Ocala, FL Business Licensing & Operations: Tattoo & Body Modification (2026)

Sec. 62-81 sets the local business tax schedule required under Sec. 62-62, which mandates that anyone engaging in or managing a business, occupation or profession on which the city levies a tax must first obtain a valid local business tax certificate from the building official or their designee. Within the schedule's personal services category, tattoo artists are charged $250.00, compared to $30.00 for barbers, beauticians or manicurists in the same category, reflecting a materially higher tax tier for the trade. That certificate is a revenue instrument, not a health permit: Sec.

62-75 states that the local business tax certificate is a certificate of payment for taxes levied on the privilege of engaging in a business, and is not a regulatory license issued under the city's policing power. Separately, Ocala's zoning code, Sec. 122-2, defines a 'tattoo or body piercing establishment' as any establishment where the skin is marked by piercing or coloring to form indelible marks or scars, or where the body is penetrated or holed to place jewelry or other objects for non-medical purposes, expressly excluding shops that use only a mechanized, presterilized ear-piercing system on the ear lobe or perimeter.

Zoning use tables in chapter 122 list 'tattoo or body piercing establishment' as a permitted personal-service use only in specified commercial districts, so an operator needs both the zoning use approval for the chosen location and the $250.00 local business tax certificate from the building official before opening.