Business Licenses

The City of Sevierville is authorized to collect a tax on the privilege of conducting a business within the city limits.  Every business owner must complete an application and pay the $15 fee to obtain a business license.  Applications are also available in our office and on the State of Tennessee website at www.tennessee.gov/revenue.  A separate county license must be obtained at the Sevier County Clerk at (865) 453-5502 or at www.seviercountytn.org.

Please verify if you are in the Sevierville city limits by visiting our Sevierville City Limits Verification Map.

If you are outside the city limits, determine your location and contact your jurisdiction at:

• Sevier County: 865-453-5502
• Pigeon Forge: 865-453-9061
• Gatlinburg: 865-436-1400

For a city business license, the application and fee of $15 must be received by the finance department no later than 20 days after commencement of a business.  In addition, a business license must be closed out with the State of Tennessee within 15 days after the closing of a business.  Extra penalty and interest will accrue upon the opening or closing of a business license, if not recorded in the timeline specified.

The business owner must be able to provide a state sales tax number or a tax ID number.  Businesses are divided into one of four classes, depending upon what services or goods the business provides.  The rate of retail and/or wholesale tax and the renewal date for each business holding a city license will depend upon the class in which they are placed, and range from 1/10 to 1/40 of 1% of taxable sales.

The business owner will pay to the State of Tennessee the gross receipts tax at the end of the license period, and a new license will be issued. A penalty of 5% per month is assessed on the total amount due for any payment that is not made before the delinquent date, up to a maximum of 25% of the original gross tax due. Any business engaged in one of the four classifications will have a minimum tax of $22 yearly.

Transient Vendor Business License

“Transient Vendor” refers to any person who temporarily brings merchandise into the city limits for the purpose of selling to the public. Transient vendors shall pay a tax of fifty-five dollars ($50.00 plus a $5.00 recording fee) to the City of Sevierville for each fourteen-day period in which they will be offering merchandise for sale to the public. As with the regular business license, a transient vendors license is also required by the county, which can be obtained from the County Clerk at the Sevier County Court House (865) 453-5502.

Please use the following form to acquire a pdf Transient Vendor Application (160 KB) , which should be submitted via email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..  Forms can also be obtained from City Hall.