Washington D.C. Business License

DC Code § 47-2851.03d

Businesses that have a basic business license in a different classification than the general business license typically do not need a general business license as well. Only businesses with elevator, retail cigarette, patent medicine, food product, or vending machine classifications will need to apply for the additional general business license. Nonprofit organizations generally hold a charitable solicitation license instead of a general business license.

To obtain a general business license, the organization must:

• foreign qualify
• obtain a tax registration or exemption
• obtain their certificate of clean hands
• obtain a certificate of occupancy if they have a physical presence in the district
• apply for the general business license

What is “Clean Hands”? (DC Code § 47-2862)
During the Basic Business License application process, all applicants must certify that no more than $100.00 is owed to the District of Columbia Government as a result of fees, penalties, interest, or taxes. This must be obtained in one of two ways: 

1. If you are a District of Columbia individual or business taxpayer, you must log-in to your MyTax.DC.gov account to generate the request. If you do not have a MyTax account and are required to pay District of Columbia taxes (business or individual), you must first create a MyTax.DC.gov account. Once the account has been created, you can utilize the self-service feature to execute the request.
2. If you are not required to pay District of Columbia taxes and require a Certificate of Clean Hands, a manual request can be requested here.

In either case, the Certificate of Clean Hands will expire 90 days from the date of issuance. 

Foreign Qualifcation

Businesses that are corporations, limited liability companies, partnerships, and in some cases, trusts, must be registered and in good standing with the Corporations Division. 

Registered Agent Requirements

Foreign entities, any business required to register with the Corporations Division, family trusts, general partnerships, and sole proprietors are required to maintain a registered agent.