5 items, in order: articles of organization (llc) or a business certificate, employer identification number (ein), sales tax certificate of authority, certificate of occupancy or letter of no objection and employer registration for unemployment insurance and withholding (nys-100).
How to open a business in New York
5 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 New York? 5, in the order to get them
These are the steps every business in New York 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 business certificate
0 of 5 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. New York’s publication step is the one people miss: without the certificate of publication the LLC’s authority to do business is suspended after 120 days.
- Fee
- Premium only
- Renewal
- Premium only
- Official page
- dos.ny.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
Department of State LLC formation, publication and assumed name pages; New York County Clerk business certificate fees; IRS EIN page; Tax Department bulletin, how to register for New York State sales tax; NYC Department of Buildings certificate of occupancy and letter of no objection pages; Department of Labor register for unemployment insurance page. Fees are as published by each agency on the date checked; cities add their own.