Welcome to The Garden City

You must display your business license in a visible place so that citizens can see your license. If you are a contractor and have a mobile business, you must have a copy of your license with you while working in your vehicle and also be permitted by DPU if gas, mechanical, or an electrical contractor.

If you move your business to a different location or change your business name or address, you must come to City Hall and make all changes prior to changing locations, names, or addresses.  We will need to change the information pertaining to your business (the cost is $1.00).  If you fail to do so within ten days before and we have to contact you, there is a $10.00 collector's fee.  You must also notify the SC Department of Revenue and obtain a new State Retail Tax License.  You can notify them at www.sctax.org and click on DORBOS or call them at the number at the bottom.

If you close your business.  Your City of Orangeburg Business License must be closed out within thirty days.  We will need your gross receipts for that year through your last day of business in order to close out your license.  If you sell your business, the same applies, you will need to close out your City of Orangeburg Business License before the new owner opens his business.  Remember if you are planning on even relocating out of the City limits, this also means that you will need to close out your City of Orangeburg Business License.  You also need to close your State Retail Tax License at www.sctax.org  and click on DORBOS or call them at the number at the bottom.

All licenses expire each March 31 and are up for renewal.   You must renew your license by May 5th to avoid penalty of 5% per month plus a collector's fee.  You can be fined up to $250.00 if you do not have the appropriate and valid license(s).  If you have been open for over ten days without a valid license, penalties may be charged.  All taxes or other fees due to the City at the time of renewal must be paid prior to renewing your City of Orangeburg Business License.

If you sell food that is not pre-packaged and ready for immediate consumption you will need to submit monthly to the City of Orangeburg your hospitality  tax that you would collect from your customers (2% extra tax added to their bills) If you have a hotel, motel, campground, or boarding home that houses transients less than 90 days at a time, you must also submit monthly your  accommodations tax to us.  You would collect this extra 2% tax on their bill and remit to the City by the 20th of the following month.
Hospitality & Accomodations Tax Form & Information

Penalties apply for late payments.

A separate license is required for each place of business or kind(s) of businesses within one location.

If you are in retail sales, you may need a South Carolina Retail Tax License, you can obtain one from the County Administration Building every Wednesday Morning from Jack Rash (533-1000).

If you are a contractor, all subcontractors you or someone else hires must be licensed with the City of Orangeburg as well.  This means anyone not on your payroll that you are deducting taxes for must be licensed with the City.  You are responsible for notifying your subs on their responsibilities or notifying the City Revenue Collector of who the subs are so that they can be properly licensed to do business in the City of Orangeburg.  Contractors can look up sub-contractors on the Internet to see if they are licensed with the State at http://www.llr.state.sc.us

If you have coin operated machines in your business and you collect the money, you must have a license for these machines.  You will be given a sticker to attach to your machine(s) for licensing purposes.  If you do not collect the money, please contact our office with the company name so that they can be properly licensed.  All unlicensed coin operated machines are subject to penalty as well.

If your business is located in a residential district or possibly otherwise commercial, you may need to be approved by Zoning and meet other requirements BEFORE you open your business, 533-6010.  You will also need to meet building and fire code compliances as well.  Inspections may be made by the Fire Department to ensure safety regulations.  You may call the Fire Inspector at 533-6046.

If you hire anyone to do work in your business (remodeling, painting, lawn maintenance, plumbing, electrical, etc); they must have a City of Orangeburg Business License as you do.  You may call us to check the status of a license if you plan on hiring someone for a job at 533-6000.

A restaurant, grocery store, or business that handles food is required to obtain approval from the Health Department, 533-9060.

The ABC licensing department is located at 301 Gervais Street in Columbia, 734-0470.  You will need to obtain a permit from them if you are planning to serve alcoholic beverages according to State law.

If you have any questions regarding City of Orangeburg Business Licenses, please call the Finance Department at 803-539-3750.