Business License:

Business licenses are required for all businesses within the City of Rogers. In order to obtain a business license an application must be completed and the following may be required:

• Certificate of Occupancy (CO) Inspection for the area occupied by the business. Inspection times may be set by the Building Inspection Department located on the 2nd Floor at 301 W. Chestnut, or by calling 479-621-1100.
• A sign permit is required and issued by the Planning & Transportation Department located on the 2nd Floor at 301 W. Chestnut.  For more information, please call the Planning & Transportation Department at 479-621-1186.
• If food service is a part of the business, an inspection by the Arkansas Board of Health is required. Contact the Benton County Health Department at 479-986-1300 for more information. The Food Establishment Assessment Report should also be submitted to the City Clerk’s Office before business license will be issued.
• Provide information showing the current zoning for the business location, which may be obtained from the Planning and Transportation Department located on the 2nd Floor at 301 W. Chestnut, or by calling 479-621-1186

The fee for a business license is based on the type of business and number of full-time employees as follows: 

Manufacturing (rendering raw or semifinished materials into finished products for sale): $50.00 plus $3.00 for each employee or owner working 25 hours or more per week.

Sales, including retail establishments not specified elsewhere in this article: $50.00 plus $3.00 for each employee or owner working 25 hours or more per week.

Professional services.  Services, unless subject to a higher tax in another category: $75.00 plus $10.00 for each employee working a minimum of 25 hours a week, plus $20.00 per owner or part-owner who holds an individual state license to perform the service. Such services include the following: Accountants; Advertising agencies; Architects; Attorneys; Banks; Savings and loan associations; Bail bonding firms; Engineers; Funeral directors or undertakers; Medical profession (all members); Insurance agents/brokers, stock and/or investment brokers; Pharmacists; Real estate brokers and agencies. (If an agency or broker allows salespersons selling realty under the agency's auspices with office space but does not consider them to be employees, the agency shall collect from the salespersons the appropriate tax and remit it at the same time they remit the tax due from the agency.)

Food:  Restaurants, cafes, diners, cafeterias or any place where food is prepared and served to the public:                                 

(i)   Minimum seats (one to nine): $50.00;
(ii)  Ten to 25 seats: $75.00;
(iii) 26 to 75 seats: $100.00;
(iv) Over 75 seats: $150.00.

Motels, hotels, boardinghouses, rooming houses and apartments:

(i) One to six units: $ 50.00; plus
(ii) Each additional unit thereafter: $3.00.

Catalogue houses whose principal sales are by fulfillment of orders from out-of-town warehouses: $300.00.

Self-service storage units:      

(i)  One to six units: $50.00; plus
(ii) Each additional unit thereafter: $0.50.

Services (other than Professional) $40.00 plus $10.00 per working owner and employee working a minimum of 25 hours per week

Payments are accepted in person with cash, check, credit/debit cards and by mail with check.

BUSINESS LICENSES ARE NOT TRANSFERABLE.

Home-based Businesses are allowed if one room of the home is used for the business (Service-type businesses) and has no display of goods.  Please contact the City Clerk’s office (479-621-1117) for details and specific information.

If moving a business from one location to another, please check with the Building Inspection Department on the 2nd Floor of Rogers City Hall at 301 W. Chestnut or by calling 479-621-1100 for a new certificate of occupancy (CO) inspection.  Provide the new CO to the City Clerk’s Office.

Business Licenses are renewed annually.

 Additional items that is required, although not a part of the City of Rogers’ business licensing process:

• State Tax Identification Number or Retail Permit issued through the Arkansas Department of Finance & Administration in Little Rock.

Applications for the tax ID are available at the Office of Field Audit, a division of the Department of Finance & Administration, located at 1501 S.E. Walton Blvd., Suite 213 in Bentonville. For more information, call 479-271-8108 or log on at www.state.ar.us/dfa.

For questions regarding starting a new business in Rogers, please contact the City Clerk’s Office at 479-621-1117.

Business License Application