7 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 1 more.
How to open a business in Idaho
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 Idaho? 7, in the order to get them
These are the steps every business in Idaho 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 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
- Premium only
- Renewal
- Premium only
- Official page
- sos.idaho.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
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; 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). Fees are as published by each agency on the date checked; cities add their own.