Sacramento County Finance Department

Sacramento County Online Business License Application

Welcome to the Sacramento County Online Business License application process.

BEFORE you begin this application, check to see if your physical location is in a "City" or in the "County unincorporated" area by clicking this link: unincorporated area. If you cannot determine if your business location is in the City or unincorporated area, please contact our office Monday - Friday, 8am-5pm, at 874-6644, press zero and give the Office Specialist your address.

Did you find you are based in a City? If so, please contact that City office for your business license. For your convenience, we have listed several City Business License website links and telephone numbers. Even though you are in a City, you may still require a Special License, please see the information below for Special License requirements.

Sacramento County issues business licenses to regulate businesses with a physical location based in the unincorporated area of the County (the areas of the County not within a city limits), such as but not limited to Carmichael, Fair Oaks, Orangevale, Antelope, North Highlands, Rio Linda, Arden-Arcade, Herald, Wilton and Elverta require a General Business License and certain business activities may require a Special Business License. In addition, certain specialized activities require additional Licenses.

If your business is based outside the unincorporated area or is based in another County, you may require a Special Business License for certain activities performed within the unincorporated area. The most common activities requiring a Special Business License include, but are not limited to the following: handyman, landscaping or gardening, housekeeping, mobile auto repair, towing, rubbish hauling, massage, work in an adult-related business, taxi and mobile food vending. All owners, partners, spouses listed on the license must be fingerprinted and photographed at the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Identification Bureau after your payment has been received and your license is processed by our office. You will receive a response email from this office with fingerprinting instructions.

At this time we cannot accept payments on line. Please see the license fee scheduled at http://www.finance.saccounty.net/Tax/BusLicFAQ.asp#A2. When you complete the application, the system will tell you the license fee based on how you answered the questions. Also a tracking number and the fee amount will be sent to you in a response email confirming your application was submitted.

DO NOT SEND YOUR CHECK OR MONEY ORDER UNTIL YOU HAVE RECEIVED YOUR TRACKING NUMBER.

If there are any questions about information you submitted or problems with your application, we will contact you.

Additional information regarding business licenses can be found by visiting our FAQ or Business License General Information pages. If you have any questions please contact the Business License Unit at (916) 874-6644, or by email at buslicense@saccounty.net

Prior to beginning the application, you may want to gather the required information that will be needed to complete the application process.

Begin the Online Application