9 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 coffee shops in South Carolina say.
9 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 5Set up the business. Now: Articles of organization (LLC); no annual report
0 of 9 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 online through the Secretary of State’s business filings system. The articles name a registered agent with a South Carolina street address, not a post office box. There is no annual report to the Secretary of State, so the main recurring state filing for most small LLCs is the Department of Revenue tax account.
Fee
Members
Renewal
Members
Official page
Members
Checked Oct 21, 2026
South Carolina has no assumed name registry for sole proprietors, LLCs or corporations. Put the trade name on the city or county business license application and the Department of Revenue registration, and check the Secretary of State’s entity search so the name is not already an entity name. A trade name gives no exclusive right to the name.
Fee
Members
Renewal
Members
Official page
Members
Checked Oct 21, 2026
Needed to hire, to open a business bank account and for the state tax registration. Issued at once online.
Fee
Members
Renewal
Members
Official page
Members
Checked Oct 21, 2026
Register for taxOpens after step 1
Apply through the MyDORWAY business tax application before the first sale and allow up to five business days; every location needs its own retail license, and a closed license costs another $50 to replace. Restaurants and bars also collect the local hospitality tax of up to 2% on prepared meals and drinks for the city or county, and a liquor by the drink licensee pays the 5% liquor by the drink tax monthly. Retail license questions: 803-896-1350.
Fee
Members
Renewal
Members
Official page
Members
Checked Oct 21, 2026
Almost every city and many counties license businesses. Since 2022 all of them use the same application, the same class schedule by NAICS code, the same May to April license year and the same gross income definition, and renewals can be paid through the state’s Local Business License Renewal Center. A business inside a city pays the city; a business in an unincorporated area pays the county if it levies the tax. Apply before opening, with the zoning approval.
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 needs building permits and inspections under the state’s adopted International codes, and the certificate of occupancy comes before the food permit and the alcohol license. The business license application asks for the zoning approval.
Fee
Members
Renewal
Members
Official page
Members
Checked Oct 21, 2026
Get the permits for your kind of businessOpens after step 3
Retail food permits moved from DHEC to the Department of Agriculture on July 1, 2024, so older guides name the wrong agency. Submit the application with the floor plan, menu and equipment list at least 30 days before opening, pay the initial and first-year fees with it, then pass the opening inspection. Restaurants, bars, coffee shops, bakeries and ice cream shops are all retail food establishments under 61-25; a new owner pays the initial fee again.
Fee
Members
Renewal
Members
Official page
Members
Checked Oct 21, 2026
At least one employee with supervisory and management responsibility, frequently present at the establishment, holds a food protection manager certificate from a program accredited through the Conference for Food Protection, and at all times during operation the person in charge holds either a food handler certificate or the manager certificate.
Fee
Members
Renewal
Members
Official page
Members
Checked Oct 21, 2026
Before the first hireOpens after step 4
Register with DEW online as soon as you have an employee. Workers’ compensation insurance is required once the business regularly employs four or more people; part-time, seasonal and family workers all count, and a business with under $3,000 of payroll in the prior year is exempt. Report each new hire within 20 days of the first day of work.
The free location checkWho lives and works around an address, the coffee shops already there and the traffic on its road, from public records.
The full reportWhether the rules allow a coffee shop at that address, the rent it supports, what has opened and closed nearby, and the questions to settle before signing.
No account. The coffee shop check reads public records at the address itself.
Sources and dates
Code of Laws 33-44-1204 (Secretary of State fees); Secretary of State business filings fee list; Department of Revenue guidance on LLC annual reports; Secretary of State business entity pages (the office does not register DBA or trade names, except an assumed name certificate for a limited partnership under Code of Laws 33-42-45); IRS EIN page; Department of Revenue sales tax and retail license pages; MyDORWAY business tax application; Code of Laws 6-1-400 and following (Act 176 of 2020); Municipal Association of South Carolina business license pages; Building Codes Council pages (Code of Laws 6-9, statewide building codes); municipal and county ordinances; Department of Agriculture retail food establishment fee page and fee sheet (CPD form 2122); Regulation 61-25; Regulation 61-25 sections 2-102.12 and 2-102.20; Department of Agriculture certified food protection manager fact sheet; Department of Employment and Workforce 2026 tax rate information and press release; newhire.sc.gov (Code of Laws 43-5-598); Workers’ Compensation Law, Code of Laws 42-1-360; 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.
9 items, in order: articles of organization (llc); no annual report, trade name (dba): no state registration, employer identification number (ein), retail license (sales tax) and withholding account on mydorway, city or county business license and zoning approval and certificate of occupancy, and 3 more.
South Carolina Secretary of State, Internal Revenue Service, South Carolina Department of Revenue, Your city or county business license office, Your city or county zoning and building departments and South Carolina Department of Agriculture, and 1 more.
With articles of organization (llc); no annual report (South Carolina Secretary of State, Business Filings), then trade name (dba): no state registration. The steps run structure, tax, space, permits and employer, in that order.
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.
How to open a coffee shop in South Carolina (2026) | DoorWorthy
