12. Complete the Lake Wales Business Tax Process
If the address is inside the city limits, you need the City's Business Tax Receipt before you open. Use the City's own forms on its Starting a Business page, not a third-party "Florida license" site.
- Where: Development Services, City Hall, 201 W. Central Avenue, Lake Wales, FL 33853. Weekdays 8:00 to 5:00.
- Business tax receipts and permitting: 863-676-5115, permitting@lakewalesfl.gov
- Planning and Zoning: 863-676-5112
- Fire Marshal: 863-678-4203
- City Hall main line: 863-678-4182
All of these, plus fees by business type, are in the Lake Wales business directory.
The steps
- Gather the packet. The City's requirements checklist says it must have copies of all of these before it will process an application: your lease, your EIN, your state license if your trade has one, your fictitious name or Sunbiz filing, and your Polk County Business Tax Receipt.
- Add the zoning details for your type of business. Retail and offices: a floor plan, the sales area and the total floor area. Restaurants: the type of service, what you will serve including alcohol, customer area square footage, maximum capacity, existing parking spaces and a proposed floor plan. Automotive and healthcare uses have their own lists on the same checklist.
- Fill out the Business Tax Receipt application. One form covers new businesses, ownership transfers, location changes and renewals. It asks for counts such as employees, seats and salon chairs, because those set your tax.
- Get the two required sign-offs. The form has a Planning and Zoning review section and a Fire approval section. Both are marked required. You call the Fire Marshal to schedule the inspection.
- Do any build-out the right way. If the space needs work, permits come first, and contractors must be registered with the City.
- Set up utilities. City water, sewer and garbage accounts are opened at City Hall and require a deposit.
- Pay the tax and post the receipt. The City says the application must be approved and the receipt purchased before the business opens.
Ask how long review takes when you submit.
What the City charges
The City tax is set by category in city code section 19-130. Common ones from the posted schedule:
| Business | City tax per year |
|---|---|
| Retail shop, boutique or gift shop: up to 4 employees / 5 to 8 employees | $30 / $60 |
| Restaurant or café: 1 to 25 seats / 26 to 50 / 51 to 75 | $30 / $40 / $60 |
| Take-out only / snack counter with no seating | $50 / $20 |
| Bar not attached to a restaurant | $100 |
| Salon or barbershop: first operator or chair, then each additional | $30, then $10 |
| Attorney, accountant, engineer, physician, architect: each | $60 |
| Real estate agent: each | $30 |
| Contractors, most trades | $60 |
| Cleaning, janitorial or lawn service, including 2 employees | $30 |
| Software, computer system design or advertising agency, including 2 employees | $60 |
| Anything not listed | $100 |
Several categories add $3 per employee above the number included. The City assigns the category, so treat this as an estimate.
Dates and penalties
- Receipts run October 1 to September 30. Renew by September 30.
- Late renewals pay 10% in October plus 5% for each month after, up to 25%.
- Operating without a receipt costs a 25% penalty on top of the tax, plus code enforcement.
- Opening mid-year: the code allows half price after May 1 and quarter price after July 15.
- A change of owner, business name or address means a transfer. The fee is 10% of the tax, between $3 and $25.
- Post the receipt in the business.
Who pays nothing
State law (section 205.055) exempts these people from local business taxes and fees, City and County both: honorably discharged veterans, their spouses and unremarried surviving spouses; spouses of active-duty service members relocated here on military orders; people receiving public assistance; and households under 130% of the federal poverty level. The exemption carries to a business they majority-own with fewer than 100 employees. Ask each office for the Request for Fee Exemption form. City code also exempts certain very small businesses run by owners who are 65 or older or disabled.
When the documents disagree
They will. The City's two-page "Opening a Business in Lake Wales" PDF was created in 2007. It describes a separate Certificate of Use step and sends you to a Tax Clerk at extension 274. The current application puts the zoning and fire sign-offs on the form itself and lists 863-676-5115. The code still calls that approval a certificate of use (section 19-107), which is why you will hear both terms.
When an old PDF, an old blog post and the current form conflict, the current form wins. Then call and confirm.