Vermont Liquor and Tobacco Licenses: Town Approval First, $115 Plus $115 for a First Class License and 8 Weeks at the State

If you plan to sell beer, wine or spirits in Vermont, the Vermont liquor license cost is the first number you will look up, but it is not the hardest part. Your town has to approve the application before the state acts, and the state step can take up to 8 weeks after that approval. A first class license costs $115 to the state and $115 to the town, or $230 total. Get the sequence right and the process is predictable. Get it wrong and you can lose weeks waiting for the next meeting.

How Vermont Liquor Licensing Works

Vermont has no general state business license. You register your entity with the Secretary of State, open a Department of Taxes account if you collect tax or withhold, and then add the licenses your activity requires. Alcohol licenses are issued through the Department of Liquor and Lottery (DLL), but a town has to say yes first.

Each town votes on two questions: whether beer, wine and ready-to-drink spirits licenses may be granted, and whether spirits and fortified wine may be sold. A No on the first question bars first and second class licenses. A No on the spirits question bars third class licenses (7 V.S.A. 201). The March 1969 result stands until a town votes otherwise, and a 5% voter petition can force a new vote (7 V.S.A. 161).

In a town, the selectboard acts as local control commissioner. In a city, the city council does. The clerk is the recording officer (7 V.S.A. 166). If the municipality voted at a warned meeting, commissioners can condition a license on entertainment or nuisance ordinances and can suspend or revoke it for violations (7 V.S.A. 167).

Vermont's 14 counties have no licensing or zoning role. Towns, cities and villages hold zoning and local licenses, and their processes differ widely, so your project starts with the town clerk.

What You Need Before You Apply

• A registered entity. Your LLC or corporation should be on file with the Vermont Secretary of State. Check your name in the Business Search. LLC filings cost $155 through the Online Business Service Center.
• A Department of Taxes account, if you will collect sales, meals and rooms tax or withhold. Register at tax.vermont.gov.
• A DLL portal account. Create it before you need to file, and keep the login with your other licensing records.
• Premises details. The street address, the type of service you will offer, and a zoning check with the town. Zoning sits with towns, not the state.
• Owner and officer information. Names and addresses, plus any details DLL or the town requests. Background checks may apply, as Essex Junction notes.
• Town contacts. The clerk's phone number, the meeting calendar and the town's payment instructions.
• Fee money. You will pay the town and the state separately, at different points in the process.

Step-by-Step: Getting Your Vermont Liquor License

1. Register your entity first. Form the LLC or corporation before you apply so the applicant name matches your Secretary of State record. An LLC name must end with a required designator, such as LLC or Ltd. Liability Co., or LC or Ltd. Co.
2. Check whether your license needs town approval. First, second and third class licenses need town approval, as do tobacco licenses and outside consumption permits. Several licenses do not: manufacturer, fourth class, farmers market permits, tasting permits, first class boat or railroad car, catering licenses, wholesale dealer, retail delivery, fortified wine permit and destination resort master license. Catering is on this list, so do not assume you need a town vote for it.
3. Find the next meeting date. Town approval happens at a meeting, so the calendar sets your timing. Brattleboro takes DLL applications at least 3 weeks before the next Selectboard meeting, which falls on the first and third Tuesdays. Stowe's Selectboard sits as the Liquor Commission on the first and third Wednesdays. Burlington routes applications through its City Council License Committee, which has a Local Control Subcommittee. Rutland City's liquor license year runs May 1 to April 30. Essex Junction sends applicants to the state portal and says local fees and background checks may apply, so call 802-878-6944.
4. File on the DLL portal. Applicants start on the DLL portal. Enter your entity, premises and license class carefully, since errors can delay the town review.
5. Pay the town directly. At this stage you pay the town, not DLL. Brattleboro's town fees are $115 for first class, $70 for second class, $15 for special event, $15 for catering, $50 for limited event, and none for third class, tobacco or outside consumption. Brattleboro payments go to the Town Clerk.
6. Get town approval. The commissioners act at the meeting, and the clerk records the result. Town approval is the town's sign off. It is not the license.
7. Pay DLL once the town approves. The state fee comes after the town step. For first class, that is $115. Second class is $70. Third class is $1,095 a year or $550 for six months, plus an optional $50 local processing fee on a stand-alone third-class application.
8. Wait for DLL to issue the license. DLL can take up to 8 weeks after town approval. You cannot serve alcohol until the application is approved and the license is issued, even if the town has already said yes.
9. Reapprove every year. Towns must reapprove first, second and third class licenses, tobacco licenses and outside consumption permits each year. Put the renewal on your calendar early.

Food trucks that serve alcohol need each town's approval, plus a license for each location.

Vermont Liquor License Cost: The Fee Schedule

These state fees come from 7 V.S.A. 204, as amended in 2023 and effective July 1, 2023. The statute sets first class at $230, but DLL's town clerk sheet splits that into $115 for the state and $115 for the town. At least 50% of first and second class fees go to the municipality. Confirm current amounts with DLL before you pay.

License	State fee	Notes
First class	$115 (plus $115 town fee, $230 total)	Needs town approval
Second class	$70 (plus $70 town fee, $140 total)	Needs town approval
Third class	$1,095 a year or $550 for six months	Optional $50 local processing fee on a stand-alone application
Caterer	$250	No town approval needed
Commercial caterer	$220	No town approval needed
Request to cater	$20	Confirm with DLL
Special event	$35	Brattleboro town fee $15
Outside consumption	$20	Town reapproval every year
Limited event	$250	Brattleboro town fee $50
Fourth class	$70	No town approval needed
Manufacturer or rectifier	$285	No town approval needed
Third class for a manufacturer	$230	Confirm with DLL

The fee schedule above does not include a tobacco license fee. Tobacco licenses also go through the town and must be reapproved every year. Brattleboro charges no town fee for tobacco, but confirm the amount and process with your town clerk and DLL.

Keep the Alcohol Tax Separate From the License Fee

The alcohol tax is a tax on sales, not a license fee, so it does not change what you pay DLL or the town. The state alcohol tax is 10%, and it is 11% in towns with a local option tax. Burlington and Rutland City collect their own. If you also serve prepared food, the separate 9% meals and rooms tax applies, and alcohol served under that tax carries the 10% rate. Register with the Department of Taxes for any tax you collect.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Assuming the state alone issues the license. The town votes first. Skipping that step stalls the whole file.
• Treating $230 as a state fee. Half of the first class fee goes to the town.
• Serving before the license issues. Approval by the town does not let you serve. Wait for the issued license.
• Missing the town deadline. In Brattleboro, applications are due at least 3 weeks before the Selectboard meeting. Missing that cutoff can push you to the following meeting.
• Calling 8 weeks your total timeline. The 8 weeks covers only DLL's step after town approval. Add the time until the town meets.
• Assuming catering needs a town vote. Catering licenses are on the list that does not require town approval.
• Forgetting annual reapproval. Towns reapprove licenses each year, so an approved license still needs yearly attention.
• Running a food truck on one approval. You need each town's approval and a license for each location.
• Letting the entity lapse. A missed annual report terminates a Vermont entity. Vermont does not use administrative dissolution, and the entity can be reinstated, but do not test that with a license on file. The LLC annual report is $45, due by March 31 for a calendar-year LLC.

Tips for a Smoother Application

• Call the town clerk before you file. Ask for the next meeting date, the fee amounts and the accepted payment method.
• Work backward from the meeting date. Count your deadline, then build in time to gather the paperwork.
• Ask whether the town has adopted entertainment or nuisance ordinances that could attach conditions to your license.

What to Expect: Realistic Results

A complete, on-time application puts you in a position to move through both steps without avoidable delays. That is what the process is designed to reward, but this guide cannot promise approval, a specific date or any particular outcome from a town vote. Your total timeline will likely run longer than the 8 weeks at the state alone. Plan your opening or event dates around the town calendar and DLL's processing window, and build in extra time.

Official Resources

• Vermont Secretary of State, Business Services Division: sos.vermont.gov/business-services
• Vermont Department of Taxes: tax.vermont.gov
• Vermont Department of Liquor and Lottery: find the official portal link through the state website
• Vermont Small Business Development Center: vtsbdc.org

For complex situations, such as a new bar, a change in ownership or a multi-location operation, consult a qualified Vermont attorney or CPA.

This article is informational only. It is not legal or tax advice. Licensing, zoning and tax rules change, and each town sets its own process. Confirm every fee and deadline with the named agency or your town clerk before you commit money.