Franklin, TN Local Taxes & Fees: Business Tax Classification (2026)
Key Facts
- State authority
- TCA § 67-4-701 et seq., Business Tax Act
- License issuer
- Franklin city recorder
- Tax rate
- Maximum allowed under state law
- Refund deadline
- 1 year from date of payment
- Governing chapter
- Title 5, ch. 2, Privilege Taxes
Summary
Every vocation, occupation and business that Tennessee law names a taxable privilege owes Franklin an annual municipal privilege tax at the maximum rate the state's Business Tax Act allows, and no one may exercise that privilege inside city limits without a currently effective privilege license from the city recorder.
Sec. 5-201. - Tax levied. Except as otherwise specifically provided in this Code, there is hereby levied on all vocations, occupations, and businesses declared by the general laws of the state to be privileges taxable by municipalities, an annual privilege tax in the maximum amount allowed by said state laws. The taxes provided for in the state's "Business Tax Act" (Tennessee Code Annotated, § 67-4-701, et seq.) as it now exists or may from time to time be amended, are hereby expressly enacted, ordained, and levied on the businesses, business activities, vocations, and occupations carried on within the municipality at the rates and in the manner prescribed by the said act. Sec. 5-202. - License required. No person shall exercise any privilege subject to the business tax within the municipality without a currently effective privilege license, which shall be issued by the recorder to each applicant therefor upon the applicant's compliance with all regulatory provisions in this Code and payment of the appropriate privilege tax.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 30 Update 1).
Full Breakdown
(the state Business Tax Act) sets as the maximum, so the city does not set its own classification schedule; it adopts the state's rates and manner of collection wholesale, including future amendments to that act. ) and paid the appropriate privilege tax. In practice that makes the recorder's office the single checkpoint tying the state tax classification to a local operating credential. Section 5-203 gives the city recorder authority to settle and adjust errors and double assessments of city taxes and to direct refunds, but a taxpayer must file the refund claim with the recorder within one year of the payment date and support it with proper documentation; miss that window and the claim is permanently barred, no exceptions noted in the text. This chapter traces to 1976 Code § 6-301/6-302, with the refund provision last amended by Ord. No. 99-21 in 1999.
Violations & Fines
Exercising a taxed privilege in Franklin without a currently effective privilege license violates § 5-202; the recorder will not issue or renew the license until the applicant is in compliance with the Code's regulatory provisions and has paid the tax due. This chapter does not print a separate fine schedule for unlicensed operation, so enforcement runs through the license itself: no license means no lawful operation. Refund claims filed more than one year after the payment date are barred under § 5-203, regardless of the amount at issue.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need a license before I open a business in Franklin?
Who sets my business tax rate or classification in Franklin?
Can I get a refund if I was overcharged on my privilege tax?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Franklin
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