Fort Lauderdale, FL Business Licensing & Operations: Tattoo & Body Modification (2026)
Key Facts
- Tattoo parlor fee
- $157.50 (Services Supergroup)
- Per-artist fee
- $105.00, taxed individually
- Body piercing artist fee
- $105.00, taxed individually
- Separate receipt
- required for each classification at one site
- No-receipt penalty
- 25% of tax due
- Late renewal penalty
- 10% Oct., +5%/month, capped 25%
Summary
Fort Lauderdale has no stand-alone tattoo permit chapter; instead, Sec. 15-57 taxes a tattoo parlor as a Services Supergroup business at $157.50 and separately taxes each artist and body piercer at $105.00. A shop with several artists or piercers owes the parlor fee plus $105 for every individually taxed practitioner working there.
TATTOO PARLOR (see also Artist and Body Piercing Artist) ... ARTIST (Each artist is taxed individually. The category includes retouching, sketching, and cartooning.) $105.00 ... BODY PIERCING ARTIST (Each artist is taxed individually.) $105.00
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 67 Update 1 | Unified Land Development Code: Supplement 58 Update 2).
Full Breakdown
The Services Supergroup line item in Sec. 50, then cross-references two individually billed classifications elsewhere in the same fee schedule. 00, is billed to "each artist" and expressly "includes retouching, sketching, and cartooning," the category the tattoo trade is taxed under. " Because Sec. 00 for every tattoo artist and every piercer working there, not one blended fee for the shop. Sec. 15-32 requires a sworn statement when a receipt's amount depends on the number of individuals working from the site, which the business tax division uses to verify the per-artist counts for these categories.
Sec. 15-34 treats advertising a tattoo or piercing service, even without proof of an actual sale, as evidence that the business is liable for the tax, and Sec. 15-40 requires the Development Services Department to confirm the shop's location is zoning-compliant before the Business Tax Division issues any receipt, with continued compliance a condition of keeping it.
Violations & Fines
Sec. 15-43(a) penalizes a shop that lets its tattoo, artist or piercing receipts lapse past the September 30 renewal at 10 percent for October plus 5 percent for each further month, capped at 25 percent of the tax. Sec. 15-43(b) fines operating any of these classifications without first obtaining the receipt at 25 percent of the tax due, and Sec. 15-43(c) adds a $250 penalty plus attorneys' fees and collection costs once a balance stays unpaid more than 150 days after notice.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Fort Lauderdale require a specific tattoo shop permit?
How is a tattoo artist taxed separately from the shop?
Is body piercing taxed the same way?
What happens if a tattoo studio operates without paying these taxes?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Fort Lauderdale
Florida rules heatmap·Compare Fort Lauderdale to another location·View the Florida business licensing & operations overview
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