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Sandy licenses its own businesses through a Business License Office inside the Community Development Department at City Hall. It takes applications in person or by email, reviews them for at least 30 days, and renews commercial licenses every January 1 and home occupation licenses every April 1. This guide covers the Sandy-specific parts: the forms, the fee schedule, the inspections and the home business rules.
A business in Sandy needs a Sandy City business license, applied for at Sandy City Hall or by email to [email protected] on the form that matches your business. The city's FY 2027 fee schedule lists a $125 or $170 commercial base fee (two rates split at $50,000) and $20 per employee, and Sandy says every license takes at least 30 days to review. Commercial licenses renew January 1 and home occupation licenses renew April 1.
Sandy runs its own licensing. The Business License Office sits in the Community Development Department at Sandy City Hall, 10000 S Centennial Parkway, Suite 210, Sandy, UT 84070. Community Development is open Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The licensing line is 801-568-7252 and the email is [email protected].
This page covers Sandy only. If you are not sure which city your address belongs to, or you want the county-wide picture, start with our Salt Lake City business license guide, which explains how licensing is split between cities and the Municipal Services District. Sandy, like every city in the county, issues its own license for addresses inside its borders, so a Sandy shop does not use a Salt Lake City or Murray form.
Sandy asks you to call the office before you apply if you do door-to-door soliciting, mobile ice cream vending, or run a food truck, deal in firearms, sell or serve alcohol, run a massage therapy establishment, a pawn shop or second-hand dealer, a sexually oriented business, or anything temporary or itinerant.
The city's pre-application page lists the state paperwork it expects first. Register any assumed business name with the Utah Department of Commerce. A name that is just your legal given name does not need registering, but any other name does, and an LLC or corporation that also trades under a DBA registers the DBA as well.
If you sell tangible goods, rent real property such as a car or equipment, or charge entry fees, you need a Utah sales tax number. Sandy notes that sales tax is coded to the city where the business is first registered, so a business relocating to Sandy or adding a Sandy location will be asked to fill out a TC69C or TC69B form, which the city forwards to the State Tax Commission. If you will have employees, you also need an IRS employer number, a state withholding number, state unemployment insurance and workers' compensation coverage. If the state licenses your profession, the city may ask for a copy at application.
Pick the form that matches your business from the city's Forms and Applications page. It lists a Commercial Business License Application for businesses in a commercial zone, a Home Occupation Business License Application, an Alcoholic Beverage Business License Application, and update forms for businesses that already hold a Sandy license and are changing location, name or nature of business. Renters running a home business also need the Home Occupation Application Renter Letter of Permission form signed by the property owner.
Commercial and home occupation applications are submitted in person at City Hall or by email to [email protected]. Temporary licenses are the exception: those go through the Sandy Cityworks portal online, and the city says to allow at least 10 working days before you start business.
Sandy calculates your fees during review, so you do not pay a number you looked up yourself. You can pay in person or online. If the license is not granted, the city code says the fee is refunded except for one fourth, which the city keeps for processing.
Sandy states that all business licenses require a minimum of 30 days to review and process. Once your application is received it goes into Sandy Cityworks, where you can log in with the email address you applied with and check status. After the departmental reviews finish, you coordinate the inspections yourself. Your required inspections show on the Workflow tab in Cityworks under Check Case Status.
The city lists these contacts for scheduling: Building and Safety at 801-568-7251, Sandy Fire Department at 801-568-2938, South Valley Water Reclamation Facility at 801-566-7711, Salt Lake Valley Health Department for food at 385-468-3845 and for sanitation and safety at 385-468-4100, and Sandy Animal Control at 801-352-4450. A restaurant will touch most of that list. An office with no public traffic may only need a building or fire visit.
Under Sandy's code, the mayor approves licenses after the police chief, fire chief, chief building inspector and community development director or their designees have reviewed the application, and has ten working days to decide once the completed application and recommendations reach him. The code also says no license is valid if the business does not meet building, fire and zoning rules, and it lets the city deny or revoke a license for unpaid personal property taxes or state sales taxes. If you rent equipment in Sandy, our business personal property tax guide explains that bill.
If an inspection delay is holding up the license, the code lets the Business License Division issue a temporary permit valid for up to 60 days that cannot be extended. Ask the office whether yours qualifies.
These figures come from the 2027 column of the Consolidated Fee Schedule that Sandy posts on its Billing and Fees page (fiscal year 2027). The schedule lists two base fees for commercial and home occupation licenses, one labeled above $50,000 and one below $50,000. The page does not say what the $50,000 measures, so ask the office which rate applies to you before you budget.
Sandy also sets a $26 minimum for any license and caps a single license at $14,000.
| Fee | Amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Commercial base fee, new application | $170 or $125 | Labeled >$50,000 and <$50,000 |
| Commercial base fee, annual renewal | $170 or $110 | Labeled >$50,000 and <$50,000 |
| Home occupation base fee, new application | $155 or $100 | Labeled >$50,000 and <$50,000 |
| Home occupation base fee, annual renewal | $48 | Same at both tiers |
| Per employee | $20 | Includes independent and contract employees |
| Alcohol review, in addition to base fee | $209 | Alcohol renewal adds $157 |
| Massage review, in addition to base fee | $110 | New applications |
| Building inspection, if required | $22 | Code enforcement inspection is also $22 |
| Fire inspection, if required | $44 | Re-inspection after two inspections is $40 |
| Short-term rental or accessory apartment, new | $282 | Inspection included; renewal is $105 |
| Food truck, single location | $105 | Temporary or transient licenses are $170 |
| Duplicate or transferred license | $26 | Transfer adds inspection fees if required |
Commercial licenses renew every January 1 and home occupation licenses every April 1, effective through March 31. Short-term rentals renew July 1 and contractor licenses run July 1 through June 30. The city mails a renewal notice, and you can renew through your Sandy Cityworks account, in person at City Hall, or by mail. Partial payments are not accepted online.
Pay by card online and the city adds a merchant charge. Paying in person, by mail or by e-check avoids it. Alcohol licenses cannot be renewed online at all. If something changed during the year, such as your location, business name, nature of business or a partner or officer, file the Commercial License Update form or Home Occupation Update form before you renew.
Late fees are a percentage of your normal license fee: 25 percent when 30 days delinquent and 75 percent at 60 days. Operating without a license at all is charged at 100 percent of the normal fee. A license issued for less than a full year is prorated by quarter, and any part of a quarter counts as a full one. Display the license at your location where customers can see it.
Sandy's home occupation ordinance (Land Development Code 21-11-5) says every home occupation is licensed unless it is exempt, and every home business has to meet the same standards whether or not it needs a license. A license is not required unless the business creates more off-site impact than the household alone. The ordinance lists what triggers a license, including customers or clients visiting, exterior signs or advertising, a nonresident working on the property, business deliveries, business vehicles parked there, any inspection by the city, health department or Department of Agriculture, needing a state sales tax number, and using more than 25 percent of the dwelling. A bookkeeper working alone at a desk with no visitors is likely exempt. A tutor with students arriving is not.
To claim the exemption, the city publishes a Home Occupation Exemptions form. The owner has to be a bona fide resident who lives in the home more than six months a year and must show a signed statement and a government ID with the home address. Sandy does not allow a satellite office: an employee working from home for an employer licensed at another location does not qualify as a home occupation.
A standard Category I home occupation allows one nonresident full-time-equivalent worker on site at a time, with all business vehicles parked off the street. Visitors cannot come between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m., and traffic is capped at two business visitors per hour and eight per day, with no more than two business deliveries or pickups a day. The business can take up no more than 25 percent of the main or upper floor area, or 50 percent of a basement, and you get one unlit sign of one square foot or less.
If you cannot meet every Category I limit, you apply for a Category II conditional use permit from the Planning Commission before you apply for the license, and the home must be a single-family dwelling. Under a conditional use permit the visitor cap can rise to 12 a day. Sandy limits one person to two home occupation licenses per home.
Sandy bans these from residential addresses outright: mortuaries, veterinary and animal hospital services, medical, dental and chiropractic offices, auto repair and vehicle sales, boutiques, sample sales and craft shows, bed and breakfasts, kennels and pet stores, and businesses that need a fire or building code operational permit. Fitness or parent-child classes are capped at two clients at a time. A massage or energy-healing business is allowed only if the owner is its only employee and holds any required state license, one per residence. A renter needs the owner's signed consent letter.
Sandy publishes monthly lists of businesses that have applied for a license and periodic lists of businesses with a current license, so your name shows up in city records. That does not send you customers. Claim a free Google Business Profile with the same name and address you gave the city, and read our guide to setting up a Google Business Profile in Salt Lake County.
We publish The Salt Lake Valley, a free local newsletter, and we sell ads in it, so weigh this accordingly. As of November 3, 2026 it has 2,457 subscribers, and our monthly ad plans are $149, $179 and $539. A new Sandy shop announcing its opening is one of the things our ad plans are built for. A listing in our Local Directory costs $49 a month, and a 30 day post on our job board costs $49 if you are hiring for the opening.