Compliance Checklist – Salt Lake City, UT

The New Business Compliance Checklist is a Salt Lake City Corporation Finance / Business Licensing handout that lists, topic by topic, the licenses, registrations and agencies a person starting a business in Salt Lake City, Utah, should check, with an office address, phone number and website for each.

It is a reference list, not an application. Completing the checklist does not issue a license or register anything. Its topics include:

• registration of a business name with the Utah Department of Commerce, for persons or partners doing business under an assumed name;
• a state business license, which the checklist says is usually needed only by professionals such as CPAs, doctors and contractors;
• city and county business licenses, with the note that in Salt Lake City a Revenue and Regulatory License is required;
• the federal employer's tax number (Form SS-4 with the IRS) and Utah State Tax Commission tax information;
• minimum wage laws, workers' compensation insurance and unemployment insurance;
• child care licensing, health services, tobacco sales, alcoholic beverage control, zoning and property taxes;
• the Utah Bulk Sales Act when buying a business, criminal history disclosure through the Bureau of Criminal Identification, and import/export rules.

The printed date at the bottom is 8/13/2013, so phone numbers and addresses should be confirmed with each agency. The city's business licensing page says business license applications are accepted online only.

The checklist is written for people who are starting a new business in Salt Lake City and want to know which agencies and permits apply to them. It does not create an obligation by itself; each entry tells you which office to contact.

Groups the checklist singles out:

• Anyone doing business in Utah under an assumed name, who must register it with the Department of Commerce.
• Anyone paying wages to employees or required to file federal reports without a previous tax number, who must apply for a tax number on Form SS-4 with the IRS.
• Businesses with employees, which should look at workers' compensation and unemployment insurance (generally required in firms with one or more employees).
• Sellers of tobacco or cigarettes, sellers of alcohol or beer on premises, and operators of home or commercial child care centers, who deal with the agencies named for those activities.
• Buyers of an existing business, who may be liable for its debts and are told to seek legal advice about the Utah Bulk Sales Act.

Home-based businesses: the city's page says Salt Lake City does not require a business license for a business run from home unless it affects the neighborhood, and that a home business owner may still apply for one using the Home Occupation form.

The checklist has no due date and is not filed. Use it before you open, buy or move a business, so you know which registrations to complete first. Several triggers are named on it: a business name registration applies when you operate under an assumed name; a federal tax number is needed by every person without a previous tax number who pays wages to one or more employees or must file federal reports; and the Utah Bulk Sales Act matters when you are purchasing a business.

For the city's Revenue and Regulatory License, the application follows the process on the Salt Lake City business licensing page. That page says to complete the online application, pay licensing fees and have required inspections completed. It sets no timing in the checklist itself.

The checklist itself is not submitted to anyone: it prints no mailing address, portal or filing channel. It sends you to the agencies it names, each with an address, phone number and website, so contact the relevant office directly.

For the Salt Lake City business license, the city's page gives these channels:

• Online: apply through the city's online application. The Business Licensing Office says it only accepts online applications. Details are at https://www.slc.gov/Finance/business-licensing/application-process/.
• Kiosk assistance: you may come to the office for help at a kiosk by scheduling an appointment. The office is closed on all Federal and State Holidays.

A fee applies for registering a business name with the Utah Department of Commerce, and licensing fees apply to the city license. Ask the agency for current amounts; the checklist lists the Department of Commerce at (801) 530-4849. Home-based applicants who want a license upload the completed Home Occupation form, signed on both pages, during the online application.

FillingPDF lets you fill out and download the checklist PDF; any submission follows the agency channels above.