7 items, in order: articles of organization (llc) and the business entity report, certificate of assumed business name (dba), employer identification number (ein), business tax application (bt-1): registered retail merchant certificate, withholding account, local business license and zoning approval, state construction design release and certificate of occupancy, and 1 more.
How to open a business in Indiana
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 Indiana? 7, in the order to get them
These are the steps every business in Indiana 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: Articles of organization (LLC) and the business entity 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 INBiz. The articles name a registered agent with an Indiana street address. Indiana has no annual report and no franchise tax; miss the two-year report and the LLC is marked delinquent and then administratively dissolved.
- Fee
- Premium only
- Renewal
- Premium only
- Official page
- inbiz.in.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
INBiz business entity report page and State Form 48725 (revised January 2026); Secretary of State filing fee pages; INBiz fee calculator; Indiana Code 23-0.5-3-4 (assumed business names); IRS EIN page; Department of Revenue INTIME business guide and new and small business handbook; form BT-1; Indiana Code 6-2.5-8-1; IN.gov business guide; municipal ordinances; Indiana Code 22-15-3 and 675 IAC 12-6 (construction design release); Indiana Building Code; locality ordinances; Department of Workforce Development employer pages (2026 new employer rate and wage base); Indiana Code 22-3-2 (Worker’s Compensation Act); Indiana New Hire Reporting Center. Fees are as published by each agency on the date checked; cities add their own.