6 items, in order: articles of organization (llc) or a fictitious name, employer identification number (ein), florida business tax registration (sales and use tax, reemployment tax), local business tax receipt (county and city), zoning approval and certificate of use or occupancy and reemployment tax account and new hire reporting.
How to open a business in Florida
6 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 Florida? 6, in the order to get them
These are the steps every business in Florida 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 17, 2026.
Step 1 of 4Set up the business. Now: Articles of organization (LLC) or a fictitious name
0 of 6 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 2
An LLC keeps your personal assets apart from the business and is what landlords and lenders expect on a lease. Anyone trading under a name other than their own legal name or the entity’s registered name files the fictitious name, and the local business tax office asks for it.
- Fee
- Premium only
- Renewal
- Premium only
- Official page
- dos.fl.gov
Checked Oct 17, 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
Division of Corporations fee schedule and fictitious name FAQ; IRS EIN page; Florida Department of Revenue account management and registration page; Form DR-1; Florida Statutes chapter 205, local business taxes; Florida Statutes chapter 205; Miami-Dade County local business tax guidance; Florida Department of Revenue registration page; Form DR-1. Fees are as published by each agency on the date checked; cities add their own.