The Business Wizard will help you navigate the maze of state and federal regulatory requirements affecting businesses in Idaho, including information on licenses, permits, taxes, and business registration.  

You will be asked questions about your business. Based on your answers, you will receive a customized checklist of agencies to contact and an explanation of why you need to contact them, along with phone numbers, addresses, Web sites, and hot links to forms you may need.

The purpose of the Business Wizard is to provide you with licensing, taxing, and regulatory information before you have a problem, not after. If you need more information before answering the Wizard questions, click the appropriate buttons on the left to find detailed information on taxes, employee issues, choosing a business entity form, and more. 

The Business Wizard contains information related to state and federal licensing and regulating requirements. Your business may be regulated by city and/or county laws specific to the area where you are doing business even if your business activity is not listed in the Wizard. Contact your local City or County Clerk or Recorder's office to find out if you need a local business license or permits. To find contact information for your city clerk's office check your local phone book or click here: City Clerks. To locate your county clerk or recorder's office visit http://www.idahovotes.gov/Clerk.htm or Access Idaho at http://www.accessidaho.org/aboutidaho/county/index.html and click on the appropriate county. 

We do our best to keep this site current when the federal government, Idaho legislature, city councils, county commissioners, and/or licensing boards change licensing requirements. However, WE MAKE NO GUARANTEE THAT THE LICENSING REQUIREMENTS SHOWN ON THIS SITE ARE COMPLETE. If you find omissions or errors in the Business Wizard, please let us know by clicking the E-mail Us button at the top of the page. 

Some of the forms referenced in the Wizard are PDF files. Therefore, you will need Adobe Acrobat software to access them. The software is free and can be downloaded by clicking on the icon to the right.

Note:  The Wizard uses a temporary "cookie" (see the statement below) to remember your selections. If your computer does not accept cookies, you may encounter problems completing the Wizard. If you have a problem, please e-mail us and we will complete the selections for you.

If your computer accepts cookies and you still cannot access the Business Wizard, you may need to check the Security settings on your computer and add Idaho Small Business Solutions to your list of "trusted" web sites. To do this, with your internet browser (such as Internet Explorer) open, on the menu bar at the top of the page choose "Tools," then "Internet Options," then "Security." Click on the "Trusted Sites" button and then on "Sites" and add www.idahobizhelp.org.

Click here or on the logo above to start the Business Wizard

COOKIE POLICY - While you are going through the Wizard to create your customized Checklist, we will attach a "cookie" to your computer. The purpose of the cookie is to remember your responses from one screen to the next. After you have completed the Wizard, the cookie is no longer used. We will never use your cookie for any purpose other than this internal process. If you are unfamiliar with "Cookies," visit the Glossary for a definition.