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Ohio splits the work in two. The Secretary of State creates the company. The Department of Taxation decides whether you may sell. If you plan to sell taxable goods or services, read this page before you open for business.
Is the LLC filing a license?
No. The Articles of Organization, Form 610, cost $99 and bring the LLC into existence. Our Ohio LLC guide covers the form and the fee. The state's LLC guide then lists a next step, which is to register with the Department of Taxation.
What is the vendor's license?
The Department of Taxation's sales and use tax page says Ohio law requires any person or business making taxable retail sales to first obtain a license. The page lists the vendor's license among its resources and states the sales and use tax rate: 5.75 percent. Counties and regional transit authorities may levy additional sales and use taxes, so the rate at your location can be higher.
We did not read the license fee, so we do not quote one. The vendor's license page has it.
How do you register?
The Department's business taxes page says to register for taxes through the Ohio Business Gateway or by paper application. Our EIN guide shows how to get your federal EIN.
Once you are registered, your returns follow the schedule the Department assigns. The page gives an example: a semi annual return is due by the 23rd of the following month after the six month period ends.
Where do you check a license?
The Department's sales and use tax page links to a list of active vendors, with separate instructions for the active vendor's license list. We did not run the list. For an entity check, use the search described on our Ohio hub. The state tax ID lookup page explains what numbers are public.
What about a trade name?
A DBA in Ohio is a trade name or fictitious name filed with the Secretary of State. It is a name filing, not a license. See the Ohio DBA page.
What this page does not cover
Professional licenses, city income tax, local permits, commercial activity tax and any industry license are not covered, because we did not read those pages. This is general information, not legal advice.