anniversary and the filing deadline, and check them once a quarter. A one-page version of the whole sequence is in the Tennessee business license checklist.

15 daysThe City of Memphis states a closing business must file a final business tax return with the Department of Revenue within 15 days of closing, with a $22 minimum. — City of Memphis, retrieved 2026-09-29

What this stack does not cover

The county and city license is the entry ticket, not the whole show. Trades with their own state boards add a second layer on top of it, and the license you already hold does not substitute for any of them.

An electrician may need the state's Limited Licensed Electrician license before pulling permits, depending on the municipality. A salon cannot open until a state inspector passes the shop, and the state's own shop application demands the county license as an attachment. A food truck needs a health permit before the commissary agreement even gets reviewed. Each of those pages carries the detail; the next step here is to read the one for your trade.

T.C.A. Title 62, Chapter 6The Board for Licensing Contractors licenses general contractors, home improvement contractors, Limited Licensed Electricians, and Limited Licensed Plumbers under T.C.A. Title 62, Chapter 6. — Tennessee Board for Licensing Contractors, retrieved 2026-09-29

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