Ohio LLC Business Licenses & Permits (2026)
Ohio has no statewide general business license — but between sales tax registration, professional board licenses, local permits, and the Commercial Activity Tax, here's your full stack.
A new Ohio vendor’s license for taxable sales from a fixed location costs $50 per fixed location, effective April 9,2025. Remote, transient and marketplace arrangements can require different account types. The state rate is 5.75%; use the current actual county/transit rate and transaction category rather than a permanent combined-rate range. There is no universal statewide general business license. Ohio’s remote nexus tests include gross receipts exceeding $100,000 OR at least 200 Ohio transactions in the current or preceding calendar year. Marketplace-facilitator tests include its own and facilitated sales; qualifying facilitators collect on facilitated taxable sales. Count combined sales for the seller’s nexus review, then separate facilitator collection from the seller’s direct-sales duties. These are Ohio rules; other destination states have their own tests.
- Statewide general license
- None
- Vendor's license (sales tax)
- Ohio Dept. of Taxation
- Sales tax rate
- 5.75% state + current local/transit
- Groceries sales tax
- Exempt
- Professional boards
- Varies by profession
- Commercial Activity Tax
- Only above $6M gross receipts
Ohio's License Layers
State: vendor's license for sales tax
A new Ohio vendor’s license for taxable sales from a fixed location costs $50 per fixed location, effective April 9,2025. Remote, transient and marketplace arrangements can require different account types. The state rate is 5.75%; use the current actual county/transit rate and transaction category rather than a permanent combined-rate range. There is no universal statewide general business license.
State: profession-specific licensing
Ohio licenses regulated fields — contractors, cosmetology, real estate, healthcare, accounting — through the relevant state board.
Local: city and township permits
Zoning, health, and signage permits vary by city and township — check directly with your local jurisdiction.
A new Ohio vendor’s license for taxable sales from a fixed location costs $50 per fixed location, effective April 9,2025. Remote, transient and marketplace arrangements can require different account types. The state rate is 5.75%; use the current actual county/transit rate and transaction category rather than a permanent combined-rate range. There is no universal statewide general business license.
Find Your Likely Stack
Ohio License Finder
Business type · your likely license & registration stack
Educational estimate — requirements vary by city, county, and industry. Confirm with the Ohio Department of Taxation and your local clerk.
Vendor's License & Sales Tax
- Vendor's license: required before making taxable retail sales in Ohio — register with the Department of Taxation.
- State rate — 5.75%: the statewide base, before any local additions.
- County + transit add-ons: 0.75%–2.25% county rates, plus transit taxes in some metro areas, pushing combined totals to 6.5%–8%.
- Groceries exempt: most unprepared food for off-premises consumption is exempt from Ohio sales tax.
- Ohio’s remote nexus tests include gross receipts exceeding $100,000 OR at least 200 Ohio transactions in the current or preceding calendar year. Marketplace-facilitator tests include its own and facilitated sales; qualifying facilitators collect on facilitated taxable sales. Count combined sales for the seller’s nexus review, then separate facilitator collection from the seller’s direct-sales duties. These are Ohio rules; other destination states have their own tests.
The Commercial Activity Tax (CAT)
Ohio's Commercial Activity Tax is a 0.26% tax on taxable gross receipts, administered by the Ohio Department of Taxation — but it only applies once your gross receipts exceed $6,000,000 in a calendar year (up significantly from a $150,000 threshold through 2023 and $3,000,000 in 2024). This means the large majority of small Ohio LLCs owe $0 in CAT and don't even need to register for it. If your business does clear the $6 million mark, registration and quarterly filing become required — but for most LLCs in their early years, this is simply not a factor.
Professional Licensing
Ohio licenses regulated professions — contractors, cosmetologists, real estate agents, accountants, healthcare providers — through the relevant state board. Restaurants clear local health departments; alcohol runs through the Ohio Division of Liquor Control plus local approval. Your LLC never substitutes for the professional license — verify your board's rules before the first client.
Ahmad Adil's Take: Ohio's licensing is genuinely light for most small LLCs — no statewide general license, a manageable set of regulated professions, and a Commercial Activity Tax threshold so high that most founders in this series will never need to think about it again after reading this page. The one thing worth double-checking deliberately is your exact combined sales tax rate if you're selling retail goods, since Ohio's county-and-transit-authority layering means the real number depends specifically on where your customer is located, not a single statewide figure.
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Vendor Fees and Marketplace Duties
A new Ohio vendor’s license for taxable sales from a fixed location costs $50 per fixed location, effective April 9,2025. Remote, transient and marketplace arrangements can require different account types. The state rate is 5.75%; use the current actual county/transit rate and transaction category rather than a permanent combined-rate range. There is no universal statewide general business license. Ohio’s remote nexus tests include gross receipts exceeding $100,000 OR at least 200 Ohio transactions in the current or preceding calendar year. Marketplace-facilitator tests include its own and facilitated sales; qualifying facilitators collect on facilitated taxable sales. Count combined sales for the seller’s nexus review, then separate facilitator collection from the seller’s direct-sales duties. These are Ohio rules; other destination states have their own tests.
Ohio Taxation current sales-tax guidance.
Ohio LLC — FAQ
Ahmad Adil is the founder and CEO of LLC School. For filing and ongoing compliance, confirm the requirements with the responsible state agency. This is educational information, not legal or tax advice.
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