My plan

Starting a business in Chandler, Arizona

Chandler requires a $45 annual business registration for every business operating from a Chandler location, including home-based, internet and mobile businesses. Taxable businesses also need a Chandler privilege (sales) tax license, which ADOR issues for $2. Some activities need a specialty license. Food businesses are permitted by Maricopa County.

Every item checked November 5, 2026 against the linked official source. Fees are shown only where an official source documents them, and they’re paid directly to the agency listed — FirstBizGuide isn’t a government agency and doesn’t charge fees or file applications. Not legal advice.

About your business (choose all that apply)

  • Register your business

    • Articles of Organization for an LLC: $50 regular or $85 expedited. Reserving a name first is optional ($10, or $45 expedited). Unless your statutory agent's street address is in Maricopa or Pima County, a notice of the filing must be published in a newspaper after approval. [source]

      • LLC Articles of Organization (regular): $50 [source]

      Agency: Arizona Corporation Commission

    • Optional. It records a business name publicly but does not give exclusive rights to it. Lasts 5 years; renew within the 6 months before it expires. [source]

      Agency: Arizona Secretary of State

    • The IRS issues EINs free. Sites that charge for this are third parties. [source]

      Agency: Internal Revenue Service

  • State and city tax licenses

    • Apply on AZTaxes.gov; the license number is issued the same day and the certificate is mailed in about 7–10 business days. Your city's tax license is handled through the same ADOR application. Exempt handymen generally don't need one. [source]

      Agency: Arizona Department of Revenue

    • If your business has taxable activity, you need both a TPT license that includes Chandler and the city business registration. ADOR collects Chandler's tax, so you apply through AZTaxes.gov. According to ADOR's Chandler city profile, the city license fee and renewal fee have been $2 since January 1, 2018. Chandler's retail rate is 1.5%. Since January 1, 2025, Chandler no longer taxes long-term residential rental income; short-term rentals and commercial leases are still taxable. [source] [source] [source]

      • Chandler city privilege tax license (via ADOR): $2 per year [source]

      Agency: Arizona Department of Revenue / City of Chandler

  • If you hire employees

    • Also required: workers' compensation insurance (paid entirely by the employer), reporting each new or rehired employee within 20 days, and E-Verify for all new employees. [source]

      Agency: ADOR and Arizona DES

  • Industry licenses

    • Generally required for construction work of $1,000 or more in labor and materials, or whenever a building permit is needed. Work under the exemption must be advertised as "not a licensed contractor." Lawn, garden, shrub and tree maintenance only is exempt. [source]

      Agency: Arizona Registrar of Contractors

  • Food businesses

    • Created by HB 2371 (2018): valid statewide, a separate license for each unit, renewed yearly; employees need food handler cards. Confirm current statute text, which may have been amended. [source]

      Agency: County health department

    • Apply through the county's online Permit Center; new construction or remodels need plan review (layout, equipment, plumbing) and an inspection before the permit is issued. Maricopa County adopted new environmental health fees (case ES-2025-004, approved by the Board of Supervisors August 19, 2026; new-application fees apply immediately, renewals at next renewal). Under the adopted Chapter 1 schedule (Rev 08/19/2026): plan review $728 for an eating & drinking establishment with 0–9 seats, $885 for 10+ seats, $919 for all other food establishments. Annual operating permits depend on seating and risk class: 0–9 seats $373 (Class 2), $393 (Class 3), $539 (Class 4), $514 (Class 5); 10+ seats $400, $556, $1,015 and $808. [source] [source] [source] [source]

      • Maricopa plan review — eating & drinking, 0–9 seats: $728 [source]
      • Maricopa annual permit — eating & drinking, 0–9 seats, Class 4: $539 per year [source]

      Agency: Maricopa County Environmental Services

    • Maricopa County annual mobile food permits (adopted Chapter 1 schedule, Rev 08/19/2026): Type I $290, Type II $341, Type III $610. Plan review: $306 for Type II; $300 listed for mobile food establishments. Apply through the county Permit Center with a menu, commissary agreement, toilet use agreement, unit photos and a route sheet or operating location; the county issues a permit card and a plate for the vehicle. Units already licensed under the state mobile food pathway have no county plan review. Chandler lists Mobile Food Unit among its specialty licenses (City Code Chapter 21). Chandler Fire requires an annual fire inspection for every mobile food unit operating in the city (Form 700), covering fire extinguishers, hood/suppression service, and LP gas or CNG systems; schedule it at [email protected] or 480-782-2120. [source] [source] [source] [source] [source]

      • Maricopa mobile food Type III annual permit: $610 per year [source]
      • Maricopa mobile food establishment plan review: $300 [source]

      Agency: Maricopa County Environmental Services, City of Chandler Tax & License, and Chandler Fire Department

  • City licenses

    • All businesses doing business from a Chandler location must register, including storefront, service, home-based, internet-based, kiosk or vending, warehouse and mobile businesses, and commercial property rentals. You need one registration for each physical location and each separate business entity. The fee is $45 for the first registration and $45 each year after, and the first year is prorated by the quarter you start in: 100%, 75%, 50% or 25%. Apply and pay within 45 days of your Chandler start date; the late penalty is 50% of the annual fee. Registration expires December 31, and renewals are delinquent after the last business day of January. Exempt: nonprofits with a current IRS letter, businesses that already hold a Chandler specialty license, casual sellers with four or fewer sales a year, one-on-one tutors or music teachers working from a non-commercial location, most independent sales representatives who aren't an LLC, corporation or partnership, and rideshare drivers. Sole proprietors and general partnerships must show proof of federal work authorization. Approval normally takes 10 business days. Apply at business.chandleraz.gov. [source] [source] [source] [source]

      • Chandler business registration: $45 per year [source]

      Agency: City of Chandler Tax & License Division

    • Chandler issues specialty licenses for peddlers, transient merchants, canvassers and solicitors; massage establishments; secondhand, pawnbroker, antique, junk and auction dealers; off-track wagering; bingo; sexually oriented businesses; escort bureaus; and mobile food units. Holding a specialty license waives the $45 business registration fee. Some fees from the March 2, 2026 Citywide Fee Schedule: peddler/solicitor/transient merchant — $50 application, $100 annual business permit, $50 annual individual permit and a $1,000 bond; massage establishment — $50 application and $100 annual permit; secondhand/antique — $50 application and $100 annual permit; pawnbroker — $300 annual permit; bingo — $5 one-time (Class A) or $25 one-time (Class B and C). Many of these also require DPS fingerprinting. Liquor licenses need a city recommendation: $200 application and $200 issuance, plus an annual city fee by series (for example, Series 12 restaurant $1,000). Short-term rentals need a city license ($250; renewal $250). [source] [source] [source]

      Agency: City of Chandler Tax & License Division

  • Zoning and home businesses

    • Every home-based business must have a business registration. Planning reviews the registration, so Chandler's Planning & Zoning FAQ says a separate zoning clearance application isn't needed. The city's home business conditions (Form UDM-035, revised 9-28-17) are: the work must be conducted entirely inside the dwelling, not in a garage, carport or accessory building; it must be carried on by a family member who lives there; and it must stay incidental to the home's residential use. No employees, students or customers may come to the home, other than limited parcel deliveries. No signs, outside storage, commercial equipment or displays are allowed. No on-site retail or wholesale sales are allowed, and inventory is limited to about the size of a small storage closet. One commercial vehicle may be kept at the home. City staff may inspect for compliance. Home childcare for up to 4 children is allowed without a use permit. [source] [source]

      Agency: City of Chandler Planning & Zoning

Not yet verified for Chandler: Chandler mobile food unit license fee and Chapter 21 operating rules (the code text was not fetched, and the fee isn't in the Citywide Fee Schedule sections reviewed); Chandler Fire mobile food inspection fee (none stated on Form 700); Whether the $120 Zoning Clearance fee (Fee Schedule §4.4.3) ever applies to home businesses (the P&Z FAQ says a separate clearance isn't needed); Building permits, certificate of occupancy and sign permits; Fire inspections for storefront businesses; State liquor licenses (Arizona Department of Liquor Licenses and Control).
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Sources