Toledo, OH Business Licensing & Operations: Tattoo & Body Modification (2026)

09 and Ohio Administrative Code Section 3709-09-03. Every new establishment pays a one-time application fee when it first registers: $50 for a tattooing-only business, $50 for a body-piercing-only business, and $50 for a combined tattooing-and-piercing operation, or $25 for a time-limited approval tied to a specific event such as a convention or pop-up. After that initial approval, the establishment owes an annual inspection fee considerably higher than the application charge, $585 a year for a tattoo-only or piercing-only shop, $635 a year for a combined tattoo-and-piercing business, and $125 for a time-limited event approval.

These fees fund the Division of Environmental and Consumer Health's inspection program, which checks establishments against the sanitation and equipment standards built into Ohio's body-art regulations. 20 makes the fee chapter controlling over any conflicting older Toledo Board of Health rule, so a tattoo shop can't rely on an outdated fee schedule to avoid the current charges. The Toledo Municipal Code separately classifies a 'Tattoo and Body Piercing Shop' as a distinct, city-licensed land use category in the zoning code, referencing this same Chapter 1717 licensing requirement as the basis for that classification.