7 items, in order: certificate of organization (llc) and the annual report, business certificate (dba), employer identification number (ein), masstaxconnect registration: sales and use tax, meals tax, withholding, local licensing: no state business license and zoning approval, building permit and certificate of occupancy, and 1 more.
How to open a business in Massachusetts
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 Massachusetts? 7, in the order to get them
These are the steps every business in Massachusetts 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 online through the Corporations Division. The certificate names a resident agent with a Massachusetts street address and at least one manager or authorized person. Massachusetts is one of the most expensive states to form and keep an LLC in; a missed annual report leads to administrative dissolution and a $100 reinstatement fee on top of the reports owed.
- Fee
- Premium only
- Renewal
- Premium only
- Official page
- sec.state.ma.us
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
Corporations Division LLC pages and filing fee schedule; 950 CMR 112.00; M.G.L. c. 156C; M.G.L. c. 110, section 5; town clerk business certificate pages (Milford, Middleton and Norfolk $50, Boylston and Southborough $40, Rochester $20); IRS EIN page; Department of Revenue MassTaxConnect registration pages; M.G.L. c. 64H and c. 64L; Massachusetts General Laws c. 140 (local licenses); city licensing pages (Cambridge License Commission, Boston Licensing Board); Board of Building Regulations and Standards (780 CMR); M.G.L. c. 40A (zoning); municipal zoning bylaws and ordinances; Department of Unemployment Assistance employer contribution pages (2026 rates, $15,000 wage base); Department of Family and Medical Leave contribution pages (M.G.L. c. 175M); Department of Industrial Accidents workers’ compensation requirements; 830 CMR 62E.2.1 (new hires). Fees are as published by each agency on the date checked; cities add their own.