10 licenses, permits and registrations, in the order to get them, each with the agency, the fee and the official page, and what the Census counts of bars in Idaho say.
10 licenses, permits and registrations, in the order to get them
Every row checked against its agency’s page; the latest on Oct 21, 2026.
Step 1 of 6Set up the business. Now: Certificate of organization (LLC) and the annual report
0 of 10 items done. Each step opens when the one before it is complete. Progress stays on this device. Members keep a dated, noted plan for each saved location in the workspace.
1Set up the business0 of 3
File through the SOSBiz portal. The certificate names a registered agent with an Idaho street address and a mailing address for the annual report notices. There is no late fee, but a missed report leads to administrative dissolution and a $30 reinstatement. Ignore mailers that charge to file the report for you.
Fee
Members
Renewal
Members
Official page
Members
Checked Oct 21, 2026
Needed whenever the business trades under any name other than the owner’s true name or the LLC’s registered name. The Tax Commission asks for the assumed name registration before it issues permits under that name.
Fee
Members
Renewal
Members
Official page
Members
Checked Oct 21, 2026
Needed to hire, to open a business bank account and for the Idaho Business Registration. Issued at once online.
Fee
Members
Renewal
Members
Official page
Members
Checked Oct 21, 2026
Register for taxOpens after step 1
Register online at tax.idaho.gov/ibr after the Secretary of State filing; the permit arrives in 10 to 15 business days and must be displayed. Idaho’s sales tax is 6% and applies to prepared food and drink, so restaurants, bars and coffee shops need the permit. The same registration opens the withholding account once you have employees. Some cities and auditorium districts add a local sales tax, collected through the Commission.
Fee
Members
Renewal
Members
Official page
Members
Checked Oct 21, 2026
Boise has no general business license but requires a food and beverage license for restaurants and bars, an alcohol license, and licenses for vendors and assemblies over 50 people, each issued after the certificate of occupancy and renewed yearly. Ask the clerk in your city before signing the lease; the clerk is also where the city share of the liquor license is paid.
Fee
Members
Renewal
Members
Official page
Members
Checked Oct 21, 2026
Approve the spaceOpens after step 2
Confirm the zoning allows your use before signing; a change of use or a remodel needs building permits and the final inspections, and the certificate of occupancy comes before the health license, the city license and the alcohol license. In unincorporated areas the state Division of Building Safety issues the electrical, plumbing and HVAC permits.
Fee
Members
Renewal
Members
Official page
Members
Checked Oct 21, 2026
Get the permits for your kind of businessOpens after step 3
Submit the plan review with the menu, the floor plan and the equipment list before building out, then pass the pre-opening inspection. Restaurants, bars, coffee shops, bakeries and ice cream shops are all food establishments under the Act. The seven districts share the statutory fee schedule but set their own plan review fee and renewal dates.
Fee
Members
Renewal
Members
Official page
Members
Checked Oct 21, 2026
Since July 1, 2018 at least one employee with supervisory authority over food preparation must hold a food protection manager certificate from an ANSI accredited program; the district may exempt low risk operations. The Idaho Food Safety Exam does not satisfy the rule. The manager need not be on site at all times but must be available.
Fee
Members
Renewal
Members
Official page
Members
Checked Oct 21, 2026
Alcohol permitsOpens after step 4
Liquor licenses are capped at one per 1,500 city residents (two in a city of 1,500 or fewer), so most cities have none to issue; Alcohol Beverage Control keeps a priority waiting list for each city, joined with a deposit of half the annual fee ($375 in Boise), and offers a license as the population grows. The usual route is to buy an existing license on the market, where prices run well into six figures in Boise. Beer and wine licenses have no quota and issue in about 90 days, which is how most new restaurants and wine bars open. Bills to raise these fees in 2026 (S1230,S1268) died in committee.
Fee
Members
Renewal
Members
Official page
Members
Checked Oct 21, 2026
Before the first hireOpens after step 5
Workers’ compensation insurance is required from the first employee, full-time, part-time, seasonal or occasional, and the policy must be in force before that person starts work; sole proprietors, LLC members and qualifying corporate officers are exempt themselves. Report each new hire to the Department of Labor within 20 days through the Employer Portal.
The free location checkWho lives and works around an address, the bars already there and the traffic on its road, from public records.
The full reportWhether the rules allow a bar at that address, the rent it supports, what has opened and closed nearby, and the questions to settle before signing.
No account. The bar check reads public records at the address itself.
Sources and dates
Secretary of State business forms and fee page; Idaho Code 30-21-214 (fees); Secretary of State business forms and fee page; IRS EIN page; Tax Commission getting tax permits page (Idaho Business Registration, IBR); Boise City Clerk licensing pages; Idaho Commerce start a business guidance; city ordinances; DOPL building division code pages; Meridian and Idaho Falls certificate of occupancy guidance; local ordinances; Idaho Code 39-1607 (license fees); Central District Health food establishment pages; Southwest District Health license application; IDAPA 16.02.19 (Idaho Food Code); Idaho Food Code 2-102.12 and 2-102.20; Department of Health and Welfare food safety page; Idaho Code 23-903, 23-904, 23-916, 23-1014 and 23-1315; Alcohol Beverage Control licensing pages, FAQ and priority waiting list application; Office of the Governor 2026 unemployment rate release; Department of Labor Administrative Order 682 (2026 wage base); Department of Labor new hire reporting pages; Industrial Commission employer FAQs (Idaho Code 72-203); U.S. Census Bureau County Business Patterns 2023; U.S. Census Bureau Business Dynamics Statistics. Fees are as published by each agency on the date checked; cities add their own.
Questions about opening here.
10 items, in order: certificate of organization (llc) and the annual report, certificate of assumed business name (dba), employer identification number (ein), idaho business registration: seller’s permit, income tax withholding account, city business license, where the city has one and zoning approval and certificate of occupancy, and 4 more.
Idaho Secretary of State, Internal Revenue Service, Idaho State Tax Commission, Your city clerk, Your city or county planning and building department and Your public health district, and 2 more.
With certificate of organization (llc) and the annual report (Idaho Secretary of State), then certificate of assumed business name (dba). The steps run structure, tax, space, permits, alcohol and employer, in that order.
Yes, to sell it: retail liquor by the drink license, with the beer and wine licenses. The local license usually comes first.
Each item's fee, renewal cycle and official page are shown to members, as the agency published them on the date checked. Cities and counties add their own fees.
