7 items, in order: articles of organization (llc) and the annual report, trade name registration (dba), employer identification number (ein), sales tax permit and withholding registration, city or town business registration or license and zoning certificate, building permits and certificate of occupancy, and 1 more.
How to open a business in Rhode Island
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 Rhode Island? 7, in the order to get them
These are the steps every business in Rhode Island 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 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 Department of State’s business services portal. The articles name a resident agent with a Rhode Island street address. Separately, every LLC owes the Division of Taxation a $400 annual charge (form RI-1065 or RI-1120S, due March 15) for every year it exists, including the year it is formed, whether or not it earns anything.
- Fee
- Premium only
- Renewal
- Premium only
- Official page
- sos.ri.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
Department of State articles of organization (R.I. Gen. Laws 7-16-6) and LLC annual report form 632 (revised March 2026); Department of State trade name registration page and online filing guide; R.I. Gen. Laws 6-1-1 as amended for 2026; IRS EIN page; Division of Taxation sales tax permit guidance (R.I. Gen. Laws 44-19-1); form BAR; RI.gov business assistant; municipal licensing ordinances; R.I. Gen. Laws 45-24-31 (zoning certificate); municipal building and zoning offices; Department of Labor and Training 2026 unemployment and TDI rate release; Employer Tax Unit pages; R.I. Gen. Laws 28-29-6 and 15-24-2. Fees are as published by each agency on the date checked; cities add their own.