Business license · Indiana

Does Your LLC Need a Business License in Indiana?

The short answer. According to Indiana's Business Owner's Guide on IN.gov, Indiana has no single, general state business license. A business in Indiana may still need a license from its city or county, or from a state board if its trade is regulated.

Indiana Business License at a Glance

General state business license	No general state license
City or county licenses	Local governments license some activities (see Local licenses)
Trade and professional licenses	Indiana Professional Licensing Agency

Read from the government sources listed at the foot of this page, last checked September 30, 2026. See the sources.

Does Indiana Require a State Business License?

According to Indiana's Business Owner's Guide on IN.gov, Indiana has no single, general state business license.

A business in Indiana may still need a license from its city or county, or from a state board if its trade is regulated.

Indiana's own guide to business licenses and permits is INBiz.

City and County Business Licenses

Indiana's state business guide says cities and counties regulate many matters that affect small businesses, and that licensing of contractors other than plumbers is a local option. Some areas also license transient merchants or others doing business without an established business location.

Professional and Trade Licenses

Indiana licenses most regulated professions through the Indiana Professional Licensing Agency, the umbrella agency for 38 professional boards and commissions. Other agencies license particular fields, such as the Department of Insurance for insurance producers and the Alcohol and Tobacco Commission for alcohol permits. Look up Indiana license requirements.

Our verified guides for specific trades in this state:

See trade and business license requirements by state for every trade we cover.

Other Indiana Registrations to Check

Indiana articles of organization, the filing that creates the LLC itself.
Indiana Registered Retail Merchant Certificate, for a business that sells taxable goods or services.
Indiana resale certificate, to buy inventory for resale without paying tax on it.
How to get an EIN, the federal tax ID most LLCs need to open a bank account or hire.

Frequently Asked Questions

: According to Indiana's Business Owner's Guide on IN.gov, Indiana has no single, general state business license. A business in Indiana may still need a license from its city or county, or from a state board if its trade is regulated.
: Indiana's state business guide says cities and counties regulate many matters that affect small businesses, and that licensing of contractors other than plumbers is a local option. Some areas also license transient merchants or others doing business without an established business location.
: Indiana licenses most regulated professions through the Indiana Professional Licensing Agency, the umbrella agency for 38 professional boards and commissions. Other agencies license particular fields, such as the Department of Insurance for insurance producers and the Alcohol and Tobacco Commission for alcohol permits.

This guide is general information, not legal or tax advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. It reports what each state's law and agencies say about a general state business license, with the sources this page cites. It cannot tell you which licenses your own business needs: that turns on what the business does, where it operates, and what its city or county requires, and fees and exemptions change between our reviews. Confirm your own position with the state agency named on this page, the city or county where the business is located, and any state board that licenses your trade before you open.

Sources

Each entry below is a document recorded in our verified Indiana sources, and each entry says what the document is. Some statutory text is read from an accurate mirror rather than from the state's own host, and those say so.

in.gov/core/business_guide.htmlIN.gov, Business Owner's Guide
in.gov/core/licensing/IN.gov, Licensing
inbiz.in.gov/start-businessINBiz, Start a Business
in.gov/dor/i-am-a/business-corp/business-faq/Indiana Department of Revenue, Business FAQ

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Edmond Hui · Founder, MyStateLLC

Edmond Hui is a software engineer and serial entrepreneur based in New York who has founded multiple online businesses across e-commerce, media, and information publishing. Before transitioning into tech, he spent years as a commercial real estate professional closing deals totaling over 100,000 square feet, giving him firsthand experience with business formation and entity structuring. He built MyStateLLC to provide the free, state-specific LLC guidance he wished existed when forming his own companies.