Business License in Albuquerque (2026): The City License, Fire Inspection, NM Tax ID and Gross Receipts Tax

If you're opening a café on Central Avenue, running a landscaping crew out of the North Valley or freelancing from a Northeast Heights spare room, you need two registrations to operate legally in Albuquerque: a City of Albuquerque Business License and a New Mexico business tax registration. Since 2025 the City has been replacing its old business registration with a stricter Business License that includes zoning review and fire inspections, and the fee rose on July 1, 2026. This guide covers who needs the license, what it costs in 2026, how the state registration (still widely called a CRS number) works, and how New Mexico's gross receipts tax, which isn't a sales tax, applies to Albuquerque businesses. Every figure was checked on City of Albuquerque and New Mexico Taxation and Revenue Department sources in October 2026.

Quick answer

Every business with a place of business inside Albuquerque city limits, including home-based businesses and nonprofits, needs a City Business License for each location before it starts operating. It costs $36.75 a year from July 1, 2026, plus a Fire Marshal inspection fee of $35–$400 for most commercial spaces. First, register free with the NM Taxation and Revenue Department for a Business Tax Identification Number.

• Apply and renew online in ABQ-PLAN; a zoning review is required for every location

• Albuquerque gross receipts tax rate: 7.625% (July 2026 – June 2027)

• GRT applies to most services as well as goods, and is owed by the business

• Renew at least 10 days before expiry; late fine up to $10 a day

Who needs an Albuquerque Business License

The City's Business License Ordinance requires every business to apply for and pay a license fee for each outlet, branch, location or place of business within Albuquerque's municipal limits, before it starts doing business. The City is explicit that this includes home-based businesses, nonprofits and food trucks; every mobile food unit or cart needs its own license.

The rule is location-based. A business with a shop, office, warehouse or home office inside the city needs a license for that address. A business with two stores needs two licenses and pays two fees. A business based in Rio Rancho or the unincorporated South Valley that occasionally works in Albuquerque has no place of business in the city, though its gross receipts tax still depends on where the work is done, as explained below.

There are a few narrow exceptions. Residential daycares caring for fewer than 12 children are exempt from the license under state law, and commercial daycare facilities licensed by the State of New Mexico are exempt from the fee. Anyone selling on public sidewalks, in commercially zoned sidewalk areas or door to door needs a separate Vendor/Solicitation Permit, applied for in person at the Planning Department, 600 2nd Street NW.

From Business Registration to Business License

If you've read older guides, you'll see references to the City's Business Registration and a flat $35 fee. That system is being replaced. The City says that from January 1, 2025, it began moving from Business Registration to a Business License program that adds zoning and fire inspections for public safety. The license replaces the registration for most businesses in the city.

If you already hold an active Business Registration, you don't have to do anything until it expires. At renewal, you apply for a Business License instead; when the application asks whether you've been operating without a license, you answer "No" to show you're transitioning from a valid registration.

The other change is the fee. The annual license fee was $35 for years; from July 1, 2026, it's $36.75 per license.

What it costs in 2026

The total cost has two parts: the license fee, which every non-exempt business pays for each location, and a Fire Marshal Fire and Life Safety inspection fee, which the City says most commercial businesses and some residential businesses, such as residential adult care facilities, will need. The inspection fee depends on floor area.

Other costs depend on your trade. Food businesses need an Environmental Health Department permit, liquor and convenience stores deal with the same department, businesses that emit air pollutants (gas stations, dry cleaners, body shops, generators, dusty construction work) may need an air quality permit, and hotels and motels register with the City Treasury for lodgers' tax. Contractors need a state license from the Regulation and Licensing Department's Construction Industries Division.

Step 1: Register with the NM Taxation and Revenue Department

New Mexico's rule is that anyone who engages in business in New Mexico must register with the Taxation and Revenue Department (TRD). When you register, you receive a New Mexico Business Tax Identification Number, plus account numbers for gross receipts tax, withholding tax and any other taxes your business owes.

Many people still call this a CRS number. CRS stands for Combined Reporting System, the state's older name for the combined gross receipts, compensating and withholding tax registration, and the City's own documents still ask for a "New Mexico Tax ID (CRS) Registration Certificate". It's the same thing.

You apply online through the Taxpayer Access Point (TAP), or submit form ACD-31015, Business Tax Registration, at a district tax office by appointment or by mail. Albuquerque's district office is at 10500 Copper Avenue NE. There's no fee. Any entity other than a sole proprietor without employees must also have a federal EIN; our EIN guide explains how to get one free from the IRS. Corporations also register with the New Mexico Secretary of State, and some activities, such as selling cigarettes, tobacco or liquor, need a special registration on top.

The City needs proof of this registration. Every Business License application and renewal must include a current dated copy of the TRD registration certificate showing your physical business address, which you can download from your TAP account. The City asks for a current copy so it can confirm your state tax account is still open and matches the location being licensed. If your address on the state certificate is out of date, fix it with TRD first.

The order that works

Step 1

NM TRD registration (free)

Step 2

Current dated certificate from TAP

Step 3

ABQ-PLAN application

Step 4

Zoning review

Step 5

Fire inspection

most commercial spaces

Step 6

Business License issued

Step 2: Apply for the City Business License in ABQ-PLAN

The Planning Department's Business License Section now handles new licenses, renewals, payments and address changes entirely online, through ABQ-PLAN, the City's permitting and licensing portal. The City recommends using Microsoft Edge. You'll upload your current TRD certificate and give owner or agent contact details, and each business type may have additional requirements. An accountant or consultant can apply for you if they have your documents and access to your ABQ-PLAN account.

Every location, including a home address, goes through a zoning review before the license is issued, to confirm your activity is allowed there. Most commercial locations also need the Fire and Life Safety inspection. A P.O. box can't be used as the business address; it can only be a mailing address.

The City doesn't promise a processing time. Applications are reviewed in the order received, and timing depends on volume, completeness and whether other agencies have to review. Apply as early as you can, because you need the license before you open.

Getting licensed in Albuquerque

1. 1

   Form your entity and get an EIN if needed

   LLCs and corporations register with the New Mexico Secretary of State. Get a free EIN from the IRS.

   LLC registration guide
2. 2

   Register with NM Taxation and Revenue

   Apply on the Taxpayer Access Point for your Business Tax Identification Number. It's free. Download a current dated registration certificate showing your physical address.

   Who must register a business?
3. 3

   Apply for the Business License in ABQ-PLAN

   Upload the TRD certificate and pay $36.75 per location. Your location goes through zoning review.

   Albuquerque Business License information
4. 4

   Pass the Fire and Life Safety inspection

   Most commercial spaces need one. The fee is $35 to $400 depending on floor area.

5. 5

   Get trade-specific permits

   Environmental Health for food, air quality permits for some trades, state licenses for contractors and regulated professions.

Home-based businesses

You can run many businesses from a residential address in Albuquerque, depending on the type of business and the zoning rules. Home-based businesses still need a Business License, still go through zoning review, and must follow the City's noise, signage and parking rules. A bookkeeper or web designer working alone at a desk will usually clear zoning easily; a business with customer traffic, deliveries, employees on site or noisy equipment is more likely to run into limits. Most home offices won't need the Fire and Life Safety inspection, which the City says applies mainly to commercial businesses and some residential ones like adult care homes.

Remember that your state registration certificate must show the physical location of the business, so a home business lists the home address with TRD as well as with the City.

New Mexico gross receipts tax: not a sales tax

New Mexico has no sales tax in the usual sense. Instead it has a gross receipts tax (GRT), and the difference matters for how you price and invoice.

GRT is a tax on the business, imposed for the privilege of doing business in New Mexico. It applies to your total receipts from selling property in the state, leasing or licensing property used in the state, granting franchises, and performing services in New Mexico, including services performed elsewhere whose product is first used in New Mexico. Unlike most states' sales taxes, it covers most services: consulting, repairs, design, cleaning and many professional services are taxable unless a specific deduction or exemption applies.

It's common for businesses to pass GRT on to customers, and if you do, the TRD says it must be separately stated on the invoice. But passing it on is a business choice, not the legal structure: if you don't charge it, you still owe it out of your receipts. Sales for resale and certain sales to manufacturers or other businesses can be deducted when the buyer gives you a nontaxable transaction certificate (NTTC).

Businesses with no physical presence in New Mexico, including online sellers and marketplace providers, owe GRT if they had at least $100,000 of taxable gross receipts in the previous calendar year.

The Albuquerque GRT rate in 2026

The total rate combines the state rate of 4.875% with county and municipal local option taxes, so it varies by location code. The TRD's rate data for July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027 shows:

Albuquerque's tax increment districts, such as the Downtown and West Central TIF areas, also use 7.625%. The TRD now changes local rates only once a year, on July 1, unless there's a special situation, so check the new schedule each summer.

Which location's rate applies

New Mexico mostly taxes at the location where the product is delivered or used, but with important exceptions in FYI-105:

• Professional services (other than construction-related) are reported at the location of the service provider. An Albuquerque accountant reports at 7.625% even for a client in Santa Fe.
• Construction and construction-related services are reported at the location of the construction site.
• Other services, such as repairs and cleaning, are reported where the product of the service is delivered.
• Goods are generally reported where they're delivered to the buyer.

Filing and paying GRT

New businesses are assigned monthly filing when they register. If your combined tax averages $500 a month or less, you can apply on form ACD-31015 to file quarterly or semi-annually. Returns and payment are due on the 25th of the month after the period ends, and you must file even if no tax is due. If your combined tax averaged $1,000 or more a month in the prior year, you must file electronically. Late returns are charged 2% a month (max 20%) of the tax due, with a $5 minimum even on a zero return, plus interest.

An Albuquerque business's compliance year

Before you open

TRD registration, then City Business License for each location

25th of each month

GRT return and payment for the prior month (monthly filers)

July 1

New GRT rate schedule and City fee changes take effect

90 days before expiry

Renewal opens in ABQ-PLAN

10 days before expiry

Renewal deadline; late fine up to $10 a day

Worked examples

These use the July 2026 to June 2027 GRT rates and the license fee from July 1, 2026.

A freelance web designer working from home in the Northeast Heights. She registers with TRD for free, then gets a City Business License for $36.75; a home office usually won't need the fire inspection. Her design work is a professional service, so she reports at her own location, 7.625%, wherever her clients are in New Mexico. On a $5,000 project she invoices $5,000 plus $381.25 of GRT shown as a separate line. With $60,000 of receipts a year, her GRT is about $4,575, or $380 a month, so after her first months she can ask to file quarterly.

A 2,000-square-foot gift shop in Nob Hill. Its first-year licensing cost is $36.75 plus a $100 fire inspection fee, $136.75 in total. With $400,000 of taxable sales, it collects and remits about $30,500 of GRT a year, roughly $2,540 a month, so it files monthly and, once its prior-year average passes $1,000 or more a month, must file electronically. Wholesale purchases of inventory are bought with NTTCs so the supplier doesn't charge GRT.

A remodeling contractor based in Rio Rancho with a kitchen job in Albuquerque. It has no place of business in Albuquerque, so it doesn't need an Albuquerque Business License, but it needs its Rio Rancho licensing and a state contractor's license. Construction is reported at the job site, so on a $40,000 Albuquerque job it reports GRT at 7.625%: $3,050. A job back in its home city would be taxed at 7.875%.

A food truck. Each truck needs its own Business License ($36.75), a Fire and Life Safety inspection, and an Environmental Health permit. Sales are reported at the location where the food is sold.

Try it: Albuquerque GRT on a $5,000 invoice

Purchase AmountState

Alabama (4%)Alaska (0%)Arizona (5.6%)Arkansas (6.5%)California (7.25%)Colorado (2.9%)Connecticut (6.35%)Delaware (0%)Florida (6%)Georgia (4%)Hawaii (4%)Idaho (6%)Illinois (6.25%)Indiana (7%)Iowa (6%)Kansas (6.5%)Kentucky (6%)Louisiana (5%)Maine (5.5%)Maryland (6%)Massachusetts (6.25%)Michigan (6%)Minnesota (6.875%)Mississippi (7%)Missouri (4.225%)Montana (0%)Nebraska (5.5%)Nevada (6.85%)New Hampshire (0%)New Jersey (6.625%)New Mexico (4.875%)New York (4%)North Carolina (4.75%)North Dakota (5%)Ohio (5.75%)Oklahoma (4.5%)Oregon (0%)Pennsylvania (6%)Rhode Island (7%)South Carolina (6%)South Dakota (4.2%)Tennessee (7%)Texas (6.25%)Utah (6.1%)Vermont (6%)Virginia (5.3%)Washington (6.5%)West Virginia (6%)Wisconsin (5%)Wyoming (4%)

Local / County Rate

Purchase Amount$5,000.00

State Tax (6.25%)$312.50

Local Tax (2%)$100.00

Combined Rate8.25%

Total Amount (Including Tax)$5,412.50

Open the full Sales Tax Calculator (PDF, save, compare)

Renewal, changes and closing

Business Licenses are renewed every year, no later than 10 days before the expiration date on your certificate. You can start the renewal 90 days ahead in ABQ-PLAN, and every renewal needs a fresh, current dated TRD registration certificate. If you apply to renew a valid license before the deadline, you can keep operating while the renewal is processed.

Missing the deadline costs money: the City may charge $10 a day for each calendar day the license is delinquent, and a delinquent business can become ineligible for City permits and inspections. Operating with no license at all can bring notices of violation, civil fines and closure orders. If Code Enforcement cites you, you have 10 calendar days to follow the notice and get compliant.

If you move, you need a new Business License, not just an address change, because the new location has to pass zoning review. If you close, email the Business License Section with a closure request within 15 calendar days; the City treats your license as active, with renewal obligations, until it receives notice. Close your TRD accounts as well, or the state will keep expecting GRT returns.

Common mistakes

Treating GRT like a sales tax. Service businesses in other states often assume they don't collect tax. In New Mexico most services are taxable, and the business owes the tax whether or not it charged the customer.

Using an old TRD certificate. The City requires a current dated copy with your physical address. An old printout, or one showing a P.O. box, gets the application sent back.

Paying the old fee. Since July 1, 2026, the license is $36.75, not $35.

One license for several locations. Each branch, store or truck needs its own license and fee.

Using the wrong location code. Check where each sale or service is reported. An Albuquerque contractor working in the unincorporated county reports 6.1875% for that job, not 7.625%.

Not filing zero returns. GRT returns are required every period, even with no receipts, or a $5 minimum penalty applies.

Official links

• Albuquerque Business License informationABQ-PLAN, requirements, contacts
• Business License FAQsFees, inspections, renewals
• NM TRD — Who must register a business?Business Tax Identification Number
• NM TRD — Gross Receipts Tax overviewWhat's taxable, remote sellers
• NM TRD — GRT location codes and rate mapCurrent rates by location
• NM Taxpayer Access Point (TAP)Register, file and pay

What to do next

Register with the Taxation and Revenue Department on TAP first, download your current registration certificate, then apply for your Business License in ABQ-PLAN and book any fire inspection. Price your invoices with GRT at 7.625% using the sales tax calculator, create compliant invoices with the separately stated tax in the invoice generator, and budget your license, inspection and permit fees with the startup cost calculator. For a broader view of permits, see our business licenses guide.

This is general information, not legal or tax advice — confirm on the official source or with a professional.

Frequently asked questions

How much is a business license in Albuquerque?

From July 1, 2026, the City of Albuquerque Business License costs $36.75 a year for each location, up from $35. Most commercial businesses also pay a Fire Marshal Fire and Life Safety inspection fee based on floor area, from $35 for up to 1,500 square feet to $400 for 12,001 square feet or more. Registering with the New Mexico Taxation and Revenue Department is free.

What is the gross receipts tax rate in Albuquerque?

The combined gross receipts tax rate in Albuquerque (location code 02-100) is 7.625% for July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027. That includes the 4.875% state rate plus Bernalillo County and City local option taxes. Unincorporated Bernalillo County is 6.1875%, and the Bernalillo County part of Rio Rancho is 7.875%.

Is New Mexico gross receipts tax the same as sales tax?

No. Gross receipts tax is a tax on the business for the privilege of doing business in New Mexico, charged on its total receipts from selling goods, leasing property and performing services, including most services. Businesses usually pass it on to customers, and if they do, it must be shown separately on the invoice. But the business owes it whether or not it collects it.

What is a CRS number in New Mexico?

CRS stands for Combined Reporting System, the old name for New Mexico's business tax registration. Today the Taxation and Revenue Department issues a New Mexico Business Tax Identification Number when you register, online through the Taxpayer Access Point or with form ACD-31015. There's no fee. Albuquerque requires a current dated copy of that registration certificate with every Business License application and renewal.

Do I need an Albuquerque business license for a home business?

Yes. The City says home-based businesses must get a Business License and pass a zoning review, and must follow rules on noise, signage and parking. A P.O. box can't be your business address; you must give the physical location, even if it's your home. Residential daycares caring for fewer than 12 children are exempt under state law.

When do I renew my Albuquerque business license?

Every year, no later than 10 days before the expiration date on your certificate. You can start the renewal 90 days before it expires, online through ABQ-PLAN. The City may charge a fine of $10 a day for each calendar day the license is delinquent, and you can lose access to City permits and inspections until it's fixed.

Sources & verification

Figures on this page were checked against the sources below when it was last reviewed on 9 October 2026. Each rate and limit is stored once with its own official source and review date, and official update channels are monitored daily so changes are picked up. How we verify

1. 1.Business License FAQs — City of Albuquerque Planning Department · accessed 9 October 2026
2. 2.Business License Information — City of Albuquerque Planning Department · accessed 9 October 2026
3. 3.Who must register a business? — New Mexico Taxation and Revenue Department · accessed 9 October 2026
4. 4.Gross Receipts Tax Overview — New Mexico Taxation and Revenue Department · accessed 9 October 2026
5. 5.FYI-105 Gross Receipts & Compensating Taxes: An Overview (July 1, 2025 – June 30, 2026) — New Mexico Taxation and Revenue Department · accessed 9 October 2026
6. 6.Gross Receipts Location Code and Tax Rate Map (July 2026 to June 2027 data) — New Mexico Taxation and Revenue Department · accessed 9 October 2026