Mississippi Business License and Permit Requirements for Contractors

Permission one: the MSBOC licence, and which one you need

The state-level contractor permission is MSBOC's, and there are two of them. A commercial Certificate of Responsibility is required for "work on commercial jobs over $50,000, including equipment installation", and for fire sprinkler contracts "on public projects over $5,000 and private projects over $10,000". A residential licence is required for "new residential construction over $50,000, residential remodeling or additions over $10,000, or residential roofing over $10,000", and for construction managers and residential solar contractors.

Four trades escape the thresholds entirely. Section 73-59-3(1)(d) requires a licence for any subcontractor of any tier doing residential electrical, plumbing, mechanical or HVAC work "no matter the dollar amount of the construction or improvements". If your business is one of those, the licence is the entry ticket, not a growth milestone.

Both licences are annual. MSBOC states that "a license is valid for one year and must be renewed annually", that renewal notices go out roughly 60 days ahead and from 2026 by email only, and that a licence may be renewed late "up to 180 days after the expiration date" but one expired for more than 180 days "cannot be renewed, but will require a new application for licensure instead". The application fees are $400.00 commercial and $50.00 residential; renewal is $100.00 residential, and the commercial renewal figure is published as both $400.00 (Fee Schedule) and $200.00 (Board Rule 3.4), which is a conflict in the Board's own documents and not something we will resolve for you.

Official sources: MSBOC Frequently Asked Questions; MSBOC Residential Builders Law (Miss. Code Ann. ch. 73-59; Title 30 Part 803); MSBOC Renew Your License; MSBOC Apply For A License; MSBOC Fee Schedule (effective January 1, 2016); MSBOC Commercial Laws and Rules (Miss. Code Ann. ch. 31-3; Title 30 Part 802)

Permission two: the Secretary of State, if you trade as an entity

A sole proprietor filing under their own name has nothing to file here. Everyone else does, and MSBOC checks it: a corporation, LLC or LLP "must be registered with the Mississippi Secretary of State, and show proof of good standing with the Mississippi Secretary of State before applying for a contractor license". Board Rule 1.1(8) makes it a condition of issuance and renewal alike.

The filings are inexpensive by national standards. An MS LLC Certificate of Formation (F0100) is $50 and Articles of Incorporation (F0001) is $50. If you trade under a name other than the entity's legal name, a Fictitious Business Name Registration (F0070) is $25 - and note MSBOC's warning that "conducting business under any other name is equivalent to unlicensed construction and may subject you to a penalty", so the trading name on your truck should match the name on your licence.

Annual reports keep it alive: corporations and LLCs are "due by April 15th each year", at $25 for a corporation and $0 for a domestic LLC. Out-of-state entities pay more throughout - $250 to register a foreign LLC and $250 for each foreign LLC annual report - and reinstating an administratively dissolved company requires "a tax clearance letter from the Mississippi Department of Revenue" first.

Official sources: MSBOC Apply For A License; MSBOC Commercial Laws and Rules (Miss. Code Ann. ch. 31-3; Title 30 Part 802); Mississippi Secretary of State: Business Documents Filing Fees; Mississippi Secretary of State: Business Services FAQs; MSBOC Frequently Asked Questions

Permission three: the Department of Revenue, which has two of them

The first DOR permission is the sales tax permit, and it is a precondition to trading rather than a formality. DOR states that "prior to any person continuing or engaging in any of the activities described in this Web Page a Sales Tax Permit must be obtained", one per business location, and that "no person shall be issued a Sales Tax Permit or be allowed to conduct any business activity within this state until such time as all requirements of the Mississippi Sales Tax Law have been met". MSBOC then requires the resulting number: a commercial applicant must hold "a Mississippi Sales Tax number or Use Tax number", and Section 31-3-13(a) bars issuance of any certificate or renewal until the applicant furnishes it.

The second is the Material Purchase Certificate, and its timing is the part contractors get wrong. DOR states that "prior to beginning work, the prime contractor(s) is required to apply for a MPC for the contract". The MPC is what lets a qualified prime and its subcontractors buy component materials and services without sales or use tax on a job carrying the 3.5% contractor's tax - DOR states that on prime contracts over $10,000 for non-residential construction there is "no sales or use tax on purchases of component materials and services". Subcontractors on a qualified job "use prime contractor's Material Purchase Certificate" rather than obtaining their own.

Above $75,000 the money moves before the work does. DOR states that for non-residential contracts exceeding $75,000.00 "the contractor's tax and any use tax due must be paid before work begins", with the alternative being a surety bond filed with DOR guaranteeing "the payment of sales, use, income, franchise, withholding and other motor fuel (diesel fuel) taxes due on the contract". Contractors without a physical location in Mississippi face the same rule at $10,000 instead of $75,000. DOR publishes three bond forms for this - a Tax Rider (72-440), a Job Bond (72-441) and a Blanket Bond (72-442) - and warns that any rider, job bond or power of attorney bearing a limitation on its face "will not be accepted".

Then there is the ongoing filing. Sales tax returns "are due and payable on or before the 20th day of the month following the period in which the tax accrues", must be filed "even though no taxes may be due", and use tax "must be filed separately from your sales tax on the Use Tax return". DOR notes penalties both for late payment and "for failure to file Material Purchase Certificate (MPC) applications as required".

Official sources: Mississippi Department of Revenue: Guide for Construction Contractors; MSBOC Apply For A License; MSBOC Frequently Asked Questions; MSBOC Commercial Laws and Rules (Miss. Code Ann. ch. 31-3; Title 30 Part 802)

Permission four: the local building permit, and the two rules that ride on it

Every job that needs a permit puts a local official between you and the work, and Mississippi gives that official a licence-checking duty. Section 73-59-17 requires that the building official "shall refuse to issue a permit for any undertaking which would classify the applicant as a residential builder or remodeler under this chapter unless the applicant has furnished evidence that he is either licensed as required by this chapter or exempt from the requirements of this chapter", and shall report to MSBOC "the name and address of any person who, in his opinion, has violated this chapter".

Section 73-59-18 adds a second, less well-known gate: "all residential contractors, in order to obtain a building permit in the State of Mississippi, shall possess a permit from the Department of Revenue issued under Section 27-65-27." For that section, "residential contractor" is defined very broadly - contracting with an owner of residential real estate to construct, repair or renovate, "regardless of the cost of the project, and regardless of whether all or part of the cost is expected to be paid as a benefit of a property and casualty insurance policy" - and the section then excludes contractors "having a permanent place of business in the State of Mississippi or licensed under Section 31-3-1". In practice it is aimed at out-of-state and insurance-restoration work.

Once the permit is issued, a sign requirement kicks in. Residential Rule 1.2 provides that a licensed residential builder or remodeler, or a certificate of responsibility holder, "shall exhibit a sign at the permitted job site which shall include, prominently displayed in lettering at least two (2) inches high and twelve (12) inches wide, the license or certificate of responsibility number of the residential builder or residential remodeler or holder of the certificate of responsibility and the State issuing it". Two inches by twelve inches is a specification, not a suggestion - make the sign once and reuse it.

A gap, stated rather than filled: this pass did not research municipal or county privilege licences, occupational licences or permit fee schedules for any Mississippi city or county, so no local figure appears in this article. Cities in Mississippi may impose their own requirements on top of everything above. Call the city or county where the work is before you price the job, and do not assume the state licence is the whole picture.

Official sources: MSBOC Residential Builders Law (Miss. Code Ann. ch. 73-59; Title 30 Part 803); MSBOC Commercial Laws and Rules (Miss. Code Ann. ch. 31-3; Title 30 Part 802)

What the permissions cost you if they are missing

The licence is the expensive one to be missing. On the residential side, Section 73-59-9(2) bars an unlicensed contractor from bringing "any action, either at law or in equity, to enforce any contract for residential building or remodeling or to enforce a sales contract", leaving only "actual documented expenses for labor, materials or both" proved "by clear and convincing evidence". Section 73-59-9(1) adds a misdemeanor with a fine of "not less than One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) and not more than Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00)", and Section 73-59-13(5)(d) lets the Board levy $100 to $5,000 "for each violation".

On the commercial side Section 31-3-15 makes the contract itself "null and void" if awarded to a contractor without a current certificate at bid submission, and Section 31-3-21(4) lets the Board issue an order of abatement and a civil penalty "of not more than three percent (3%) of the total contract being performed by the contractor". Rule 1.2(7) extends the exposure up and down the chain: it is "unlawful and illegal" for a primary contractor, owner, awarding authority or subcontractor to subcontract any portion "equal to or exceeding Fifty Thousand Dollars ($50,000.00)" to a party not duly licensed as of the bid date. Checking your subcontractor's licence is your problem, not only theirs.

MSBOC enforces this actively rather than on complaint alone. The Board states that its "Statewide Investigative Team works to eliminate unlicensed contractors working in Mississippi", that "focused, specifically-targeted operations are conducted weekly around the state", and that investigators "routinely visit jobsites to verify the license of contractors and subcontractors".

One requirement that is neither a permit nor a fee, but is enforceable, closes the list. Both statutes require a written general liability disclosure to the customer, "placed immediately before the space reserved in the contract for the signature of the purchaser", in "boldfaced and conspicuous type which is larger than the type of the remaining text of the contract". Residential Rule 1.3 prints the wording MSBOC expects, naming the insurer and the policy number. Put it in the contract template now; it is free, and it is the cheapest item on this page to comply with.

Official sources: MSBOC Residential Builders Law (Miss. Code Ann. ch. 73-59; Title 30 Part 803); MSBOC Commercial Laws and Rules (Miss. Code Ann. ch. 31-3; Title 30 Part 802); MSBOC Unlicensed Activity

Check the official page yourself before you file, bid or sign

Mississippi splits contractor rules across at least four agencies: MSBOC for the licence, the Secretary of State for the entity, the Department of Revenue for the sales tax permit and the contractor's tax, and the Workers' Compensation Commission for coverage. No single page carries all of it, and each changes on its own schedule. On top of that, Section 73-59-17 puts your local building official in the chain: that official "shall refuse to issue a permit for any undertaking which would classify the applicant as a residential builder or remodeler under this chapter" unless you show you are licensed or exempt, and shall report suspected violations to the Board.

One more reason to check rather than rely on a summary: MSBOC's own published fee schedule and the Board's own Rule 3.4 fee schedule currently disagree on the commercial renewal fee, at $400.00 and $200.00 respectively. We report both and pick neither. Before you send money, open the current fee schedule on msboc.us, or call the Board at 601-354-6161 or 800-880-6161 and confirm the figure for your licence type. MSBOC also warns that application fees are non-refundable and that "applicants have 180 days to complete the application process. After 180 days, incomplete applications are destroyed."

Official sources: MSBOC Fee Schedule (effective January 1, 2016); MSBOC Commercial Laws and Rules (Miss. Code Ann. ch. 31-3; Title 30 Part 802); MSBOC Apply For A License; Mississippi State Board of Contractors; MSBOC Residential Builders Law (Miss. Code Ann. ch. 73-59; Title 30 Part 803)