Skip to main content
Home / Methodology
How the checklist works

Ask the right agency the right question

Your answers identify separate registration, tax, property and specialist-permit questions. Each step names the authority to contact and the fact you still need to confirm.

1. Describe the activity

“Retail” is not enough if the business also handles food, alcohol, tobacco, cannabis, firearms or regulated services. Those facts may introduce specialist agencies, so the general-retail checklist stops.

2. Identify the operating place

Formation jurisdiction, operating city, county, customer location and premises type are not interchangeable. This version accepts only a physical storefront in the City of Los Angeles.

3. Separate the agencies

City tax registration, state sales-tax registration, entity filing, employer registration and property use answer different questions. The checklist keeps them separate and ordered.

4. Keep open questions visible

A checklist item may apply, depend on another fact or require confirmation before signing a lease. An unanswered question is never presented as “you are compliant.”

5. Recheck before acting

Every source is dated. Confirm the current form, fee, address and instructions with the responsible agency before filing, paying, signing a lease or opening.