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 wine bars in Louisiana 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 online through geauxBIZ, which also starts the Department of Revenue and Workforce Commission registrations. The articles name a registered agent with a Louisiana address and an initial report is filed with them at no extra charge. Check the fee schedule on the day you file; guides written before October 2026 show the old amounts.
Fee
Members
Renewal
Members
Official page
Members
Checked Oct 21, 2026
Louisiana registers trade names with the Secretary of State, not the parish clerk. Register when the business trades under any name other than the LLC’s registered name or the owner’s legal name; file through geauxBIZ, by mail or in person.
Fee
Members
Renewal
Members
Official page
Members
Checked Oct 21, 2026
Needed to hire, to open a business bank account and for the state tax registration. Issued at once online.
Fee
Members
Renewal
Members
Official page
Members
Checked Oct 21, 2026
Register for taxOpens after step 1
Register the state sales tax account through geauxBIZ or the Louisiana Taxpayer Access Point before the first sale, and add withholding once you hire. Louisiana collects local sales tax separately: LaTAP cannot take a parish return, so open an account with each parish’s collector through Parish E-File and file both returns every period. The combined rate is the state rate plus the parish and city rates for your address.
Fee
Members
Renewal
Members
Official page
Members
Checked Oct 21, 2026
Louisiana has no statewide general business license; the occupational license from the parish (or the city, inside city limits) is the license to open, and it is renewed from the prior year’s receipts. Pay it before opening, and expect the collector to ask for the zoning approval and the state sales tax number.
Fee
Members
Renewal
Members
Official page
Members
Checked Oct 21, 2026
Approve the spaceOpens after step 2
Confirm the zoning allows your use before signing; a change of occupancy needs building permits and inspections under the state code, which the parish or city building official enforces, and the certificate of occupancy comes before the health permit and the alcohol permits. New Orleans runs this through Safety and Permits.
Fee
Members
Renewal
Members
Official page
Members
Checked Oct 21, 2026
Get the permits for your kind of businessOpens after step 3
Louisiana permits food at the state level: submit the plans, menu and equipment list to the regional sanitarian before building out, pay the plan review fee at submittal, then pass the pre-opening inspection and post the permit. Restaurants, bars, coffee shops, bakeries and ice cream shops are all retail food establishments under the Sanitary Code, and a failed second re-inspection costs $150 (Act 66). Ask the Bureau (225-342-7550) for the current permit fee when you file the plan review.
Fee
Members
Renewal
Members
Official page
Members
Checked Oct 21, 2026
One person at each retail food establishment, an owner, manager or employee, passes an accredited food safety manager course and exam and then applies to the Office of Public Health for the state food safety certificate, which is posted at that one location. A few low-risk establishments are exempt under the code.
Fee
Members
Renewal
Members
Official page
Members
Checked Oct 21, 2026
Alcohol permitsOpens after step 4
A Class A-Restaurant permit is for a place where food is the main business; a Class A-General covers bars. Apply to the parish or city first, then to ATC with the lease, the floor plan, the sales tax number and the owners’ disclosures; some parishes and wards are dry under local option. Every server and bartender takes a Responsible Vendor course and holds a server permit within 45 days of hire, valid four years. Ask ATC for the fee outside city limits and the parish for its permit fee before signing a lease.
Fee
Members
Renewal
Members
Official page
Members
Checked Oct 21, 2026
Before the first hireOpens after step 5
Workers’ compensation insurance is required for every employer with one or more employees, full time, part time or seasonal, from the first hire; an owner may exclude themselves. Report each new hire and rehire within 20 days.
The free location checkWho lives and works around an address, the wine bars already there and the traffic on its road, from public records.
The full reportWhether the rules allow a wine bar at that address, the rent it supports, what has opened and closed nearby, and the questions to settle before signing.
No account. The wine bar check reads public records at the address itself.
Sources and dates
Secretary of State forms and fee schedule page and the fee change notice effective October 1, 2026 (Act 921 of the 2026 Regular Session); Secretary of State trade name registration pages and fee schedule (R.S. 51:281 and following); IRS EIN page; Department of Revenue LaTAP and business registration pages; Parish E-File; R.S. 47:341 to 47:363 (occupational license tax); Louisiana Municipal Association occupational license tax manual; parish and city ordinances; Louisiana State Uniform Construction Code (R.S. 40:1730.21 and following); parish and city zoning ordinances; LDH retail food for new businesses page; LDH retail food permit fee schedule; R.S. 40:31.37; Sanitary Code, LAC 51:XXIII; LDH food safety manager certification FAQ; Sanitary Code, LAC 51:XXIII.305; ATC Class A-General permit application; 2026 ATC lawbook (R.S. 26:71, 26:271 and 26:271.2); R.S. 26:931 and following (Responsible Vendor Program); Louisiana Workforce Commission 2026 unemployment insurance contribution rate table; Office of Workers’ Compensation Administration employer coverage pages; DCFS New Hire Registry; 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, trade name registration (dba), employer identification number (ein), state sales tax and withholding accounts (latap), plus the parish sales tax account (parish e-file), occupational license tax (the parish or city business license) and zoning approval and certificate of occupancy, and 4 more.
Louisiana Secretary of State, Internal Revenue Service, Louisiana Department of Revenue, Your parish or city tax collector, Your parish or city planning and building departments and Louisiana Department of Health, and 2 more.
With articles of organization (llc) and the annual report (Louisiana Secretary of State, Commercial Division (geauxBIZ)), then trade name registration (dba). The steps run structure, tax, space, permits, alcohol and employer, in that order.
Yes, to sell it: class a-general or class a-restaurant retail permit (liquor and beer), plus the parish or city permit. 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 wine bar in Louisiana (2026) | DoorWorthy
