Business Licensure in Atlanta

A Business "license" is not actually a license.

It is actually a tax document stating to the city what your business is worth so they can send you a tax bill, and the thing people actually call a license is the recipt for payment of city taxes. The penalty for getting caught in GA without one is $500. Then again, a tax bill is a goodly portion of that....

Step 1: Print and fill this form out

Step 2: Drive to City Hall (55 Trinity Ave)

Step 3: Find the Business Tax Division (down the hall on the left in City Hall on the ground floor)

Step 4: Find the Zoning department and get them to sign the zoning portion of the form you filled out. The official will ask you some questions about where the business is located and and what type of building it is and what it is used for. Right now the zoning department is hiding in the back of the HVAC department on the right side of the second floor. Renovations I guess.

Step 5: Go back to the Business Tax Division. The official will give you a $75 bill to actually file for the permit, which you will then...

Step 6: Take to and pay at the Cashier, who is located at the center of the building. The cashier will give you a receipt, which you take to...

Step 7: The Business Tax Division, which will then type up something, then give you a temporary permit which is good until the 1st of March.

Step 8: Wait for your city tax bill in the mail.

Step 9: Pay city tax bill

Step 10: Get your real tax certificate in the mail.

--Michael