Business license · Tennessee

Does Your LLC Need a Business License in Tennessee?

The short answer. Tennessee requires businesses that do business in Tennessee to hold Tennessee's business license, issued by the county clerk and, if your city levies the business tax, your city. Not every business is covered; the details are below.

Tennessee Business License at a Glance

General state business license	Required (see State license)
License name	Business license
Issued by	County clerk and, if your city levies the business tax, your city
State license fee	Varies (see Cost)
Renewal	Depends (see Cost)
City or county licenses	Issued locally, the same license (see State license)
Trade and professional licenses	Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance, Division of Regulatory Boards

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

Does Tennessee Require a State Business License?

Tennessee requires businesses that do business in Tennessee to hold Tennessee's business license, issued by the county clerk and, if your city levies the business tax, your city. You need one for each Tennessee location with more than $3,000 a year in gross sales in the county or city: a minimal activity license below $100,000 and a standard business license at $100,000 or more. A business not subject to the business tax, and an out-of-state business other than some contractors, generally does not need one.

You apply for Tennessee's business license with the county clerk and, if your city levies the business tax, your city. Go to the application page.

What It Costs and When to Renew

The fee is $15 for each license, paid to the county clerk and, if your location is in a city that levies the business tax, another $15 to the city. A business pays it again for each additional location.

A standard business license is valid for one year and expires 30 days after your business tax return is due, and the clerk renews it automatically at no extra cost when you file the return and pay the tax. Ask your county clerk how a minimal activity license is renewed.

City and County Business Licenses

Your county clerk, and your city if it levies the business tax, issue the business license described above. It is not a separate local license.

Professional and Trade Licenses

Tennessee's Department of Commerce and Insurance, through its Division of Regulatory Boards, issues professional licenses to more than 350,000 businesses and professionals, through boards and commissions such as those for contractors, cosmetology and barbering, and real estate. Look up Tennessee license requirements.

Our verified guides for specific trades in this state:

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

Worth Knowing in Tennessee

Tennessee's business license is tied to its business tax: you register for the tax with the Department of Revenue, then obtain and post the license from your county clerk and, where it applies, your city. You may not operate until the required license is obtained and posted.

Other Tennessee Registrations to Check

Tennessee articles of organization, the filing that creates the LLC itself.
Tennessee Certificate of Registration, for a business that sells taxable goods or services.
Tennessee 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

: Tennessee requires businesses that do business in Tennessee to hold Tennessee's business license, issued by the county clerk and, if your city levies the business tax, your city. You need one for each Tennessee location with more than $3,000 a year in gross sales in the county or city: a minimal activity license below $100,000 and a standard business license at $100,000 or more. A business not subject to the business tax, and an out-of-state business other than some contractors, generally does not need one.
: The fee is $15 for each license, paid to the county clerk and, if your location is in a city that levies the business tax, another $15 to the city. A business pays it again for each additional location. A standard business license is valid for one year and expires 30 days after your business tax return is due, and the clerk renews it automatically at no extra cost when you file the return and pay the tax. Ask your county clerk how a minimal activity license is renewed.
: You apply for Tennessee's business license with the county clerk and, if your city levies the business tax, your city.
: Your county clerk, and your city if it levies the business tax, issue the business license described above. It is not a separate local license.
: Tennessee's Department of Commerce and Insurance, through its Division of Regulatory Boards, issues professional licenses to more than 350,000 businesses and professionals, through boards and commissions such as those for contractors, cosmetology and barbering, and real estate.

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 Tennessee 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.

tn.gov/revenue/taxes/business-tax/registration-and-licensing.htmlTennessee Department of Revenue, Business Tax: Registration and Licensing
tn.gov/content/dam/tn/revenue/documents/tax_manuals/june-2026/business-tax.pdfTennessee Department of Revenue, Business Tax Manual (June 2026), Chapter 3 (Registration and Licensing)
tn.gov/revenue/taxes/business-tax.htmlTennessee Department of Revenue, Business Tax overview
tn.gov/commerce/regboards.htmlTennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance, Regulatory Boards

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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.