My plan

Starting a business in Marana, Arizona

Marana requires a town business license ($60 to start, $40 a year) for businesses operating in town, plus specialized licenses for mobile food vendors, peddlers, massage, short-term rentals and a few other activities. Food businesses also go through Pima County's Health Department.

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 town tax license is handled through ADOR. ADOR's Marana profile lists a $5 city license fee and a $0 renewal, collected by ADOR. Marana's retail sales rate is 2.5% (2.0% on the part of a single item over $5,000), on top of state and county rates; contracting, utilities and communications are 4.0%, and hotels pay an additional 6.0%. [source]

      • Marana city tax license (via ADOR): $5 [source]

      Agency: Arizona Department of Revenue

  • 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

    • Food establishments in Pima County go through the Health Department's plan review before opening. Pima County lists plan review fees of $480 for a fixed food establishment and $230 for a mobile food establishment; a modified plan review is $66 plus a $56 pre-operational inspection. Annual operating permit fees are not stated on the pages checked. [source] [source]

      • Pima County plan review — fixed food establishment: $480 [source]
      • Pima County plan review — mobile food establishment: $230 [source]

      Agency: Pima County Health Department

    • The county provides the guide, a commissary agreement form and a commissary attendance report. Under the county's commissary policy, a mobile food unit must use a licensed commissary daily (food prep and storage, dishwashing, potable water, wastewater dumping); the notarized commissary agreement is renewed yearly with the unit's License to Operate and whenever you change commissaries, and the commissary files a monthly attendance report for each unit. [source] [source]

      Agency: Pima County Health Department

    • Required for anyone who owns, controls, manages or leases a mobile food unit operating in Marana. Have ready: TPT number, driver's license, photos of the unit, proof of a passed fire inspection in Arizona within the preceding 12 months, and copies of required Pima County health certificates. Fees: $60 new application ($40 refundable if denied), $40 annual renewal; fire and health inspections must be current at renewal, and changes must be reported within 10 days. Zoning: mobile food vendors must follow Town Code chapter 9-13; in residential zones, ice-cream-only vendors may operate on public rights-of-way, and others may operate on private property with the owner's agreement for up to six hours in 24. [source] [source] [source]

      • Marana mobile food vendor license — new application: $60 [source]
      • Marana mobile food vendor license — annual renewal: $40 per year [source]

      Agency: Town of Marana Finance Department

  • City licenses

    • Marana's Finance Department says all businesses conducting business within Marana must follow the Town Code; the Standard Business License covers any business that doesn't fit a specialized category (mobile food vendor, massage, short-term rental, peddler, sexually oriented business, transitional housing). New license: $60 per business ($40 refunded if denied). Renewal: $40 a year. Licenses expire annually; renewal invoices are mailed 30 days before expiration, and a late fee applies 15 days after expiration ($10 on the license page; the FY26 fee schedule says the greater of $10 or 25% of the annual fee). Operating with an expired license is unlawful. The application asks for your TPT number and EIN. Federally exempt/non-profit organizations don't need a license but must file a registration form. [source] [source] [source] [source]

      • Marana business license — new application: $60 [source]
      • Marana business license — annual renewal: $40 per year [source]

      Agency: Town of Marana Finance Department (Business Licensing)

  • Zoning and home businesses

    • A home occupation is an activity conducted by a resident for gain as an accessory use in the dwelling. Town Code conditions: conducted by a full-time occupant; no more than 25% of the dwelling's gross floor area; no more than one nonresident employee; no exterior display, external evidence or outdoor storage; parking on site and required residential parking kept; no more traffic than a typical residence; only one vehicle used for the business; no more than five clients a day and two at a time; no nuisances (noise, fumes, odors). Prohibited: auto repair and service, veterinary/kennels/pet grooming, commercial food preparation, mortuary, tattoo parlor, welding, and other uses not customarily incidental to a residence. The business license application has a section of yes/no questions for businesses in residential districts. No separate home occupation fee appears in the FY26 fee schedule. [source] [source] [source]

      Agency: Town of Marana Development Services / Finance

  • Regulatory licenses

    • Covers door-to-door or business-to-business solicitors and transient merchants (vendors at fairs, trade shows and special events are exempt if they don't go door to door). Requires a TPT number, government photo ID, a fingerprint card (available at Marana Police Department), the business license application and the peddler supplemental application. Fees: $60 new application ($40 refundable if denied), $22 background check, $40 annual renewal. [source] [source]

      • Marana peddler license — new application: $60 [source]
      • Marana peddler background check: $22 [source]
      • Marana peddler license — annual renewal: $40 per year [source]

      Agency: Town of Marana Finance Department

    • From Marana's FY26 fee schedule: massage establishment — $200 application plus $100 license (renews at $100/year); massage establishment manager — $75 application plus $50 license ($50/year renewal). Short-term/vacation rental — $60 initial, $40/year renewal. Temporary short-term vendor (10 consecutive days or less) — $20. Sexually oriented business — $500 (initial or annual), each employee $50. Liquor license applications (original, location or person transfer) carry a $500 town fee, in addition to state fees; special event liquor applications are $25. [source] [source]

      Agency: Town of Marana

Not yet verified for Marana: Full text of Marana Town Code chapter 9-13 (mobile food vendor rules on where and when trucks may operate in non-residential zones); Whether Marana's home occupation rules require a separate zoning permit beyond the business license review; Building permits, certificate of occupancy and sign permits for a commercial space (the license application notes these are reviewed, but requirements and fees weren't checked); Fire inspections for storefronts; Pima County annual food operating permit amounts; Arizona Department of Liquor Licenses and Control state fees; Massage therapist individual licensing (Arizona Board of Massage Therapy); Marana transitional housing license requirements.
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Sources