My plan

Starting a business in Flagstaff, Arizona

Flagstaff requires an $8 annual city business license for each business location in city limits (with exemptions listed in City Code 3-01), and home-based businesses also need a Home Occupation Permit. Taxable businesses add Flagstaff (code FS) to their ADOR TPT license. Food businesses and food trucks are licensed by Coconino County Health and Human Services Environmental Health.

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

    • The City requires a Transaction Privilege (Sales) Tax License for taxable activity; apply, pay and file through AZTaxes.gov (ADOR). ADOR's Flagstaff profile lists a $20 license fee and a $20 renewal fee (Ordinance 2018-22 lowered the license fee from $46 to $20 and set the annual renewal fee at $20, effective January 1, 2019); the city's Sales Tax License page also states the $20 renewal. Rates effective July 1, 2025: 2.486% retail and most classifications, 4.486% restaurants and bars and hotels, 2.0% public utility right-of-way; use tax 2.486%. City tax questions: (928) 213-2255. [source] [source]

      • Flagstaff city tax license (via ADOR; renews at $20/year): $20 per year [source]

      Agency: Arizona Department of Revenue / City of Flagstaff

  • 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

    • New or remodeled food establishments need an approved plan before applying for a license; a new business in an existing space with no remodel needs a minor establishment plan. Submit a scaled plan showing plumbing connections, floor sinks and equipment, the menu, and spec sheets for food equipment. License types: Type 1 lower risk (bars, retail food, vending); Type 2 minimal assembly and same-day preparation (and mobile food units); Type 3 high risk (full food service, bakeries, catering, day cares). Co-located operations are charged for each component (for example a Type 3 kitchen plus a Type 1 bar). Some operations (certain home kitchens, qualifying bed and breakfasts) need a license waiver instead. Apply through the county's Environmental Health Portal. Food vendors at special events need a Special Event Vendor Permit (due at least 10 business days before the event) unless they hold a county mobile food unit or catering license. Fees are set in a separate county Schedule of Fees (Unified Health Code REG. 2-3-1). Environmental Health: (928) 679-8760. [source] [source] [source] [source]

      Agency: Coconino County Health and Human Services — Environmental Health

    • Coconino County licenses Mobile Food Units, Pushcarts, Food Peddlers and Catering, each with its own plan review and application in the Environmental Health Portal. Mobile food unit plans (to scale, with equipment layout, plumbing and electrical, water and wastewater tanks, hood and complete menu) are reviewed within up to 90 days (30-day completeness + 60-day substantive). After approval to construct, bring the clean, working unit for a licensing inspection with license fees, a signed commissary agreement (required at initial licensing and each renewal; a home can't serve as a commissary unless a separate commissary facility is built), restroom location and menu. Operating rules include: business name and vehicle number on the unit in 3-inch letters, license sticker on the rear upper right, all food sales inside the unit, food handler cards for all workers and a person-in-charge with food manager training, no homemade food. The county guidelines list plan review fees of $330 (Type 1), $430 (Type 2, includes mobile food units) and $480 (Type 3, mobile units preparing food onsite), and license fees per year of $235 / $280 / $390 year-round or $130 / $140 / $170 seasonal for food peddler units operating six months or less. Flagstaff's business license chapter has no general mobile-food exemption, so most trucks need the $8 city license; vendors operating only under a city special event permit, temporary use permit or sidewalk vending permit, or as fair vendors at permitted events, are exempt (§3-01-001-0003), and §3-01-001-0009 restricts selling food from vehicles in parks, at city facilities and on sidewalks. State law (A.R.S. § 9-485.01) lets cities restrict mobile food vendors at airports, transit facilities, in residential zones or within 250 feet of one, but bars cities from requiring buffers from restaurants, banning legal parking, or requiring a new fire inspection if the unit passed one by another Arizona city in the last 12 months. Coconino County mobile food fees ($480 plan review and $390 a year for a Type 3 unit that prepares food on site) come from an undated county guide; confirm current fees with the county. [source] [source] [source] [source]

      Agency: Coconino County Health and Human Services — Environmental Health / City of Flagstaff

  • City licenses

    • City Code Chapter 3-01 requires anyone operating a business in the city to hold a license and pay the annual fee before starting, unless exempt. A separate license is needed for each permanent location (one operated from a site 45 or more days in a calendar year); temporary locations and transient merchant activity also need a license (one license can cover up to five temporary locations). Exemptions (§3-01-001-0003) include governmental and federally exempt organizations, holders of certain other city licenses, franchises, short-term rental licenses, special event or temporary use permits or sidewalk vending permits, fair vendors at permitted events, casual or isolated sales, certain state-licensed insurance providers, designated caregivers, some food producers, licensed liquor wholesalers and registered residential rentals. Fee: $8 (User Fees §3-10-001-0008 lists "Business license – annual" $8 and renewal $8); the penalty for failing to obtain or renew is 50% of the fee, and operating unlicensed also requires the license fee for each year or partial year of operation. The license runs one year from the first day of the month you start and is renewed online through the city's Point & Pay portal. Licenses are nontransferable (a new owner or location needs a new license) and must be displayed. Apply by mailing or hand-delivering the application with the $8 fee, a Licensing Eligibility Form with proof of lawful presence (A.R.S. § 41-1080), your TPT license if applicable, and a Home Occupation Permit if home-based; incomplete applications are not reviewed. Review takes up to about 35 business days (15 administrative + 20 substantive). Business Licensing: [email protected], (928) 213-2231, 211 W Aspen Ave. [source] [source] [source] [source]

      • Flagstaff business license (annual; renewal $8): $8 per year [source]

      Agency: City of Flagstaff Business Licensing (Management Services)

    • Flagstaff's User Fees chapter (§3-10) lists: short-term rental license (City Code Chapter 3-12) $250 annual, with a $1,000 penalty for failing to apply within 30 days; commercial ground transportation $38 per taxi or per motor coach, renewed annually at $8; transient merchant approval $0 (transient merchants submit days, locations and photo ID at least one business day in advance); and a city liquor license fee of $815 each (City Clerk). Door-to-door solicitation is prohibited at homes posting "no peddlers" or "no solicitors" signs and before 8 a.m. or after 8 p.m. Special events have Fire Department fees (e.g., $114 special event inspection, $46 plan review) and Recreation application fees ($70.25 / $53.50 / $35.50 for A / B / C events). [source] [source]

      Agency: City of Flagstaff

  • Zoning and home businesses

    • Home-based businesses in city limits complete the Application for Home Occupation Permit along with the business license application, and may be subject to a home inspection. The permit must be approved in writing before the business starts (§10-20.40.070). Standards: the business must not change the residential character of the home and neighborhood ("the average neighbor would not be aware of the existence of the business"); conducted inside the dwelling, an accessory building or a garage; only residents plus no more than one outside employee coming to the home; no more than 20% of the dwelling's floor area (shared by up to two home occupations per residence); no on-site display or sale of stock (pickup of phone or off-site orders is allowed); no outdoor display or storage; signs per Division 10-50.100; no more traffic than is typical for the zone; no hazardous materials beyond residential quantities; no interference or noise audible beyond the site; no more than one vehicle or vehicle-trailer combination over 14,000 lbs GVWR. A change in use or the permit holder moving out ends the permit. Community Development: (928) 213-2147. [source] [source] [source]

      Agency: City of Flagstaff Community Development Division

    • Flagstaff's license application states that a business license does not authorize operations unless the business is properly zoned, has the required building permits and occupancy certification, and complies with applicable laws. Signs must comply with Zoning Code Division 10-50.100. [source]

      Agency: City of Flagstaff Community Development

Not yet verified for Flagstaff: Coconino County's current fee schedule for fixed food establishments (the Unified Health Code says fees are in a separate Board-approved Schedule of Fees, which could not be retrieved); call (928) 679-8760; Whether the fees in the undated Mobile Food Unit Plan Review Guidelines are still current; Home Occupation Permit fee (the application references a fee receipt but states no amount); Any Flagstaff city zoning or permit rules specific to food trucks (operating locations, temporary use permits) and the sidewalk vending permit requirements and fee; The city's TPT application fee amount (the Sales Tax License page mentions a city application fee paid to ADOR without an amount; ADOR's profile lists $20); Whether the $815 Flagstaff liquor license fee is annual, and state liquor license requirements (Arizona Department of Liquor Licenses and Control); Building permit, certificate of occupancy, sign permit and fire inspection fees; ADOR profile note 1 says the tax chapter was set to terminate November 4, 2024 unless extended by voters; later amendments suggest it continues, but this wasn't confirmed with the city; Current Coconino County mobile food fees (the county guide is undated).
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Sources