All businesses operating in Santa Clara are required to submit a completed New Business Tax Affidavit (application) and pay annual Business License Taxes to operate in compliance with the City Code. The application and annual renewals can be submitted in person, by mail or online at https://business.santaclaraca.gov

Approximately 30 days prior to the Business License Tax account expiration date, existing account holders will receive instructions by email or mail on how to renew their account. Businesses have a 30-day grace period beyond the expiration date to renew their Business License Tax account without penalty.

Yes. Non-profit, charitable organizations and disabled veteran-owned businesses are tax exempt. While these businesses are tax exempt, they are still required to hold an active Business License Tax account to operate in Santa Clara.

In-city businesses who earn less than $5,000 per year can apply for a gross receipt exemption, by submitting a completed exemption affidavit, a completed Business Tax renewal form and a copy of their most recent tax return (schedule C) showing the business gross receipts for review.

• Taxes for in-city businesses (physical location in Santa Clara) are calculated based on an employee (owner, officer and employee) count.

• Businesses operating from an out-of-city address are taxed on the number of employees (owner, officer and employee) who will be working on behalf of the business, plus the number of days they will be operating in Santa Clara for the upcoming one-year period.

• Residential rental property owners who have three (3) or more units for the purpose of rental in Santa Clara will be taxed at a per unit rate.

All Business License Taxes will be capped at a maximum amount to be listed on the application and renewal form. Tax rates are subject to an annual adjustment based on the consumer price index (CPI) capped at 5%.

Employee: any or all persons engaged in the operation or activity of any business, whether as owner, corporate officer, partner, agent, manager, solicitor or any and all persons employed or working in such business either full-time, part-time, permanent or temporary.

Number of Employees: number of persons employed in the business as anticipated or the number of employees including owner(s) at the time of application or renewal.

A separate application is required for each business location. Multiple locations for the same business and sharing the same tax ID number will be consolidated to one Business License Tax account for the purposes of annual renewal. If a new location is added onto an existing account, the newly reported employees will be subject to a prorated tax based on the time remaining on the original account.

Much like in-city businesses, out-of-city businesses are subject to a per employee tax and will complete the same application. Out-of-city businesses will combine the number of employees working or rendering services in Santa Clara along with the number of days those services will be provided in the upcoming year to calculate the taxes due. Reporting zero (0) employees is not accepted for tax calculations.

See the chart below for the percentage of the per employee tax breakdown based on number of days. The taxes due are based on the number of employees multiplied by the percentage of the current employee rate as listed on the application or renewal form.

A zoning clearance is required to be submitted with a new business application for all businesses that operate from a Santa Clara address. This requirement does not apply to out-of-city businesses. Please contact the Planning Department directly for more information on obtaining the zoning clearance at 408-615-2450 or planning@santaclaraca.gov.

Contact the Business Tax Unit by phone at 408-615-2310 Monday to Friday 8am to 5pm, or by email at businesslicense@santaclaraca.gov.