7 items, in order: certificate of organization (llc) and the annual report, trade name certificate (dba), employer identification number (ein), sales and use tax permit and employer withholding registration (reg-1), general business license and zoning permit and certificate of occupancy, and 1 more.
How to open a business in Connecticut
7 licenses, permits and registrations, in the order to get them, each with the agency, the fee and the official page.
What licenses do you need to open a business in Connecticut? 7, in the order to get them
These are the steps every business in Connecticut takes. A license specific to your kind of business comes from the agency that regulates it; if one of the twenty named businesses is close to yours, its page lists those too.
Every row checked against its agency’s page; the latest on Oct 21, 2026.
Step 1 of 4Set up the business. Now: Certificate of organization (LLC) and the annual report
0 of 7 items done. Each step opens when the one before it is complete. Progress stays on this device. Log in to save it to your account and pick it up anywhere.
Set up the business0 of 3
File through the Business.CT.gov online portal; paper annual reports are not accepted. The certificate names a statutory agent with a Connecticut street address. The annual report fee rose from $20 to $80 in July 2020 when the business entity tax was repealed, and the report window is the same for every LLC whatever its formation date.
- Fee
- Premium only
- Renewal
- Premium only
- Official page
- business.ct.gov
Checked Oct 21, 2026
Register for taxOpens after step 1
Approve the spaceOpens after step 2
Before the first hireOpens after step 3
Then pick the place
- The free location checkWho lives and works around an address, the businesses already there and the traffic on its road, from public records.
- The full reportWhether the rules allow a business at that address, the rent it supports, what has opened and closed nearby, and the questions to settle before signing.
Have an address in mind?
Check the address freeNo account. The business check reads public records at the address itself.
Sources and dates
Business.CT.gov knowledge base: domestic LLC forms and fees; domestic annual report forms and fees; C.G.S. 35-1 as amended by Public Act 24-111; town clerk trade name pages (Guilford, Manchester, Middlebury, Burlington); IRS EIN page; Department of Revenue Services registering with DRS page; sales and use tax information page; DRS-141 and DRS-143 flyers; Business.CT.gov licensing guidance; municipal ordinances; C.G.S. 8-3(f) (zoning certification before a building permit) and 29-265 (certificate of occupancy); town zoning and building department pages; Department of Labor 2026 unemployment tax rate notice (new employer rate and taxable wage base); Business.CT.gov new hire reporting page; C.G.S. 31-284; CT Paid Leave Authority. Fees are as published by each agency on the date checked; cities add their own.