5.10.040 General business license required.
A. Any person desiring to establish or conduct any business enterprise or undertaking as defined in this section and ACC 5.10.020 within the corporate limits of the city must first obtain a business license from the city to conduct such business.
1. Application for the business license is made through the Business Licensing Service and must include all information required for all licenses requested, the total fees due for all licenses, and the application handling fee required by RCW 19.02.075.
2. Applicants claiming exemption from the city license fee under ACC 5.10.030(B) must submit proof of being granted a federal tax exemption by the Internal Revenue Service under a provision of 26 USC Section 501(c).
B. Subsection C of this section sets forth examples of activities that constitute engaging in business in the city, and establishes safe harbors for certain of those activities so that a person who meets the criteria may engage in de minimis business activities in the city without having to pay a business license fee. The activities listed in this section are illustrative only and are not intended to narrow the definition of “engage in business” in ACC 5.10.020(F). If an activity is not listed, whether it constitutes engaging in business in the city shall be determined by considering all the facts and circumstances and applicable law.
C. Without being all inclusive, any one of the following activities conducted within the city by a person, or its employee, agent, representative, independent contractor, broker or another acting on its behalf, constitutes engaging in business and requires a person to register and obtain a business license:
1. Owning, renting, leasing, maintaining, or having the right to use, or using, tangible personal property, intangible personal property, or real property permanently or temporarily located in the city.
2. Owning, renting, leasing, using, or maintaining an office, place of business, or other establishment in the city.
3. Soliciting sales.
4. Making repairs or providing maintenance or service to real or tangible personal property, including warranty work and property maintenance.
5. Providing technical assistance or service, including quality control, product inspections, warranty work, or similar services on or in connection with tangible personal property sold by the person or on its behalf.
6. Installing, constructing, or supervising installation or construction of, real or tangible personal property.
7. Soliciting, negotiating, or approving franchise, license, or other similar agreements.
8. Collecting current or delinquent accounts.
9. Picking up and transporting tangible personal property, solid waste, construction debris, or excavated materials.
10. Providing disinfecting and pest control services, employment and labor pool services, home nursing care, janitorial services, appraising, landscape architectural services, security system services, surveying, and real estate services including the listing of homes and managing real property.
11. Rendering professional services such as those provided by accountants, architects, attorneys, auctioneers, consultants, engineers, professional athletes, barbers, baseball clubs and other sports organizations, chemists, psychologists, court reporters, dentists, doctors, detectives, laboratory operators, teachers, and veterinarians.
12. Meeting with customers or potential customers, even when no sales or orders are solicited at the meetings.
13. Training or recruiting agents, representatives, independent contractors, brokers or others, domiciled or operating on a job in the city, acting on its behalf, or for customers or potential customers.
14. Investigating, resolving, or otherwise assisting in resolving customer complaints.
15. In-store stocking or manipulating products or goods, sold to and owned by a customer, regardless of where sale and delivery of the goods took place.
16. Delivering goods in vehicles owned, rented, leased, used, or maintained by the person or another acting on its behalf.
D. If a person, or its employee, agent, representative, independent contractor, broker or another acting on the person’s behalf, engages in no other activities in or with the city but the following, it need not register and obtain a business license:
1. Meeting with suppliers of goods and services as a customer.
2. Meeting with government representatives in their official capacity, other than those performing contracting or purchasing functions.
3. Attending meetings, such as board meetings, retreats, seminars, and conferences, or other meetings wherein the person does not provide training in connection with tangible personal property sold by the person or on its behalf. This provision does not apply to any board of director member or attendee engaging in business such as a member of a board of directors who attends a board meeting.
4. Renting tangible or intangible property as a customer when the property is not used in the city.
5. Attending, but not participating in, a “trade show” or “multiple vendor events.” Persons participating at a trade show shall review the city’s trade show or multiple vendor event ordinances.
6. Conducting advertising through the mail.
7. Soliciting sales by phone from a location outside the city.
E. A seller located outside the city merely delivering goods into the city by means of common carrier is not required to register and obtain a business license; provided, that it engages in no other business activities in the city. Such activities do not include those in subsection C of this section. The city expressly intends that engaging in business include any activity sufficient to establish nexus for purposes of applying the license fee under the law and the constitutions of the United States and the state of Washington. Nexus is presumed to continue as long as the taxpayer benefits from the activity that constituted the original nexus-generating contact or subsequent contacts.
F. Threshold Exemption. Any person or business whose annual value of products, gross proceeds of sales, or gross income of the business in the city is equal to or less than $2,000 and who does not maintain a place of business within the city shall be exempt from the general business license requirements in this chapter. The exemption does not apply to regulatory license requirements or activities that require a specialized permit.
G. It is unlawful for any person to operate or physically conduct any business within the city without having first obtained a general city business license. The applicant for a business license required under this title must be at least 18 years of age. If any person required to pay a license fee, by the terms and provisions of this chapter, for any period, fails or refuses to do so, they will not be granted a license for the current period until such delinquent license fee, together with penalties, has been paid in full.
H. Unless specifically exempted, businesses identified in Chapters 3.80, 3.84, 3.88, 5.20, 5.30 and 5.84 ACC or elsewhere in this title or other titles of the Auburn City Code will be required to also obtain a city general business license even when their annual gross income is at or below $2,000.
I. Any business within the city jurisdiction on any project requiring a permit must have a business license. (Ord. 6876 § 1, 2022; Ord. 6692 § 2 (Exh. B), 2018; Ord. 6595 § 3, 2016; Ord. 6567 § 1, 2016; Ord. 6525 § 3, 2014; Ord. 5897 § 3, 2005; Ord. 5814 § 2, 2004; Ord. 5754 § 1, 2003; Ord. 4012 § 2, 1984.)