How to Open a CBD or Hemp Shop in West Virginia: WVDA Retail Seller List and Product Registration

If you want to start a CBD shop business in West Virginia, expect a chain of registrations rather than one license. The state has no general statewide business license. What you actually need is an entity filed with the Secretary of State, a Business Registration Certificate from the State Tax Division, a retail facility registration with the West Virginia Department of Agriculture (WVDA), a product registration for every hemp product you sell, and whatever your city requires on top of those. Selling a product without the required permit is a misdemeanor, and repeated violations can become a felony, so the order and accuracy of your paperwork matter.

This guide walks through the sequence we would follow. It covers the state and city steps, the fees we can verify, and the points you still need to confirm with an agency.

Disclaimer: This article is informational content, not legal, tax or regulatory advice. Fees, rules and deadlines change. Confirm current requirements with the WVDA, the State Tax Division, the Secretary of State and your city, and consult a West Virginia attorney or CPA before you sign a lease, buy inventory or file.

Know Which Products the Hemp Law Covers

Hemp and CBD products in West Virginia are regulated by the WVDA under W. Va. Code 19-12E, including section 19-12E-12. They are not handled by the medical cannabis program. Many shop owners assume that only CBD oil and flower fall under the rules. The covered hemp-derived cannabinoids are broader than that:

• Delta-8
• Delta-10
• HHC
• THCp
• THCv
• Delta-9 THC, up to 0.3% dry weight

If a product contains any of these, plan on it being covered. Your product list and supplier documents should show the cannabinoid content for each item before you order. Medical cannabis dispensaries operate in a separate, closed market, and nothing in this guide applies to them.

Materials and Information to Gather First

Put these together before you file anything. Most delays come from missing paperwork, not from the agencies themselves.

• Your intended business name and a Secretary of State name search showing it is distinguishable from every registered or reserved name
• Your planned entity type: sole proprietorship, LLC or corporation
• The street address for every location, because each fixed location needs its own Business Registration Certificate
• A list of every hemp product you plan to sell, with the manufacturer name for each
• For each product, the approved label and certificate of analysis (COA) from the manufacturer
• Contact details for your city clerk and county zoning office
• A point of sale system that can record the 6% state sales tax, any city sales tax, and the 11% hemp tax separately
• A written age-verification process that stops sales to anyone under 21
• A bank account and a budget that includes filing fees, city charges and product registration costs

Step-by-Step: Opening Your CBD or Hemp Shop in West Virginia

1. Form your entity with the Secretary of State. If you choose an LLC, you file Articles of Organization (Form LLD-1) for $100. Most owners file through the WV One Stop Business Portal at business4.wv.gov, which adds a $1.00 processing fee. Standard processing takes 5 to 10 business days. Expedited options are available, each added to the filing fee: in-person same day $25, next business day $25, 2 hour $250 and 1 hour $500. Your LLC name must include “limited liability company,” “limited company,” or an accepted abbreviation such as LLC, L.L.C., LC or L.C. If you want to hold a name while you finish your paperwork, a name reservation costs $15 and lasts 120 days. A corporation files Articles of Incorporation (Form CD-1) for the same $100 filing fee. Forming the entity is a filing, not a license. It does not allow you to sell anything.
2. Register a trade name if your shop name differs from your legal name. A sole proprietor or general partnership files Form TN-1 with no fee. An LLC or corporation files Form NR-3 for $25, plus a $1.00 online processing fee if filed through the portal. Trade names are filed with the Secretary of State, not your county clerk.
3. Obtain your Business Registration Certificate from the State Tax Division. Every business must hold one before it engages in business activity, and it costs $30 one time. The certificate is permanent until your business name, location or ownership changes. You need a separate certificate for each business location. You can file on Form WV/BUS-APP or online at business4.wv.gov. Registering with the Secretary of State does not replace this certificate. The West Virginia Tax Division also covers your sales tax registration through its business registration page at tax.wv.gov.
4. Check city requirements before you sign a lease. The state does not levy a business and occupation (B&O) tax on a retail shop. Cities do. Your city may charge a gross receipts B&O tax, require a city business license and collect a weekly per-worker city service fee. A total of 101 municipalities currently add a 1% city sales tax to the 6% state rate, and that number rises to 107 on January 1, 2027. Ask your city clerk for the current B&O rate, the license cost and whether the 1% sales tax applies to your address. A location outside city limits may avoid some of these charges, but confirm that with the county before you rely on it. Zoning, occupancy and signage rules are local, so ask the zoning office for approval before you sign.
5. Register your retail facility with the WVDA. Every retail facility that sells hemp products must register each year, $100 per year. Online sellers must register too. The fee is waived only for shops that sell solely their own products, but those shops must still register. Registration is a yearly obligation, so calendar the renewal the same way you calendar your LLC annual report.
6. Confirm that every product is registered before you stock it. Manufacturers register each hemp product annually at $200 per product, with a cap of $1,000 per manufacturer. Before a product can be registered, its label and COA must be approved. Fiber and non-ingestible products are exempt from the fee, but they still need registration. The WVDA publishes a registered-products list and a registered-retailers list. Check that each product appears on the registered-products list before you put it on a shelf or into your online catalog, and keep a dated copy of the listing in your records.
7. Set up tax collection and the 11% hemp tax. Hemp-derived cannabinoids carry an 11% privilege tax on the retail price, known as the HKT tax. It is added on top of regular sales tax and filed with the State Tax Division. Set your point of sale system so that the HKT tax is recorded separately from ordinary sales tax. Confirm with the Tax Division how the tax base is calculated and how often you must file, because those details affect your pricing and your returns.
8. Enforce the 21 and older rule. West Virginia bars sales to anyone under 21. Check a valid government-issued photo ID for every in-store sale, and set a clear process for online orders, including how you verify age at delivery. Train every employee on the rule before opening, and keep a written log of training. A single sale to a minor creates serious risk for your registration and your business.
9. Write labels and marketing that avoid disease claims. The FDA has not approved CBD as a dietary supplement or as a food additive. Describe products in terms of general use or how a customer may choose to use them. Do not say that a product treats, cures or prevents any disease, and check every label and web page against the approved label on file with the WVDA.

Filings, Fees and Renewal Dates at a Glance

Use this table to set up your calendar. Confirm each amount with the agency named before you pay.

Filing	Who files it	Cost	Timing	Agency
LLC Articles of Organization (LLD-1)	LLC owners	$100	Once, before operating	Secretary of State
Annual report	LLC owners	$25; $75 if filed after June 30 because of a $50 late fee	Between January 1 and June 30 each year, starting the year after registration	Secretary of State
Trade name (DBA)	Shops using a name other than the legal name	No fee for individuals, sole proprietors and general partnerships; $25 for other entities, plus $1.00 online	Once, before using the name	Secretary of State
Business Registration Certificate	Every business, for each location	$30	One time; permanent until name, location or ownership changes	State Tax Division
Retail facility registration	Every shop and online seller	$100, waived only for shops selling solely their own products, which must still register	Annual	WVDA
Hemp product registration	Each manufacturer, per product	$200 per product, capped at $1,000 per manufacturer; fiber and non-ingestible products exempt from the fee	Annual	WVDA
Name reservation	Optional, before filing	$15, held for 120 days	Once	Secretary of State

What Results to Expect

Completing these steps in order may help you open with a clean compliance record, and it may reduce the chance of a stock hold or a forced product removal. Those outcomes depend on your suppliers, your city and how carefully you run the shop, so treat them as possibilities rather than promises.

Registration tells you that a product went through the state’s required review of its label and certificate of analysis. It does not establish that a product is safe for any use, that it has any particular effect, or that it treats or prevents any condition. Your marketing, staff recommendations and in-store signs should match that limit. If a customer asks about a medical use, the safe answer is that you cannot advise on health conditions and they should speak with their doctor.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Treating the Secretary of State filing as your license. An LLC or corporation filing does not authorize you to sell hemp products. You still need the Business Registration Certificate, the WVDA registrations and any city license.
• Stocking products before checking the registered-products list. Your supplier’s word is not enough. Check the WVDA list yourself and save a dated copy.
• Assuming your supplier’s registration covers your shop. The manufacturer registers its products. Your retail facility must register separately, and that obligation applies to online sellers as well.
• Skipping retail registration because you sell only your own brand. The fee may be waived, but the registration still has to be filed.
• Forgetting the 11% hemp tax. Pricing that ignores the HKT tax leaves you short at filing time. Build it into your point of sale setup from day one.
• Missing the June 30 annual report deadline. A late LLC annual report costs $75 rather than $25, because of the $50 late fee.
• Assuming a county address avoids every city charge. Confirm the B&O, license and sales tax treatment with the city or county for your exact address.
• Mixing in rules from another state. Use only West Virginia agencies, statutes and city offices. Advice that works in a neighboring state may not apply here.
• Making health claims on labels or signs. Avoid any claim that a product treats, cures or prevents a disease.

Practical Tips Before You Open

• Call the WVDA and the State Tax Division before you buy inventory, and write down the name of each person you speak with and the date.
• Keep a product binder with the approved label, COA and WVDA listing for every SKU, and review it each month.
• Ask your city about the B&O rate, license cost and zoning before you sign a lease. Those answers can change which location makes sense.
• Set calendar reminders for the LLC annual report window, which closes June 30, and for each WVDA renewal.
• Use the West Virginia Small Business Development Center at wvsbdc.com for help with business planning and the steps in this guide.
• Have a West Virginia attorney review your entity choice, your lease and your supplier contracts. A CPA can confirm how the HKT tax and sales tax apply to your pricing.

Where to Confirm Current Requirements

Check each figure against the official source before you act:

• West Virginia Secretary of State, business filings: https://sos.wv.gov/business
• WV One Stop Business Portal, online filings: https://business4.wv.gov/
• West Virginia Tax Division: https://tax.wv.gov/
• Business registration through the Tax Division: https://tax.wv.gov/Business/BusinessRegistration/Pages/BusinessRegistration.aspx
• West Virginia Small Business Development Center: https://wvsbdc.com/
• West Virginia Department of Agriculture: search for its hemp retail registration and registered-products pages, since those lists change more often than this article can track.

Opening a CBD or hemp shop is manageable when you sequence the paperwork correctly and verify every product before it reaches a customer. Work through the state filings, then the city, then the WVDA, and keep a dated record of each approval. As a reminder, this article is informational content, not legal or tax advice. Confirm each step with the agency named, and consult a qualified West Virginia attorney or CPA for your specific situation.