10 licenses, permits and registrations, in the order to get them, each with the agency, the fee and the official page, and what the Census counts of restaurants in Vermont say.
10 licenses, permits and registrations, in the order to get them
Every row checked against its agency’s page; the latest on Oct 21, 2026.
Step 1 of 6Set up the business. Now: Articles of organization (LLC) and the annual report
0 of 10 items done. Each step opens when the one before it is complete. Progress stays on this device. Members keep a dated, noted plan for each saved location in the workspace.
1Set up the business0 of 3
File through the Secretary of State’s online business service. The articles name a registered agent with a Vermont street address. Older guides still quote the pre-2023 fees of $125 and $35.
Fee
Members
Renewal
Members
Official page
Members
Checked Oct 21, 2026
Needed whenever the business trades under any name other than the owner’s legal name or the LLC’s registered name. An LLC or corporation must be on file with the Division before it can register an assumed name; file online, with no extra charge for online filing.
Fee
Members
Renewal
Members
Official page
Members
Checked Oct 21, 2026
Needed to hire, to open a business bank account and for the Vermont business tax account. Issued at once online.
Fee
Members
Renewal
Members
Official page
Members
Checked Oct 21, 2026
Register for taxOpens after step 1
Register for the business tax account on myVTax before the first sale. A shop that sells goods needs the sales and use tax license; a restaurant, bar, coffee shop or bakery that sells prepared food or drinks needs the meals and rooms tax license, one per location, posted where customers can see it. Towns that have adopted the local option tax add it to the same return. Withholding and the child care contribution open on the same account once you have employees.
Fee
Members
Renewal
Members
Official page
Members
Checked Oct 21, 2026
The state and most towns license by activity rather than by business: the town’s local control commissioners act on liquor licenses, the town clerk issues pet dealer permits, and the state agencies below issue the rest. Ask the clerk whether your town has any licensing of its own before signing a lease.
Fee
Members
Renewal
Members
Official page
Members
Checked Oct 21, 2026
Approve the spaceOpens after step 2
Confirm with the zoning administrator that the use is allowed before signing. Any building open to the public is a public building in Vermont, so the fit-out, a change of use and the kitchen hood each need a Division of Fire Safety permit, and the Division issues the certificate of occupancy after its final inspection; the health license and the liquor license both wait for it. Towns with their own building inspectors (Burlington, for example) permit alongside the state.
Fee
Members
Renewal
Members
Official page
Members
Checked Oct 21, 2026
Get the permits for your kind of businessOpens after step 3
Vermont licenses food at the state level, not through a local health department. Send the plans for a new or remodeled space to the Food and Lodging Program first, then the application and fee at least 30 days before opening; an inspector schedules the opening inspection, which needs a score of at least 70 with no critical violations. Restaurants, bars, coffee shops and ice cream shops are food service establishments; a bakery selling to the public holds the bakery license from the same program.
Fee
Members
Renewal
Members
Official page
Members
Checked Oct 21, 2026
The license application asks for the name and certificate of the establishment’s certified food protection manager, and the Department lists the ANAB accredited programs it accepts. A person in charge who can show food safety knowledge must be on the premises whenever the establishment is open.
Fee
Members
Renewal
Members
Official page
Members
Checked Oct 21, 2026
Alcohol permitsOpens after step 4
A first class license lets a restaurant or bar serve beer, wine and cider by the glass; spirits need the third class license on top of it. Apply through the Department’s online portal; the first class application goes to the town, whose local control commissioners take it up at a warned meeting, and the state fee is paid once the town approves. Since November 2017 the fee is an application fee and is not refunded if the license is denied.
Fee
Members
Renewal
Members
Official page
Members
Checked Oct 21, 2026
Before the first hireOpens after step 5
Workers’ compensation insurance is required from the first full-time or part-time employee. The child care contribution has applied to wages since July 1, 2024 and is paid with withholding on form WHT-436. Report each new hire within 10 days of the first day of work through the Department of Labor’s employer portal.
The free location checkWho lives and works around an address, the restaurants already there and the traffic on its road, from public records.
The full reportWhether the rules allow a restaurant at that address, the rent it supports, what has opened and closed nearby, and the questions to settle before signing.
No account. The restaurant check reads public records at the address itself.
Sources and dates
Secretary of State fee schedule (11 V.S.A. 4023 and 4033) and LLC and annual report pages; Secretary of State assumed name page and fee schedule (11 V.S.A. 1621 and 1625); IRS EIN page; Department of Taxes meals and rooms tax and business registration pages; Secretary of State Business Services Division pages; municipal ordinances; Division of Fire Safety construction permit application and the Vermont Fire and Building Safety Code; 24 V.S.A. chapter 117 (municipal zoning); 18 V.S.A. 4353 (fees, as amended by Act 57 of 2015); Department of Health retail food service establishment pages and guide to opening a food or lodging establishment; Department of Health retail food application and Food and Lodging Program guidance; Vermont Health Regulations chapter 5, subchapter 2; 7 V.S.A. 204 (application and renewal fees); Department of Liquor and Lottery restaurant and bar fee page and licensing pages; Department of Labor unemployment tax rate and 2026 taxable wage base pages; Department of Taxes child care contribution page (Act 76 of 2023); Department of Labor workers’ compensation and new hire reporting pages; U.S. Census Bureau County Business Patterns 2023; U.S. Census Bureau Business Dynamics Statistics. Fees are as published by each agency on the date checked; cities add their own.
Questions about opening here.
10 items, in order: articles of organization (llc) and the annual report, assumed business name registration (dba), employer identification number (ein), vermont business tax account: sales and use tax, meals and rooms tax, withholding, no general business license and zoning permit, and the division of fire safety construction permit and certificate of occupancy, and 4 more.
Vermont Secretary of State, Internal Revenue Service, Vermont Department of Taxes, Your town’s zoning administrator, Vermont Department of Health and Your town’s local control commissioners, and 1 more.
With articles of organization (llc) and the annual report (Vermont Secretary of State, Business Services Division), then assumed business name registration (dba). The steps run structure, tax, space, permits, alcohol and employer, in that order.
Yes, to sell it: first class license (beer and wine on premises) and third class license (spirits). The local license usually comes first.
Each item's fee, renewal cycle and official page are shown to members, as the agency published them on the date checked. Cities and counties add their own fees.
How to open a restaurant in Vermont (2026) | DoorWorthy
