City Ordinance requires that every person engaging in business within the city limits of Anacortes register their business; this includes home based businesses and out of town contractors. The City of Anacortes participates in a joint licensing program with the State of Washington Department of Revenue (DOR), Business Licensing Service (BLS). This combined licensing system allows the business owner to meet the local and state requirements with one transaction. The application and renewals can usually be done on line.

NEW APPLICATIONS
New businesses will fill out the Business License Application plus the City addendum.

• The fastest and easiest way to accomplish this is on-line. Go to http://bls.dor.wa.gov/ Follow the prompts and you will be directed toward all the forms and information needed to license your business. Payments on line can be made with a credit card.
• Paper forms can also be filed with the Department of Revenue.  The forms can be obtained from the Finance Department or downloaded from the DOR website.  Payment can be made with a check or money order.
• The paper forms for the City and the State license can be completed at any DOR field office.

RENEWALS are processed by the DOR
You will receive renewal notification from the DOR and you will make your payment to the DOR. They will issue a new Business License with Anacortes listed as a local licenser. The Business License should be displayed at the business location. For many businesses the renewal can be done on line.
Because the BLS uses a common expiration date for all your business licenses, your first renewal may be prorated to coordinate all the expiration dates. After that, the renewal will be the full $30 annually, plus the processing fee.

FEES A new City license is $30 per year. A new Business License is $15 plus $5 if you want to register your Trade Name. Renewals for City licenses are $30 plus a $9 processing fee. All fees are paid to the State Dept of Revenue.
The fees are detailed on the application forms.