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Starting a business in Glendale, Arizona

Glendale requires a $25 annual business license for any business with a permanent physical location in the city, including home occupations. Taxable businesses also add Glendale (code GE) to their ADOR TPT license. Glendale issues separate regulatory licenses for mobile food and many other activities, and 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

    • Since January 1, 2017 the Arizona Department of Revenue administers Glendale's sales and use tax; file through AZTaxes.gov. ADOR's Glendale profile lists a $35 city license fee and a $35 renewal fee. Glendale rates (effective August 1, 2012): 2.9% retail and most classifications, 3.9% restaurants and bars, 2.5% food for home consumption, 6.1% communications, and an additional 5.0% hotel/motel tax. [source] [source] [source]

      • Glendale city tax license (via ADOR): $35 per year [source]

      Agency: Arizona Department of Revenue / City of Glendale

  • 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 a construction/remodel inspection scheduled through the Permit Center. 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]

      • 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

    • Glendale licenses mobile food vendors through a separate regulatory application (Mobile Food Business or Mobile Food Individual packet). The business packet includes a Mobile Unit Registration Form listing each vehicle's make, model, VIN, plate and Maricopa County Health Department permit to operate number, and an acknowledgment that you have reviewed Glendale City Code Chapter 21 (licenses, taxation and business regulations). Late fees apply if you don't register within 30 days of your business start date; application fees are non-refundable. Questions: [email protected] or (623) 930-3190. Maricopa County annual mobile food permits (adopted Chapter 1 schedule, Rev 08/19/2026; ES-2025-004 approved August 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. Units that already hold a State of Arizona mobile food permit apply in the county where their commissary is located with a menu, commissary agreement, toilet use agreement, unit photos, a route sheet or operating location and the permit fee, and need no county plan review. [source] [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: City of Glendale Tax & License and Maricopa County Environmental Services

  • City licenses

    • Required for any person or business with a permanent physical business location in Glendale city limits, including Glendale Regional Airport. Each separate location needs its own license (except commercial rentals). P.O. Box and PMB addresses are not accepted. Initial license $25; annual renewal $25. A late penalty may apply if the initial application or renewal is more than 30 days late. Construction contractors located outside Glendale don't need a Glendale license. Before applying: confirm zoning with Planning & Zoning, check whether improvements need a building permit, get a Certificate of Occupancy for a commercially zoned location, and have a passing fire/life safety inspection within the last 365 days. Apply or renew online through the city's portal (ci-glendale-az.smartgovcommunity.com). Questions: [email protected] or (623) 930-3190. If your business is subject to TPT you also need an ADOR TPT license; it does not replace the Glendale license. [source] [source] [source]

      • Glendale Business License (initial; renews at $25/year): $25 per year [source]

      Agency: City of Glendale Tax & License

    • Glendale has separate regulatory application packets for: arcades; auctioneers; automated kiosks; bingo; carnivals, circuses, haunted houses or exhibitions; carriages for hire; consignment dealers; fortune tellers; herb dealers; junk dealers; large and small entertainment facilities; massage and bodywork establishments; mobile food (business and individual); off-track betting; open air markets; park and swap; park vendors; pawnshops; peddlers/solicitors; ride operators; secondhand dealers; sexually oriented businesses and performers; shooting galleries; and towing carriers. Liquor and special event licenses have their own pages. Lodging businesses and vacation rentals offered for stays under 30 consecutive days need a Vacation and Short-Term Rental License: $100 initial, renewed annually at $100. [source] [source] [source]

      Agency: City of Glendale Tax & License

  • Zoning and home businesses

    • A home occupation run from a principal residence in a residential district must obtain and maintain a Glendale Business License; attach the Home Based Business Questionnaire to the application. Class I standards: all activity and storage inside the residence (not in garages, accessory buildings or outdoors); only residents conduct the business and no outside employees visit the site; no customer traffic and no more than one commercial delivery vehicle a day; no offensive noise, vibration, smoke, dust, odors, heat or glare beyond the property; storage no more than 5% of the home's floor area and 10% of the garage or accessory building; no signs or exterior evidence; activity only 7 a.m.–10 p.m.; business parking on site; and a valid city sales tax license and business license. A business that can't meet the inside-only, residents-only or no-customer standards is Class II and needs a conditional use permit. Outdoor display or storage of building or landscaping materials, machinery, inoperable vehicles or other commercial items is prohibited unless a Class II permit allows it. Planning: (623) 930-2800. [source] [source]

      Agency: City of Glendale Planning / Tax & License

    • Confirm with Planning that the property is zoned for your business before applying. Ask Building Safety ((623) 930-2800) whether improvements need permits; send permit applications and plans to [email protected]. A commercially zoned location needs a Certificate of Occupancy before the license is approved; if no construction is needed, apply for a "No work C of O" and request it at [email protected]. The location must have a passing fire/life safety inspection within the last 365 days (Fire Department, (623) 930-4400). Missing a required C of O can delay license approval. [source] [source]

      Agency: City of Glendale Development Services and Fire Department

Not yet verified for Glendale: Glendale mobile food license fees and operating-location rules (the packet lists no amounts; ask Tax & License at (623) 930-3190); Fees for other Glendale regulatory licenses (not stated on the packets page); Amount of the Glendale late penalty for applications or renewals more than 30 days late; Whether a home-based business with no commercial location must also register a separate location (the city page requires a license for home occupations); Class II home occupation conditional use permit fee; Building permit, Certificate of Occupancy and fire inspection fees; Liquor license and special event license requirements and fees (Arizona Department of Liquor Licenses and Control for state licenses); ADOR's Glendale profile lists collection as both 'Self' and 'Department of Revenue', and shows an expired (Dec 31, 2014) amendment with a $50 renewal fee; the $35 figure is the currently listed fee.
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