Which Vermont Towns License Businesses: Brattleboro $100, Montpelier $35, St. Albans $5 to $50, and Most Towns Nothing

If you are asking whether Vermont has a business license, the short answer is no. Vermont has no general state business license. Whether you need a license depends on what your business does and which town or city it operates in. Most Vermont towns do not require a general business license. Brattleboro is the exception among the towns we checked, and several other towns and cities license specific activities such as street vending, restaurants, hotels, taxis and entertainment.

This guide explains how to check your town, which state filings and tax accounts apply, and where people usually go wrong. It is informational content, not legal or tax advice. For a complex situation, such as several owners, several locations or regulated products, talk to a qualified attorney or CPA before you open.

Materials you need before you start

• The exact street address where you will operate, and whether it sits inside a village or city boundary. Essex Junction is a separate government from the town of Essex, so the address determines which clerk you call.
• A written list of your activities: what you sell, whether you prepare or serve food or alcohol, whether you sell from a vehicle or on a street, and whether you host live entertainment.
• Your entity type and proposed name. If you have not formed one yet, decide whether you plan an LLC or a corporation.
• The phone number and web page of the town or city clerk for each place you plan to operate.
• Your zoning district, which the town or city can confirm for you.
• A log sheet for recording the name of every person you speak with, the date and any confirmation number.

Step 1: Register the state pieces that apply

Vermont's state requirements are entity filings and tax accounts, not a business license. Start with your entity. An LLC files Articles of Organization with the Secretary of State's Business Services Division for a $155 filing fee. A corporation files Articles of Incorporation for the same $155. Filings made through the Online Business Service Center are normally processed in less than one business day. Mailed filings allow 7 to 10 business days. Vermont charges no expedited fee for business filings, so online filing is the fast path at no extra cost.

An LLC name must end with Limited Liability Company, LLC, Ltd. Liability Co., Limited Company, LC or Ltd. Co. You can reserve a name for $25 for 120 days, and the reservation is renewable. Check availability in the business search before you file.

If you will operate under a name other than your legal name, file an assumed business name with the Secretary of State within 10 days after you start business (11 V.S.A. 1621). Registration costs $70, reregistration costs $65, and renewal is required every five years. This filing goes to the state, not the town. The form is at sos.vermont.gov.

Step 2: Open a Department of Taxes account if you collect or withhold

You need a business tax account with the Department of Taxes if you collect sales or meals and rooms tax or withhold tax from employee pay. Vermont's 6% sales tax applies to goods and a short list of items, and it reaches almost no services. Handyman work, lawn care, towing and junk hauling are not taxed. Contractors pay tax on the materials they buy and do not charge it to customers.

Prepared food, coffee, bakery items eaten on the spot and catering fall under the separate 9% meals and rooms tax, and alcohol is taxed at 10%. Fifty towns add a 1% local option tax, so check whether yours is one of them. Short-term rentals owe the 9% rooms tax plus a 3% surcharge.

If you buy goods to resell, give your supplier Form S-3 to claim the resale exemption. Your sales tax account number does not replace that form.

Pass-through entities, including LLCs taxed as partnerships or S corporations, owe a $250 minimum annual entity tax, paid with Form BI-471 or BI-476. A disregarded single-member LLC does not owe it.

Step 3: Check for state-regulated occupations

Regulated occupations are licensed by the Office of Professional Regulation (OPR) or other state boards, not by towns. Vermont has no general contractor license, but residential contractors must register with OPR for jobs over $10,000. Electricians and plumbers are licensed by the Division of Fire Safety, not OPR. Confirm your occupation with the right agency before you take a job.

Step 4: Confirm whether your town licenses your activity

Towns, cities and villages license only what 24 V.S.A. 2291, their charter or a license ordinance names. The categories that most often reach small businesses are itinerant vendors, peddlers, door-to-door sellers and sellers from a vehicle, with farm produce excepted (2291(9)), and circuses, carnivals, plays, concerts and entertainments held for money (2291(11)). The same section also reaches signs (item 7), nuisances (item 14), flood hazard areas (item 25) and parking (item 26). A charter can grant more power. Williston's charter, for example, lets its Selectboard license by ordinance and set fees (24 App. ch. 171 sec. 8).

Step 5: Compare your town's fees

Use the table below as a starting point. Each figure comes from a town form, and fees change, so confirm every amount with the town before you budget.

Town	What it licenses	Listed fees	Notes
Brattleboro	General town business license	$100 for new and annual licenses	Confirm on the town page. Older fee figures are out of date.
Montpelier, Vermont	Restaurants, night clubs, theaters, drive-ins, hotels and motels, gas stations, dry cleaners, vendors, carnivals and shows, bowling alleys, indoor skating rinks, shooting ranges, auctioneers, junkyards, taxi cabs, trailer parks, rendering plants and blacksmiths	Restaurant, snack bar or deli $35; gas station $35; street vendor $250; weekend vendor $100; theater $100; hotel or motel of 40 to 75 rooms $75, or 70 or more rooms $100	From the city's license form. Confirm with the city.
St. Albans City, Vermont	Restaurants, hotels, motels and inns, theaters, taxis	Restaurant $20 for over 20 seats, $15 for 11 to 20, $10 for 6 to 10, $5 for 5 or fewer; hotel, motel or inn $35; theater $50; taxi $10 per vehicle plus $2 for the owner and $5 per driver	2024 forms. Licenses expire April 30. Confirm current amounts.
Winooski	Restaurants, peddlers, entertainment, trash haulers, sidewalk use	Restaurant $25 a year; peddler $25 a year; entertainment permit $25 a night, capped at $175 a year; trash hauler $60 plus $35 per truck; sidewalk use $2.00 per square foot	The fee table is undated. Check with the City Clerk.
Rutland City, Vermont	Restaurants, bars and peddlers; liquor licenses; outside consumption permits; signs	New sign permit $50, with no fee for a face change; other fees, check with the Clerk	The liquor license year runs May 1 to April 30. Outside consumption permits go through the Board of Control Commissioners.
Essex Junction	Solicitors, peddlers and street vendors	$25 permit, valid to December 31	Form updated February 26, 2026. Separate from the town of Essex.
Colchester	Amusement, carter and peddler licenses	Check with the Town Clerk	Issued by the Town Clerk
Brandon	Itinerant vendors	$25 a day or $100 a calendar year
Manchester Village	Itinerant vendors	$50	Separate from the town of Manchester
Burlington	Peddlers, vehicles for hire, liquor and cannabis	Check the city's license page
Waitsfield	Itinerant street vendors, under a 1985 ordinance	Check with the town	The ordinance calls for a state vendor license first. Farm products are excepted.
South Burlington, Bennington, Middlebury, Williston, Barre, Newport	Check with the town or city clerk	Check with the clerk	Williston's charter lets its Selectboard license by ordinance.

Step 6: Check zoning and local permits separately

A license is not zoning approval. A storefront or home office may need a zoning permit from the town, and some sites in a flood hazard area face additional review. Do not assume a home-based business is exempt from Brattleboro's license. Ask the town how it treats your specific activity before you open, and get the answer in writing.

Expected results

If you complete these steps, you should generally be able to tell, within a few calls, which town licenses apply to your activity, which state filings you need and roughly what the fees will be. Results depend on your town, your activity and the date of the fee schedule you receive. Treat the written answer from the clerk or agency as the one to rely on, and treat the table above as a starting point rather than a final figure.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Assuming Vermont or your town requires a general business license. Most towns do not. Brattleboro does.
• Filing an assumed business name with the town. It goes to the Secretary of State within 10 days after you start business.
• Treating a dog license from the town clerk as a business license. It is not one.
• Treating Essex and Essex Junction, or St. Albans City and St. Albans Town, as one government. Each has its own clerk and rules.
• Budgeting from an old fee sheet. Town fees change, and some schedules are undated.
• Missing the annual report. An LLC report is due by March 31 and a corporation report by March 15. A missed annual report terminates the entity. It can be reinstated, because Vermont does not use administrative dissolution.
• Charging sales tax on handyman, lawn care, towing or junk hauling services. Those services are not taxed.

Next steps

Contact each clerk in writing, ask for the current fee schedule and ask whether your activity needs a license. Save the answer with the date and the clerk's name. For help with state filings and planning, the Vermont Small Business Development Center and the SBA Vermont district page are useful places to start.

This article is informational only and is not legal or tax advice. Fees, deadlines and town rules change. Confirm current requirements with the Secretary of State, the Department of Taxes, the relevant town or city, and a qualified attorney or CPA for your situation.