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Massachusetts Business License

Massachusetts Business License

Before applying for your Massachusetts business license, make sure that your business needs to be licensed. In this case Massachusetts business license lookup may help you to find it out. Find out what steps you need to take to run a business in Massachusetts. Also, learn how to use a Massachusetts business license lookup to verify if the business is licensed or not.

Do I need a business license in Massachusetts?

The state of Massachusetts doesn’t have a general Massachusetts Business license. However, many cities require to obtain a license to run a business. The regulations and rules vary depending on the city or region. E.g. in Boston, you should apply for a Business Certificate to the Boston City Clerk’s office. You will need to pay $65 and renew the certificate every four years. But in Worcester the Business Certificate fee is $50.

In Massachusetts, if you are going to sell products or certain services, you must register for a Sales Tax Permit.

You should apply to the Massachusetts Department of Revenue.

In general, only several services need to have a Massachusetts Business license or a Professional license. They are plumbers, cosmetologists, electricians and home inspectors.

The most important step to start a business is to choose the right business entity. The most popular type is Limited Liability Company.
Then you will need to choose a name for your business. And register it with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

After, get an EIN and Federal Tax Identification Number. This is issued by the Internal Revenue Service.

How much does a business license cost in Massachusetts?

As the state of Massachusetts doesn’t require a general business license, to start a business you should apply to the local City Clerk’s office for a Business Certificate.

Each city has its rules, procedures and payment regulations. For example in Boston you will need to pay $65 to obtain a Boston Business Certificate. But you cannot start a business in Springfield with the certificate issued in Boston. You should apply to the Springfield City Clerk for a Business certificate. And will need to pay $50 as a fee for the certificate, which is valid for four years.

But, besides the fees for the certificates, you will also need to pay $500, if you are going to register your business as an LLC. And $20 for the online application.

The payments for the other types of entities are different and mostly depends on your income.

How do I look up a business license in Massachusetts?

To find a business license in Massachusetts may help you MA business license lookup.

Or, you can visit the Massachusetts Secretary of State website and do the Corporation and Business Entity Search. Here you can find information about any corporation or business entity in Massachusetts you need.

You can go through this link and find the corporation or business entity you are looking for in the Massachusetts corporation registry.

If you want to find out if the company is registered only in Massachusetts or in other states also, you can visit to the National Corporation Directory and make multi-state search.

You may need to pay $25 to search within all 50 official Secretary of State databases.

Elen G

Elen G

Elen is an English-Armenian-Russian translator and interpreter. But recently she tested her skills in content writing. According to her words, it's her new passion. Elen finds it more interesting to make searches and write content rather than look through the dictionaries to find a good synonym for a word. She hopes, that she will succeed in this field too, and will continue to grow and learn every day.

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