Frequently Asked Questions

If your business is in unincorporated Snohomish county and has a Snohomish street address, please note that you only need a City of Snohomish business license if you do any business in Snohomish city limits. For example:

• A contractor with a job in Snohomish would need a non-resident City of Snohomish business license.
• A farm vending in the Snohomish Farmers Market would need a non-resident City of Snohomish business license.

Businesses in unincorporated Snohomish should not apply for general or home occupation business licenses.

If your business is in unincorporated Snohomish and doesn't conduct any business in Snohomish city limits, then you do not need any City of Snohomish business licenses.

Most business activities require a business license. If you are "engaging in business," as defined by SMC 5.02.015, you are required to first obtain a Snohomish city endorsement on your business license.

"Engaging in business" means commencing, conducting, or continuing in business, and also the exercise of corporate or franchise powers, as well as liquidating a business when the liquidators thereof hold themselves out to the public as conducting such business.

Without being all-inclusive, any one of the following activities conducted within the City by a person, or its employee, agent, representative, independent contractor, broker, or another acting on its behalf constitutes engaging in business and requires a person to register and obtain a business license:

1. Owning, renting, leasing, maintaining, or having the right to use, or using, tangible personal property, intangible personal property, or real property permanently or temporarily located in the City.
2. Owning, renting, leasing, using, or maintaining an office, place of business, or other establishment in the City.
3. Soliciting sales.
4. Making repairs or providing maintenance or service to real or tangible personal property, including warranty work and property maintenance.
5. Providing technical assistance or service, including quality control, product inspections, warranty work, or similar services on or in connection with tangible personal property sold by the person or on its behalf.
6. Installing, constructing, or supervising installation or construction of real or tangible personal property.
7. Soliciting, negotiating, or approving franchise, license, or other similar agreements.
8. Collecting current or delinquent accounts.
9. Picking up and transporting tangible personal property, solid waste, construction debris, or excavated materials.
10. Providing disinfecting and pest control services, employment and labor pool services, home nursing care, janitorial services, appraising, landscape architectural services, security system services, surveying, and real estate services, including the listing of homes and managing real property.
11. Rendering professional services such as those provided by accountants, architects, attorneys, auctioneers, consultants, engineers, professional athletes, barbers, baseball clubs and other sports organizations, chemists, psychologists, court reporters, dentists, doctors, detectives, laboratory operators, teachers, veterinarians.
12. Meeting with customers or potential customers, even when no sales or orders are solicited at the meetings.
13. Training or recruiting agents, representatives, independent contractors, brokers or others, domiciled or operating on a job in the City, acting on its behalf, or for customers or potential customers.
14. Investigating, resolving, or otherwise assisting in resolving customer complaints.
15. In-store stocking or manipulating products or goods, sold to and owned by a customer, regardless of where sale and delivery of the goods took place.
16. Delivering goods in vehicles owned, rented, leased, used, or maintained by the person or another acting on its behalf.

Per SMC 5.02.015(D): If a person, or its employee, agent, representative, independent contractor, broker or another acting on the person’s behalf, engages in no other activities in or with the City but the following, it need not register and obtain a business license:

1. Meeting with suppliers of goods and services as a customer.
2. Meeting with government representatives in their official capacity, other than those performing contracting or purchasing functions.
3. Attending meetings, such as board meetings, retreats, seminars, and conferences, or other meetings wherein the person does not provide training in connection with tangible personal property sold by the person or on its behalf. This provision does not apply to any board of directors member or attendee engaging in business such as a member of a board of directors who attends a board meeting.
4. Renting tangible or intangible property as a customer when the property is not used in the City.
5. Attending, but not participating in, a trade show or multiple vendor events. Persons participating at a trade show shall review the City’s trade show or multiple vendor event ordinances.
6. Conducting advertising through the mail.
7. Soliciting sales by phone from a location outside the City.

Additionally, per SMC 5.02.030, the following businesses are exempt from licensure:

1. Nonprofit activities carried on by religious, charitable, benevolent, fraternal, or social organizations.
2. Public utility companies.
3. Any instrumentality of the United States, state of Washington, or political subdivision thereof with respect to the exercise of governmental functions.
4. Garage sales conducted on residential premises in compliance with the City zoning code.
5. Businesses which are specifically licensed pursuant to other chapters in the Snohomish Municipal Code.
6. Businesses where the sale or contract for goods occurred on business premises outside of the City, and the only event occurring within the City was the mere delivery of the goods to the customer or client.
7. Consignors when sales taxes are collected and remitted to the state by the consignee.
8. Persons or organizations that provide three (3) or less rooms or apartments for residential use.

There are four main business license types:

• General business licenses are for businesses that maintain a commercial location (store, office, warehouse, etc.) in Snohomish city limits.
• Nonprofit business licenses are for nonprofits wishing to have a business license for their records, although nonprofit activities carried out by religious, charitable, benevolent, fraternal, or social organizations are exempt from the City's business licensing requirements.
• Home occupation business licenses are for home-based businesses in Snohomish city limits.
• Non-resident business licenses are for businesses based outside Snohomish city limits that conduct business inside Snohomish city limits. 

If you're not sure which license type is right for you, email info@snohomishwa.gov or call 360-568-1375.

Enter your business address into the City of Snohomish boundary map.

First, please note that the City of Snohomish is a Department of Revenue Business Licensing Service partner. This means that rather than applying for a license directly from the City, you can apply for a license through the Department of Revenue (DOR).

If your business is new, follow the instructions on their website for applying for a new business license.

If you already have a business license and need to add a City of Snohomish endorsement, follow their instructions on updating your business license.

Please note that the City cannot troubleshoot problems with the Department of Revenue application. For assistance, contact DOR directly.

Business license fees vary by:

• License type
• Total number of employees
• Reported gross annual income (for non-resident businesses)

You can review current fees on the Department of Revenue website.

Yes, each business location needs a separate license. To add a new location, follow the instructions on the Department of Revenue's website.

Since the City of Snohomish is a Department of Revenue Business Licensing Service partner, all updates to your business license should be made through the Department of Revenue. To learn more, review the Department of Revenue's instructions on updating your account information.

Follow the Department of Revenue's instructions on updating your account information. For assistance, contact the Department of Revenue directly.

No. After your business license has been issued, license fees are non-refundable.

Yes, per SMC 14.207.070, short-term, vacation, or transient rentals are allowed in the City of Snohomish.

Short-term rentals are a type of lodging sometimes called vacation rentals. A house, condo, or apartment (or a part of one) that is rented for a fee for fewer than 30 consecutive nights is a short-term rental. Examples of short-term rentals are those rented through platforms such as Airbnb and VRBO. 

To ensure compliance with the City and State regulations, all short-term rentals within the City must:

1. Have a business license to operate
2. Pay transient rental, hotel/motel, lodging, and other taxes as required for transient accommodations in the city pursuant to WAC 458-20-166.
3. Not use commercial spaces for short-term rentals.
4. Not provide any services beyond housekeeping between visits.
5. Not be rented to the same party for more than 30 consecutive days.
6. Only be rented to a single party. A party is a group of persons gathering for the same social purpose.
7. Be for the entire structure or for a self-contained living space within a structure. Only one self-contained living space within a detached single-family residence shall be rented at a time.

Please note that short-term rentals require a general business license, not a home occupation license.

Short-term rentals require general business licenses (not home occupation business licenses).

No. Cannabis dispensaries are a nuisance per SMC 9.100.030(C) and are thus an ineligible business activity per SMC 5.02.080.