How to Start a Business in Panama City Beach, FL

General information, not legal or tax advice. Fees and rules change, so each step links to the official page. Checked against those pages on 5 October 2026.

Pick a structure

If you start selling and register nothing, you’re a sole proprietor. It’s simple, but you’re personally on the hook for the business’s debts. Many people starting small choose an LLC instead: it protects your personal assets in most cases, and profits still flow to your own tax return.

LLC: $125 to file in Florida ($100 for the articles of organization, plus $25 to name a registered agent). File an LLC on Sunbiz. The $160 total on that page includes two optional copies you don’t need.
Corporation: $70 ($35, plus $35 for the registered agent). It pays its own income tax and takes more paperwork. File a corporation on Sunbiz.
Partnership: the simplest way for two or more people to own a business together.

Every year after: an LLC or corporation files an annual report between January 1 and May 1, starting the year after it forms. It costs $138.75 for an LLC and $150 for a corporation. After May 1 there’s a $400 late fee, and a business that still hasn’t filed by late September is dissolved. File the annual report. To compare structures in more depth, read the SBA’s guide to business structures.

Register your business name

If your business name isn’t your own legal name, or your LLC’s or corporation’s exact registered name, register it as a fictitious name (a DBA) before you use it.

It costs $50 and lasts five years, through December 31 of the fifth year. Renewing costs $50.
Advertise the name once in a newspaper in the county where your business is based. You don’t send proof; you confirm it when you register.
If you stop using the name, file a cancellation within 30 days.

Get an EIN (your tax ID)

An Employer Identification Number is your business’s tax ID. The IRS says you need one if you have employees, or run a partnership, LLC or corporation. Anyone can get one for banking. It’s free, and a site that charges for it isn’t the IRS. Get an EIN from the IRS.

Register for state taxes

Sales tax: if you’ll sell taxable goods or services, or rent short stays like beach houses and condos, register with the Florida Department of Revenue before your first sale. Each location registers separately. Register online or on form DR-1, and your certificate number is ready about three business days later. Who registers for Florida sales tax.

Reemployment tax, once you hire: it applies once you pay $1,500 in wages in a quarter, or have someone working in 20 different weeks of a year. New employers pay 2.7% on each employee’s first $7,000 in wages, and employees pay nothing. It’s on the same application as sales tax. Reemployment tax, explained.

Get your local business tax receipt

This is your local permit to do business. What you need depends on where the business is.

Inside Panama City Beach

Every business in the city limits needs one. The fee is 1% of retail sales, with a $50 yearly minimum.
The year runs March through February, or October through September for professionals and contractors. Filing by the 10th of the month earns a 3% discount, and late filings add 8% a month.
The city checks zoning, building and fire rules first. Stores, restaurants, short-term rentals and professional offices are inspected before they’re registered.
Business Tax Division: 850-233-5100. Register a business in Panama City Beach.

Inside Panama City

Service businesses need an occupational receipt: $25 to $2,500 a year depending on the work. It’s due October 1 and good through September 30. A new receipt can be prorated.
Retail businesses also pay a 1% monthly merchant fee on sales.
Apply through the city’s online portal. If your trade needs a state license, include a copy.
Before you buy, build or lease, the city will look over the space for free: (850) 691-4603. Panama City business tax receipts.

Outside city limits in Bay County

Unincorporated Bay County has no local business tax receipt. State licenses, like a contractor’s, still apply. Bay County’s business FAQ. In another city, ask that city’s office.

Running it from home

Florida law lets a home-based business run in a residential area, with up to two employees or contractors who don’t live there. It still has to look like a home (parking included), retail sales have to happen in the house itself, and it still pays the local business tax. Florida’s home-based business law. Panama City adds its own limits: a home occupation can use up to 25% of the first floor, and retail sales, routine parcel deliveries and food processing aren’t allowed.

Check for a state license

Many trades need a license from the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR), including contractors, cosmetologists, restaurants and vacation rentals. A local tax receipt doesn’t replace it. On DBPR’s website you can see whether you need a license, apply for one, or verify someone you’re about to hire.

Selling food from home

Florida’s cottage food law lets you make and sell some foods from your home kitchen without a state food permit:

Only foods that stay safe without refrigeration or other time and temperature control.
Up to $250,000 in gross sales a year, counting everywhere you sell.
You can sell in person, online or by mail, but not wholesale, and only products stored at your home.
Every label shows your name and address, the product name, the ingredients by weight, the net weight or volume, any allergens, and this sentence in at least 10-point type: “Made in a cottage food operation that is not subject to Florida’s food safety regulations.”
Taxes still apply.

Above the cap, or for other foods, you need a state food permit. Restaurants need a DBPR license. Florida’s cottage food law.

Renting to visitors

State license: renting a whole home or condo more than three times a year, for less than 30 days at a time, needs a DBPR vacation rental license. That’s a $50 application fee plus $170 a year for one unit. Renting a room in your own home doesn’t need one. DBPR’s vacation rental guide.
Taxes: state sales tax (above), plus Bay County’s tourist development tax. Since October 1, 2026, the Bay County Tax Collector runs it, not the Clerk: register your rental with the Tax Collector or call 850-248-8555.
Inside Panama City Beach: you also need a city Vacation Rental Certificate, an inspection and the 1% business tax. Panama City Beach short-term rentals.
Unincorporated Bay County: you also need a county Short-Term Vacation Rental Certificate, renewed each year: $250 for the first inspection and $150 to renew. It covers buildings with one to four units; high-rise condos are exempt for now. Bay County’s short-term rental rules.

Then, get found

Once you’re set up, people need to find you:

A Google Business Profile is free, and it’s what puts you on Google Maps. Create one at Google. A home-based business can hide its address and show the area it serves instead.
Use the same name, address and phone number everywhere you’re listed (why that matters).
A website you own. Websites, explained covers what to look for, whoever builds it. Ours start at $500, or from $20 a month with no interest (the Special Website).
Free tools for day one: an invoice and receipt maker, a work schedule maker, and a five-minute business check-up.

Free help nearby

Florida SBDC (Small Business Development Center) helps small businesses get started and grow. Find your nearest SBDC office; the office at UWF is (850) 474-2528.
SCORE offers free mentoring. The chapter that serves Panama City is based in Jacksonville: SCORE’s chapter page.
Panama City reviews a space for free before you buy, build or lease: (850) 691-4603.
The local chambers and the economic development alliance are listed on Bay County’s economic development page.
Us: questions about getting online, even if you never hire us. Ask us.

Starting a business in Panama City Beach.