South Charleston WV Business License: Per-Category Licence Fees and the B&O-Funded City Budget

West Virginia has no general statewide business license. If you open or run a business inside South Charleston, the license that matters for most shops, service firms and contractors comes from the city, and its fee depends on your category. The city also funds its budget in large part through a gross receipts business and occupation (B&O) tax. This guide walks through the steps, the fees on the current city application, and the state filings you need alongside them.

This article is informational, not legal or tax advice. Fees and rules change, and the city's current application and rate sheet control. For complex situations, consult a qualified attorney or CPA.

Materials and information to gather first

• Your legal business name, plus your Secretary of State filing number if you have already formed an LLC or corporation or registered a trade name
• Your business address inside city limits and your planned opening date
• A written list of what you sell or do, so you can match it to a city category
• Your State Tax Division Business Registration Certificate number, once issued
• If you will sell alcohol on the premises, your ABCA license number and Special Permit number
• The current South Charleston municipal license application, revised 2026-06-24, from the Department of Finance and Administration
• A payment method for the fee, and the mailing details for Finance: P.O. Box 8597, South Charleston, WV 25303, phone 304-720-5985

License fees by category on the revised application

These are the fees printed on the revised 2026-06-24 application. Use the table to find the category closest to your work, then confirm it with Finance before you pay.

Category	Fee on the revised application	What to confirm
Service and All Other	$15	Most service businesses that do not fit a more specific category
General Store	$15	Whether your store qualifies as a general store
Beer, wine and club	Mostly $15	The exact category, and the ABCA requirement that goes with it
Retail liquor, Class A	$1,500	The application asks for your ABCA license number
Retail liquor, Class B	$500	The application asks for your ABCA license number
Theaters	$100	Whether your venue is treated as a theater
Hawker and peddler	$10 to $100	The fee is set by vehicle size
Itinerant vendor	$500	Whether your sales activity counts as itinerant

Confirm the fee for your category with Finance before you pay. Do not assume the fee for a neighboring category applies.

Step-by-step: getting your South Charleston license

1. Confirm the business is inside South Charleston. South Charleston is a separate city from Charleston. Charleston's forms, rates and rules do not apply here, and a Charleston mailing address can be easy to confuse with city limits. Ask Finance to confirm the address before you sign a lease or buy a building.
2. Form your entity or register your trade name. An LLC files Articles of Organization (Form LLD-1) with the Secretary of State for a $100 filing fee. Its name must include "limited liability company," "limited company," or an approved abbreviation such as LLC. A corporation files Articles of Incorporation (Form CD-1) for the same $100 fee. Both file their annual report for $25 between January 1 and June 30 each year. Filings after June 30 cost $75 because of a $50 late fee. Online filing runs through the WV One Stop Business Portal and adds a $1.00 processing fee. A registered agent is optional in West Virginia. If you operate under a trade name, individuals, sole proprietors and general partnerships file Form TN-1 with no fee. Other entities file Form NR-3 for $25, plus $1.00 online. All DBA filings go to the Secretary of State, not the county clerk. Start at sos.wv.gov/business, and see the trade name registration page for DBAs.
3. Get your State Tax Division Business Registration Certificate. Every business must hold one before it engages in business activity. The one-time fee is $30. You can file Form WV/BUS-APP or register online at business4.wv.gov. The certificate is permanent until your business name, location or ownership changes, and each fixed business location needs its own certificate. Registering with the Secretary of State does not replace it. Details are at tax.wv.gov.
4. Get the current city application. Call Finance at 304-720-5985 and ask for the form revised 2026-06-24. Do not rely on an older copy you find online, because its fees may not match the current schedule.
5. Choose your category and find its fee. Use the table above. If your business does more than one thing, ask Finance which category applies to your main activity before you list a second one.
6. Ask Finance for the B&O rate and the service fee. The city's B&O tax is a gross receipts tax, and it is the city's largest revenue line. Its budget for fiscal 2025 was about $14.25 million. The state B&O tax applies only to utilities, so a shop, contractor or service firm in South Charleston deals with the city's version. Ask Finance for the current rate sheet, whether your category changes the rate, and how and when you report and pay. The city also charges a municipal service fee. Ask for that rate, and ask whether it is charged per worker and how often it is due.
7. Complete the application. Answer every line. The form asks for your state license number, your ABCA license and Special Permit number if you sell alcohol on the premises, and whether you use city commercial refuse collection. Blank lines are the most common reason an application comes back for correction.
8. Set up sales tax if you sell taxable goods. The state sales tax rate is 6%. South Charleston has added a 1% city sales tax since 2016-07-01, so the combined rate is 7%. Register for a sales tax permit through the State Tax Division business registration page. Ask Finance or the Tax Division which of your sales are taxable before you set your prices.
9. Submit and pay. Mail the application and fee to Finance at P.O. Box 8597, South Charleston, WV 25303, or deliver it in person. Ask Finance whether your license is issued on the same day or later, and what proof of license the city will send you.

Statewide trade and alcohol licenses that sit on top

The city license does not cover trades that the state licenses. Check these before you advertise or take a job.

• Contractor Licensing Board: required for residential work above $5,000 or commercial work above $25,000
• State Fire Marshal: licenses electricians
• Division of Labor: licenses plumbers and HVAC technicians
• ABCA: licenses alcohol sales, and the city application asks for your ABCA license number
• WVDA: covers cottage food, hemp, kratom and pesticides

South Charleston sits in the Kanawha Valley chemical corridor. If your customers are plants or industrial sites, your work may fall under both state trade rules and city categories. Ask Finance how the city classifies work you do for those customers.

Expected results

If the steps above go smoothly, you should finish with a state Business Registration Certificate, a city license in the category that matches your main activity, and any entity, trade name or trade license your business needs. Many applicants find that the city step takes longer than the state steps, usually because the category or the B&O rate needs a call to Finance. Standard processing for an LLC filing with the Secretary of State is 5 to 10 business days, and expedited options are available for an added fee. Your timeline may differ, so plan your opening date with some margin.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Using Charleston rules. South Charleston is a separate city. Its forms, fees and rate sheet are its own.
• Treating the Secretary of State filing as your license. Forming an LLC or registering a DBA does not give you permission to operate in the city or the state.
• Skipping the state certificate. The $30 Business Registration Certificate is required for each fixed location, and it is separate from the city license.
• Confusing B&O with sales tax. The city B&O tax is a gross receipts tax levied by the city. Sales tax is a separate tax, and the combined city rate is 7%.
• Assuming the state B&O applies to you. The state B&O tax applies only to utilities.
• Filing an old application. Use the form revised 2026-06-24, and confirm the fee for your category before you pay.
• Selling alcohol without the ABCA paperwork. The city application asks for your ABCA license and Special Permit numbers, so have them before you apply.
• Missing the annual report. LLC and corporation annual reports are due each year between January 1 and June 30. Filing after June 30 costs $75 for an LLC.

Tips for a faster filing

• Call Finance once with your full list of activities, then write down the category, fee and B&O answers in one place.
• Ask Finance for the rate sheet in writing before you sign a lease or quote a customer.
• Start the state filings first, since the city application asks for your state license number.
• Calendar the June 30 annual report date as soon as your entity is formed.
• Keep copies of every filing, receipt and certificate with your business records.

For a business with employees, a multi-location plan, alcohol sales or a contracting license, a qualified attorney or CPA can help you sort out which filings and taxes apply before you open. This article is informational only, and it is not legal or tax advice.