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Starting a business in Los Angeles, California

Every business operating in the City of Los Angeles registers with the Office of Finance for a Business Tax Registration Certificate. Renewals are due each February, and businesses under $100,000 in gross receipts can claim an exemption only if they renew on time. A business using a name other than its legal name files a Fictitious Business Name statement with the LA County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk and publishes it. Food businesses, food trucks and sidewalk food carts are permitted by LA County Public Health. Sidewalk vendors also need a StreetsLA vending permit.

Every item checked November 6, 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

    • Form your LLC or corporation online at bizfile Online (bizfileOnline.sos.ca.gov). The filing fee is $70 for an LLC's Articles of Organization and $100 for a general stock corporation. Filing in person adds a $15 handling fee; certified copies are $5 each and optional. [source] [source] [source]

      • Articles of Organization (LLC): $70 [source]

      Agency: California Secretary of State

    • File your first Statement of Information with the Secretary of State within 90 days of registering. After that, LLCs file every two years in the month they registered, and stock corporations file every year. The fee is $20 for an LLC; the Secretary of State lists the fee as $20 or $25 depending on entity type. The Secretary of State mails a reminder about three months before it's due; if you miss it, the Franchise Tax Board assesses a penalty. Watch for mailers from private companies that charge more to file it for you. [source] [source] [source]

      Agency: California Secretary of State

    • In California, fictitious business name (DBA) statements go to the county clerk/recorder in the county where your principal place of business is, not to the state (Business and Professions Code sections 17900–17930). Fees and filing steps are set by each county, so check with your county clerk. [source] [source]

      Agency: County clerk/recorder

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

      Agency: Internal Revenue Service

  • State and city tax licenses

    • Every LLC organized or doing business in California owes an $800 annual tax, even if it isn't doing business, until the LLC is canceled. The first payment is due by the 15th day of the 4th month after you file with the Secretary of State. LLCs with California income of $250,000 or more also owe an LLC fee, from $900 to $11,790 depending on income. LLCs get no first-year break now: the first-year exemption only covered tax years beginning in 2021 through 2023. Corporations owe the same $800 minimum franchise tax, but a newly incorporated or qualified corporation doesn't pay it for its first taxable year. [source] [source]

      Agency: California Franchise Tax Board

    • You need a seller's permit if you're engaged in business in California and sell or lease tangible goods that would normally be subject to sales tax at retail. This covers individuals, partnerships, corporations and LLCs, both retailers and wholesalers. The permit is free, but the CDTFA may require a security deposit, set when you apply. Register online through CDTFA's online services. Temporary sellers, such as seasonal sales, may need a temporary permit. [source]

      Agency: California Department of Tax and Fee Administration

  • If you hire employees

    • Register with EDD within 15 days once you pay more than $100 in wages in a calendar quarter ($750 or more in cash wages in a quarter for household employers). EDD runs California's four state payroll taxes: Unemployment Insurance, Employment Training Tax, State Disability Insurance and Personal Income Tax withholding. [source] [source]

      Agency: California Employment Development Department

  • Industry licenses

    • Since January 1, 2025, unlicensed people may do only minor work under $1,000, and only if the job needs no permit and they don't use workers. Bidding $1,000 or more, doing permit-required work, or employing workers requires a license from the Contractors State License Board. Ads for unlicensed minor work must say you're not licensed. [source]

      Agency: Contractors State License Board

  • Food businesses

    • Restaurants, markets and other retail food facilities must meet the California Retail Food Code, which sets building, equipment and operating requirements. The code is enforced by 62 local environmental health agencies, usually your county's, and CDPH only supports them. The same code covers mobile food facilities such as food trucks and carts (Chapter 10), as well as plan review and permits. Contact your local environmental health agency before you build out or buy equipment. [source] [source]

      Agency: County (or city) environmental health agency

    • California has two cottage food classes. Class A sells home-kitchen food directly to the public and must register with your local environmental health agency; its current gross annual sales limit is $75,000. Class B can also sell through restaurants and markets, needs a permit after an inspection, and has a $150,000 limit. CDPH doesn't register or permit cottage food operations itself. Only foods on CDPH's Approved Cottage Food List qualify, products must be properly labeled, and you must complete cottage food operator training within three months of registering or getting your permit. [source] [source]

      Agency: County environmental health agency

    • For an existing restaurant with no major construction, contact the Environmental Health District Office closest to you for a Public Health Permit. For a new restaurant or major work (renovating or adding to a food preparation area, including replacing or adding equipment or fixtures), contact the Plan Check Program at (626) 430-5560. Get local planning and building permission for the location (the County notes local rules such as grease interceptors and ADA compliance), prepare plans to the County's Retail Construction Guide with equipment, ventilation, water heater and finish specification sheets, and submit them to EH Plan Check and then to the City's building and safety office; construction can start after both approve. After the City's final building inspection, call Plan Check for the final health inspection. The permit is issued once the Public Health Permit fee is paid; the page does not state the amount. [source]

      Agency: Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, Environmental Health

    • LA County Environmental Health permits mobile food facilities (MFFs) and compact mobile food operations (CMFOs, such as sidewalk food carts). The Board of Supervisors approved new annual permit fees and categories, and new plan check fee categories, for MFFs and CMFOs on February 6, 2024, effective March 6, 2024, billed on the annual bill. The County's notice points to a separate fee schedule for the amounts, which could not be opened for this checklist. Plan check questions: (626) 430-5560. The County notice also describes a pre-approved Standard Plan that designers and manufacturers can use to build multiple CMFOs. The City's Economic and Workforce Development Department says sidewalk food vendors need a CMFO permit from LA County Public Health and food handler certification, and that a County subsidy may cover up to 75% of CMFO permitting costs, including inspections, subject to availability. [source] [source]

      Agency: Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, Environmental Health

  • Local business tax

    • The Office of Finance says all individuals or entities conducting business activities within the City of Los Angeles must get a BTRC; the City's Business Portal glossary says it is required if you physically conduct business in the City seven or more days a year. Partnerships, LLCs and corporations must also register or incorporate with the California Secretary of State, and the Business Portal advises confirming zoning and choosing your final address before registering, since changing it later means updating the registration. Online registration at latax.lacity.org is the fastest method; forms can also be emailed or taken to a contact center (City Hall, 200 North Spring Street, Room 101, or Van Nuys, 6262 Van Nuys Blvd. Suite 110). Have your SSN (sole proprietors) or federal EIN, a business activity description, legal and DBA names, your City start date, business and mailing addresses, and contact details. You get a temporary certificate or registration number right away; the permanent certificate is mailed (the Office of Finance says 4-6 weeks). Neither page lists a registration fee. The Office of Finance says the first year of business is not tax-exempt: that year's tax ("back tax") is paid at your second-year renewal, and certain classifications owe a minimum payment at registration (amounts not stated). Annual renewals are due by the last day of February, and a December notice explains how to calculate and pay. Businesses with global gross receipts under $100,000 can claim the Small Business Exemption, but only if they renew on time. The application also flags any Police, Fire or Tobacco permits your activity needs. [source] [source] [source] [source]

      Agency: City of Los Angeles Office of Finance

  • Business name

    • File online (apps.lavote.net), at a kiosk at the headquarters or a district office, at the counter with valid ID and a notarized Affidavit of Identity, or by mail to Business Filing & Registration, PO Box 1208, Norwalk CA 90650-1208 (checks payable to Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk; the County estimates 6-8 weeks by mail). Appointments are offered only at the Norwalk office. A notarized Affidavit of Identity has been required for all filings since January 1, 2014. List every owner; corporations, LLCs, LPs and LLPs must include a California Secretary of State printout showing current existence and good standing. The filing fee is $26.00 for one business name and one registrant, plus $5.00 for each additional name or registrant; a refile costs the same. FBNs expire 5 years from the filing date. The statement must be published in an adjudicated Los Angeles County newspaper once a week for four consecutive weeks, starting within 30 days of filing. [source]

      Agency: Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk

  • Zoning and home businesses

    • The City's Business Portal tells new businesses to confirm zoning and pick a final address before registering for a BTRC, because a later address change means updating the registration. The official City pages reviewed for this checklist do not set out Los Angeles's home occupation conditions or say whether a home business needs a separate zoning approval, so check with the Department of City Planning or Building and Safety before running a business from home. You still need a BTRC. [source] [source]

      Agency: City of Los Angeles Department of City Planning / Building and Safety

    • The City's Business Portal defines a Certificate of Occupancy as a document issued by the Department of Building and Safety (LADBS) verifying that a building complies with codes, laws and zoning and is approved for occupancy, and it advises checking zoning before you choose a location. If your business changes the use of an existing building, LADBS Information Bulletin P/GI 2026-021 (effective January 1, 2026) lists what to submit: one set of scaled plans with a dimensioned site plan, a parking layout (and parking analysis if more parking is needed), floor plan, equipment and fixture locations, general notes such as Health Department notes, disabled-access details, construction details, and copies of the existing Certificate of Occupancy and prior building permits showing the use and required parking. If the change can't be checked over the counter, submit three sets of plans for Regular Plan Check. The bulletin does not state fees. [source] [source] [source]

      Agency: City of Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety

  • City permits

    • Sidewalk vendors in the City need a City of LA StreetsLA vending permit. StreetsLA's FAQ says vendors must also have a City Business Tax Registration, a California seller's permit and, if selling food, an LA County Public Health permit; businesses that are already registered must tell the Office of Finance they are sidewalk vendors so their registration carries the L144 classification, which StreetsLA checks before issuing a permit. The City's EWDD page adds that sidewalk vendors register with LA County's Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO) for a Sidewalk Vending Registration Certificate, and that food vendors need a County CMFO permit and food handler certification. Fee: StreetsLA's original FAQ (from the program's January 2020 launch) gave the annual permit as $541. A June 28, 2024 Council District 4 release says the Council adopted an ordinance cutting the annual fee to $27.51, effective July 28, 2024. StreetsLA's current vending page could not be opened, so confirm the current fee with StreetsLA. [source] [source] [source]

      Agency: City of Los Angeles, StreetsLA (Bureau of Street Services)

Not yet verified for Los Angeles: City of Los Angeles business tax rates, minimum tax amounts and any registration fee (no official page reviewed lists amounts); Whether new businesses are exempt for their first two years: the LA Business Portal says most new businesses are exempt for two years, but the Office of Finance registration page says the first year is not tax-exempt and is paid as back tax at the second-year renewal; Los Angeles home occupation conditions and whether a home business needs a zoning approval (no official City page reviewed covers them); LADBS fees for change-of-use plan check, building permits and Certificates of Occupancy; LA County Public Health annual permit fees for restaurants and retail food facilities (the County fee schedule PDF could not be opened); LA County mobile food facility and CMFO permit and plan check fee amounts (the 2024 fee schedule could not be opened); The current StreetsLA sidewalk vending permit fee ($27.51 a year comes from a 2024 Council District 4 release, not a StreetsLA fee page); LA County DEO Sidewalk Vending Registration Certificate requirements and fees; Which activities need LAPD Police Commission, LAFD fire or tobacco permits, and their fees; Whether the LA County Registrar's FBN publication requirement applies to all filers (the FAQ text reviewed ties it to Corp/LLC filings).
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Sources