Monroe County Business License: Bloomington Rental Registration, Permits and Taxes

If you are searching for a bloomington indiana business license or a Monroe County business license, the first thing to know is that Indiana does not issue one general license that covers every business. What you need depends on what you do, where the property is, and whether you rent it to anyone. This guide covers the pieces that matter most for owners in Bloomington and the rest of Monroe County: the state filings that create your business, Bloomington’s mandatory rental registration and inspection program, the local permits and taxes that come with lodging and rentals, and the items we could not verify.

Anyone planning how to start a business in Bloomington, Indiana should expect two layers of paperwork: state filings with the Secretary of State and Department of Revenue, then local property rules from the city or county. Most of the costly surprises come from the local rental side, so read that section closely if you own or plan to buy a rental.

There Is No Single Business License in Indiana

The state’s Business Owner’s Guide says Indiana does not have one single, comprehensive business license. Depending on your business, you may still need one or more of the following:

• A profession-specific license from the Indiana Professional Licensing Agency, if your work requires one.
• A Registered Retail Merchant Certificate from the Indiana Department of Revenue for $25, if you sell taxable goods. The state sales tax rate is 7%.
• Local permits or zoning approval from the city or county where the business operates.

Your entity type also drives the state filing. The figures below assume an LLC. Confirm the fees on the Secretary of State’s INBiz pages before you file, because they can change.

Start With the State Filings

Your business has to exist on the state’s records before most local steps make sense. For an LLC, the core filing is the Articles of Organization, Domestic Limited Liability Company (State Form 49459). The filing fee is $95, and you complete and pay for it in a single online session through INBiz at inbiz.in.gov.

A few rules trip up first-time filers:

• Name: The name must include “Limited Liability Company” or an abbreviation of it, and it must be distinguishable from names already on record. Adding Inc. or LLC, changing capitalization, or adding punctuation does not make a name distinguishable. Search the state’s records at bsd.sos.in.gov first.
• Name reservation: You can reserve a name for 120 days for $10.
• Registered agent: Every entity must continuously maintain a registered agent and a registered office in Indiana. The office must be a street address, since a P.O. Box is not sufficient unless it comes with a rural route reference. A business cannot serve as its own registered agent.
• Assumed name (DBA): If you operate under a name other than your registered name, file a Certificate of Assumed Business Name (State Form 30353) for $20 per name online through INBiz.
• Business Entity Report: The report costs $32 and is due every other year, in the anniversary month of the date the business was formed. The first report is due two years after formation. Paper filing costs $50.

The Secretary of State does not publish a processing-time standard for formations, and no expedited option is listed for a domestic LLC. Plan for that when you set your opening date. If you are forming a corporation instead, the Articles of Incorporation (State Form 4159) carry the same $95 filing fee and the same $32 biennial report.

How the State Taxes an LLC

Indiana has no franchise tax. An LLC’s income passes through to its owners, who pay the individual adjusted gross income tax of 2.95% for 2026, scheduled to fall to 2.90% in 2027, plus their county local income tax. An LLC that elects corporate treatment pays the corporate adjusted gross income tax of 4.9% instead. The county local income tax depends on the county where the owner lives, which is why the Monroe County rate below matters if you live in Bloomington.

Bloomington Rental Registration and Inspection

If you own a rental in Bloomington, this is the requirement that matters most. Bloomington Housing and Neighborhood Development (HAND) requires all rental properties inside city limits to be registered and inspected. The one exception is property owned by Indiana University. The program ends in a residential rental occupancy permit and is governed by Title 16 of the Bloomington Municipal Code, the “Residential Rental and Lodging Establishment Inspection Program.”

The penalty for skipping it is real. An unregistered rental can draw a fine of up to $100 per day. Permits run three, four or five years, and the length depends on your inspection history. A clean record earns the longer term.

Inspection Fees

The fees below come from HAND’s Notice of Fees, amended 2/1/22, with inspection fees effective September 3, 2019. The notice is several years old, so confirm current amounts with HAND before you budget.

Property type	Inspection fee
Single-family detached	$105
Condominium	$105
Multi-family	$77 per building plus $28 per unit
Rooming house	$77 per building plus $28 per bathroom

Three other amounts in the notice affect what you actually pay:

• 25% reduction for a clean initial inspection. On a $105 single-family fee, that is $78.75 before any other charge.
• $50 no-show fee if you or your representative miss a scheduled inspection.
• $25 fine if the occupancy affidavit is not provided within 60 days.

Treat the 60-day affidavit deadline as a hard date. It is the easiest of these charges to avoid.

Occupancy Limits

In single-family zones, occupancy is typically limited to one family or three unrelated adults. The permit states the maximum occupant load for the property, and that number is the one to follow. If you plan to rent to a group of unrelated tenants, confirm your zoning before you sign a lease. A lease that exceeds the occupant load creates a compliance problem even when the rent is legal.

Short-Term Rentals: Unresolved, Confirm Before You List

Short-term rental treatment in Bloomington is unverified. Sources conflict on whether a short-term rental needs a residential rental occupancy permit, and we did not resolve the conflict. Do not assume the answer in either direction. Before you list a property on a booking platform, ask HAND in writing whether a rental occupancy permit applies to your address and use. Keep the reply with your records.

Short-term stays also raise lodging tax questions, covered in the next section.

Lodging, Food and Beverage Taxes

Monroe County’s innkeeper’s tax is the most important of these, and you should confirm it with the Department of Revenue before you collect anything from a guest. The Department’s county innkeeper’s tax table lists a 5% county innkeeper’s tax plus 3%, with the rates effective 7/1/90 and 7/1/93. The table does not make clear how the 3% applies to a given stay, so ask the Department to confirm the current combined rate and how it applies to your property.

A 1% county food and beverage tax in effect since February 2018 was reported in some sources, but we could not verify it. Do not price a food or drink operation around that figure until the Department of Revenue confirms it.

Monroe County Income Tax

The Monroe County income tax rate is 2.14% for 2026, per Departmental Notice #1 effective January 1, 2026. This is the county local income tax that applies to owners who live in Monroe County, on top of the state rate described above. How it applies to your specific pass-through income is a question for a CPA.

Permits: City or County, Confirm First

Local permits and zoning approval come from either the City of Bloomington or Monroe County, depending on where the property is. A parcel inside city limits and one in unincorporated Monroe County can follow different offices and different rules. Before you apply for any permit, confirm the jurisdiction for the exact address. A building permit for a renovation, a sign, or a change of use can carry requirements that a business registration does not.

We did not confirm specific Monroe County building permit fees or timelines for this guide, so check the current amounts with the office that handles your address.

Contractor Licensing

We did not find a City of Bloomington contractor license. Confirm with the City of Bloomington and Monroe County before you hire out work or perform it yourself. Do not treat the absence of a license we found as proof that none is required. Trades that the state licenses are a separate question, and they are not covered by a local contractor registration.

Starting a Business in Bloomington: The Order of Steps

1. Search the state business records for your name, then reserve it if you need time.
2. File the Articles of Organization or Incorporation through INBiz and appoint a registered agent with a street address in Indiana.
3. File a DBA if you will operate under a different name.
4. Confirm whether your business needs a profession-specific license from the Indiana Professional Licensing Agency.
5. If you sell taxable goods, obtain a Registered Retail Merchant Certificate for $25 from the Department of Revenue.
6. If you own a rental inside Bloomington city limits, register it with HAND, schedule the inspection, and calendar the 60-day occupancy affidavit deadline.
7. Ask HAND in writing about short-term rental treatment before you list the property.
8. Confirm the innkeeper’s and food and beverage tax treatment with the Department of Revenue.
9. Confirm local building, zoning, and contractor requirements with the City of Bloomington or Monroe County for the exact address.
10. Calendar the Business Entity Report, $32 every other year, starting two years after formation.

Where to Confirm Each Item

• Indiana Secretary of State, Business Services Division: in.gov/sos/business
• INBiz filing portal: inbiz.in.gov
• Indiana Department of Revenue: in.gov/dor
• Sales tax and business registration: Register a business with the Department of Revenue
• Indiana Small Business Development Center: isbdc.org
• SBA district office for Indiana: sba.gov/district/indiana
• Bloomington Housing and Neighborhood Development (HAND): rental registration, inspection fees, occupancy, and short-term rental questions. Find the current contact details on the City of Bloomington website.
• City of Bloomington and Monroe County: local permits, zoning, and contractor requirements.

When to Bring in a Professional

A single-family rental you live next to is straightforward. A multi-unit property, a rooming house, a short-term rental, or a business with both lodging and food service has several overlapping rules. For those, a Bloomington real estate attorney can answer the zoning and occupancy questions, and a CPA can work through the state and county income tax and the lodging tax treatment. The Indiana SBDC also offers free one-on-one advising for new owners.

Disclaimer: This guide is informational only. It is not legal, tax, or professional licensing advice. Rules, fees, and deadlines change, and several items above are marked unverified for that reason. Confirm every figure with the agency named before you file, pay, or rely on it. For decisions about entity structure, rental operations, or tax treatment, consult a qualified attorney or CPA.