7 items, in order: articles of organization (llc) and the annual report, trade name (dba) registration, employer identification number (ein), business registration certificate: sales and use tax, withholding (the state business license), municipal business and occupation (b&o) tax and city business license and zoning approval and certificate of occupancy, and 1 more.
How to open a business in West Virginia
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 West Virginia? 7, in the order to get them
These are the steps every business in West Virginia 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 through the One Stop Business Portal, which sends the same application on to the Tax Division and WorkForce West Virginia. The articles name a registered agent with a West Virginia address. The formation fee is waived for veteran-owned businesses and the annual report fee is waived for their first four years.
- Fee
- Premium only
- Renewal
- Premium only
- Official page
- sos.wv.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 formation and annual report pages; West Virginia One Stop Business Portal fee schedule; Secretary of State form NR-3 (revised September 2026) and form TN-1; IRS EIN page; Tax Division business registration questions and answers; West Virginia Code 11-12; West Virginia Code 8-13-4 and 8-13-5; City of Charleston B&O tax questions and answers; State Fire Marshal building code pages (87 CSR 4); municipal zoning and building ordinances; WorkForce West Virginia employer handbook and rate pages; West Virginia Code 48-18-125 (new hire reporting); Offices of the Insurance Commissioner employer coverage pages. Fees are as published by each agency on the date checked; cities add their own.