#licenses
Track business licenses, renewals, and associated costs
Four states ban paid fortune-telling and Massachusetts requires a license. Price tarot readings and parties, track cash, and meet IRS quarterly tax rules.
Keep more than four breeding females and make one sight-unseen sale, and USDA licensing applies — plus Schedule C, the IRS hobby-loss test, and state sales tax.
A certificate of occupancy — not your lease — is what legally lets you open. Verify the CO matches your use before signing and budget the full fee chain.
Hot sauce is an FDA acidified food, so most states bar it from home kitchens. Budget $500-$1,000 for process review and training before your first bottle.
US private lending: business-purpose loans escape licensing and usury caps only if documented so, points count as interest, and IRS Section 166 rules bad debt.
A US contractor license bond protects the public and costs 1–3% a year; a bid bond protects one project owner and will never satisfy a state licensing board.
Louisiana's HB 953 dissolves the State Plumbing Board on January 1 — journeyman hours drop from 7,000 to 2,500 and the apprentice ratio rises to 1:3.
Backflow testers bill $70-$300 per assembly on a mandated annual retest cycle - track calibration, registrations and prepaid plans as their own ledger lines.
DC's 2026 Short-Term Rental Act would let renters host on Airbnb, but it isn't law yet. Budget a $99 license, $250K insurance, Schedule C and DC's D-30 tax.
EPA's RRP Rule fines uncertified firms up to $49,772 per violation per day — certify for $300, assign a Certified Renovator, keep records three years.
Portland raised its Business License Tax gross-receipts exemption from $50,000 to $75,000 for 2026 and $100,000 for 2027, the first update since 2007. Who qualifies, why exempt businesses must still register and file, and how to track revenue against the cliff.
Scotland's 2026 revaluation pushed almost 4,000 small firms off 100% Small Business Bonus Scheme relief while thresholds stayed frozen at £12,000. Here are the 2026-27 SBBS bands, the three transitional caps (15% general, 25% net for lost SBBS, 15% self-catering), and the short-term-let licence rules that void relief entirely.
