Business license · North Dakota

Does Your LLC Need a Business License in North Dakota?

The short answer. We have not confirmed whether North Dakota requires a general state business license, so do not assume it does not; check North Dakota Secretary of State, Start a Business. Your local government may also require a license for certain activities.

North Dakota Business License at a Glance

General state business license	Not confirmed
City or county licenses	Local governments license some activities (see Local licenses)
Trade and professional licenses	State licensing boards (see Trade licenses)

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

Does North Dakota Require a State Business License?

We have not confirmed whether North Dakota requires a general state business license, so do not assume it does not; check North Dakota Secretary of State, Start a Business.

North Dakota's own guide to business licenses and permits is North Dakota Secretary of State, Start a Business.

City and County Business Licenses

North Dakota law lets municipalities license, tax and regulate a list of named businesses and activities, including peddlers and transient businesses, pawnbrokers, taxicabs, alcoholic beverage sales, theaters, auctioneers and secondhand stores.

Professional and Trade Licenses

North Dakota licenses regulated occupations through several state agencies and boards: the Attorney General licenses activities such as alcoholic beverage retailers, tobacco sellers and transient merchants, and the Secretary of State licenses contractors, home inspectors and a few others. Other occupations are licensed by independent boards and commissions. Look up North Dakota 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 North Dakota Registrations to Check

North Dakota articles of organization, the filing that creates the LLC itself.
North Dakota Sales, Use and Gross Receipts Tax Permit, for a business that sells taxable goods or services.
North Dakota 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

: We have not confirmed whether North Dakota requires a general state business license, so do not assume it does not; check North Dakota Secretary of State, Start a Business.
: North Dakota law lets municipalities license, tax and regulate a list of named businesses and activities, including peddlers and transient businesses, pawnbrokers, taxicabs, alcoholic beverage sales, theaters, auctioneers and secondhand stores.
: North Dakota licenses regulated occupations through several state agencies and boards: the Attorney General licenses activities such as alcoholic beverage retailers, tobacco sellers and transient merchants, and the Secretary of State licenses contractors, home inspectors and a few others. Other occupations are licensed by independent boards and commissions.

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 North Dakota 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.

sos.nd.gov/business/business-services/start-businessNorth Dakota Secretary of State, Start a Business
sos.nd.gov/business/licensing-registrationNorth Dakota Secretary of State, Licensing and Registration
ndlegis.gov/cencode/t40c05.pdfNDCC chapter 40-05, Powers of municipalities (40-05-01)
tax.nd.gov/starting-new-businessNorth Dakota Office of State Tax Commissioner, Starting a New Business

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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.