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Business Licenses & Permits API
1. Summary
SBA.gov's Business License and Permit Search Tool provides small business owners with a list of federal, state and local permits, licenses, and registrations needed to run a business. When links to specific local licenses are not available, the tool returns local websites (when available) to point users to official resources for their local government agencies.
The API is RESTful and output formats are available in XML and JSON. There is a DTD for the XML output available.
2. Request Methods
By Category
- URL template:
-
http://api.sba.gov/license_permit/by_category/CATEGORY.FORMAT
- Example URL:
-
http://api.sba.gov/license_permit/by_category/doing%20business%20as.xml
- Parameters:
-
-
CATEGORY
-
One of the following (case insensitive, URL-encoded):
- doing business as
- Requirements for registering a fictitious business name or “doing business as” in all 54 states and territories.
- entity filing
- Requirements for registering a business’s legal structure (e.g. LLC, Corporation, etc.) in all 54 states and territories.
- employer requirements
- Registration and filing requirements for employers in all 54 states and territories.
- state licenses
- Business licenses required by state governments for each business type in the Licenses & Permits database.
- tax registration
- Requirements registration and permit requirements for 54 states and territories.
-
FORMAT
-
Either
xml
orjson
, case sensitive.
-
By State
- URL template:
-
http://api.sba.gov/license_permit/all_by_state/STATE_ABBREVIATION.FORMAT
- Example URL:
-
http://api.sba.gov/license_permit/all_by_state/ca.xml
- Parameters:
-
-
STATE_ABBREVIATION
- The two-letter postal code for the state. This is case insensitive.
-
FORMAT
-
Either
xml
orjson
, case sensitive.
-
By Business Type
- URL template:
-
http://api.sba.gov/license_permit/by_business_type/BUSINESS_TYPE.FORMAT
- Example URL:
-
http://api.sba.gov/license_permit/by_business_type/child%20care%20services.xml
- Parameters:
-
-
BUSINESS_TYPE
-
One of the following (case insensitive, URL-encoded):
Parameter values for retrieving data about specific types of businesses:
- General Business Licenses
- Auto Dealership
- Barber Shop
- Beauty Salon
- Child Care Services
- Construction Contractor
- Debt Collection Agency
- Electrician
- Massage Therapist
- Plumber
- Restaurant
Parameter values for retrieving data about specific employer requirements:
- Insurance Requirements
- New Hire Reporting Requirements
- State Tax Registration
- Workplace Poster Requirements
-
FORMAT
-
Either
xml
orjson
, case sensitive.
-
By Business Type, State & County
- URL template:
-
http://api.sba.gov/license_permit/state_and_county/BUSINESS_TYPE/STATE_ABBREVIATION/COUNTY_NAME.FORMAT
- Example URL:
-
http://api.sba.gov/license_permit/state_and_county/child%20care%20services/ca/orange%20county.xml
- Parameters:
-
-
BUSINESS_TYPE
-
One of the following (case insensitive, URL-encoded):
Parameter values for retrieving data about specific types of businesses:
- General Business Licenses
- Auto Dealership
- Barber Shop
- Beauty Salon
- Child Care Services
- Construction Contractor
- Debt Collection Agency
- Electrician
- Massage Therapist
- Plumber
- Restaurant
Parameter values for retrieving data about specific employer requirements:
- Insurance Requirements
- New Hire Reporting Requirements
- State Tax Registration
- Workplace Poster Requirements
-
STATE_ABBREVIATION
- The two-letter postal code for the state. This is case insensitive.
-
COUNTY_NAME
- The name of the county (or its equivalent), case insensitive, URL-encoded. County (or equivalent) name should including the word “county” (or “parish” etc.) For example, input Orange County, not Orange.
-
FORMAT
-
Either
xml
orjson
, case sensitive.
-
By Business Type, State & City
- URL template:
-
http://api.sba.gov/license_permit/state_and_city/BUSINESS_TYPE/STATE_ABBREVIATION/CITY_NAME.FORMAT
- Example URL:
-
http://api.sba.gov/license_permit/state_and_city/child%20care%20services/ca/orange%20county.xml
- Parameters:
-
-
BUSINESS_TYPE
-
One of the following (case insensitive, URL-encoded):
Parameter values for retrieving data about specific types of businesses:
- General Business Licenses
- Auto Dealership
- Barber Shop
- Beauty Salon
- Child Care Services
- Construction Contractor
- Debt Collection Agency
- Electrician
- Massage Therapist
- Plumber
- Restaurant
Parameter values for retrieving data about specific employer requirements:
- Insurance Requirements
- New Hire Reporting Requirements
- State Tax Registration
- Workplace Poster Requirements
-
STATE_ABBREVIATION
- The two-letter postal code for the state. This is case insensitive.
-
CITY_NAME
- The name of the city (or village, town or township), case insensitive, URL-encoded.
-
FORMAT
-
Either
xml
orjson
, case sensitive.
-
By Business Type & ZIP Code
- URL template:
-
http://api.sba.gov/license_permit/by_zip/BUSINESS_TYPE/ZIP_CODE.FORMAT
- Example URL:
-
http://api.sba.gov/license_permit/by_zip/child%20care%20services/90210.xml
- Parameters:
-
-
BUSINESS_TYPE
-
One of the following (case insensitive, URL-encoded):
Parameter values for retrieving data about specific types of businesses:
- General Business Licenses
- Auto Dealership
- Barber Shop
- Beauty Salon
- Child Care Services
- Construction Contractor
- Debt Collection Agency
- Electrician
- Massage Therapist
- Plumber
- Restaurant
Parameter values for retrieving data about specific employer requirements:
- Insurance Requirements
- New Hire Reporting Requirements
- State Tax Registration
- Workplace Poster Requirements
-
ZIP_CODE
- A valid five-digit ZIP code.
-
FORMAT
-
Either
xml
orjson
, case sensitive.
-
By Business Type & State
- URL template:
-
http://api.sba.gov/license_permit/state_only/BUSINESS_TYPE/STATE_ABBREVIATION.FORMAT
- Example URL:
-
http://api.sba.gov/license_permit/state_only/child%20care%20services/ca.xml
- Parameters:
-
-
BUSINESS_TYPE
-
One of the following (case insensitive, URL-encoded):
Parameter values for retrieving data about specific types of businesses:
- General Business Licenses
- Auto Dealership
- Barber Shop
- Beauty Salon
- Child Care Services
- Construction Contractor
- Debt Collection Agency
- Electrician
- Massage Therapist
- Plumber
- Restaurant
Parameter values for retrieving data about specific employer requirements:
- Insurance Requirements
- New Hire Reporting Requirements
- State Tax Registration
- Workplace Poster Requirements
-
STATE_ABBREVIATION
- The two-letter postal code for the state. This is case insensitive.
-
FORMAT
-
Either
xml
orjson
, case sensitive.
-
3. Response Format
XML Format
The XML response is well-documented in the XML DTD for this document type. The document root element's tag-name is <result>
, which contains the child elements <county_sites>
, <local_sites>
, <state_sites>
, <sites_for_business_type>
and <sites_for_category>
. Each record within the document is contained within one of these elements, consisting of a <site>
element which contains sub-elements as detailed in the JSON Format documentation below. Each of these sub-elements contains its relevant data as Parsed Character Data.
JSON Format
The JSON response consists of an object containing the following properties, each of which is an array:
- county_sites
- local_sites
- state_sites
- sites_for_business_type
- sites_for_category
Each one of these arrays contains zero or more anonymous objects, each of which represent a site. Each of these objects has the following properties:
Field Name | Description | Type |
Max. Length |
Possible Values |
---|---|---|---|---|
link_title |
Title of a link to a business license or permit resource. | String | 255 | |
description |
Description of the business license or permit resource. | String | 255 | |
url |
The URL for the business license or permit resource. | String | 255 | |
category |
This is a broad category label for licenses and permits required by all business types. | String | 50 |
Tax Registration |
county |
The name of a county (or equivalent) within a U.S. state or territory boundary. At this time, this value will always be empty. | String | 255 | |
state |
Two letter postal abbreviation for a U.S. state or territory. | String | 2 | |
business_type |
One of the standard business types to which business license and permit resources apply. | String | 50 |
Auto Dealership |
section |
Details of business licenses and permits applicable to a specific business_type. | String | 50 |
Disability Insurance |
resource_group_description |
Describes the business and permit resources that appear under a category or section (when not a null value). | String | 64K |