Las Vegas, NV Business Licensing & Operations: Tattoo & Body Modification (2026)

LVMC 6.04.080 sits in Chapter 6.04, Business License Fees, and assigns tattoo and body art businesses to the five-hundred-dollar annual fee tier alongside collection agencies, employment agencies and television broadcast stations. The Code defines the category broadly: any business that places indelible marks and figures upon the body by inserting pigment under the skin or by the production of scars, or that pierces the skin for the purpose of inserting rings, loops, studs or other implements (LVMC 6.04.080). Under LVMC 6.04.010, the Director may bill this annual fee on a semiannual basis instead of collecting it in one payment.

Before opening, a tattoo or body art operator must obtain a City business license under LVMC 6.02.060; conducting, advertising or aiding such a business without a valid unexpired license is unlawful, and each day of operation without one is a separate offense. The application required by LVMC 6.02.080 must list the business structure, the names and addresses of on-site managers responsible for abating nuisance activity, the physical location, and copies of any other required State or local permits. A fifty-dollar nonrefundable processing fee applies to each new application, ownership change or location change (LVMC 6.02.085).

The Director generally acts on a complete application within thirty calendar days, and may deny it for reasons including an incomplete or fraudulent application, an unpaid fee, or a finding that the business would constitute a public or chronic nuisance (LVMC 6.02.090). An applicant or licensee who is denied, suspended or refused renewal may appeal to the City Manager within ten days of service of the Director's decision by filing a written notice of appeal with the Department (LVMC 6.02.110).