Escambia County, FL Local Taxes & Fees: Business Tax Classification (2026)

Anyone engaging in or managing a business, profession or occupation in unincorporated Escambia County needs a local business tax receipt under County Code § 90-91, administered alongside F.S. ch. 205. The county issues the receipt under § 90-92 after the applicant pays the required fee and meets any other legal prerequisite; the receipt is only valid through September 30 of the year it's issued, and having one never excuses a business from complying with the area's zoning rules or any other county, state or federal law. Section 90-93 makes it unlawful to run a business needing a permit, state license, or business tax receipt under F.S. § 205.042 without first obtaining and keeping that license or permit current.

Section 90-94 ties every business to a classification on the rate schedule attached to the article, and § 90-95 sets the actual dollar rates. The schedule runs from professional categories like architect, attorney, CPA, engineer and physician, through contractor trades like electrical, plumbing, roofing and HVAC, to public service categories like auto repair, barber shops, taxi and towing services, retail peddlers and itinerant vendors, nearly all priced at $26.25 per year. Some categories are priced per day instead: shows under temporary structures such as circuses, carnivals and rodeos, their accompanying sideshows, and traveling medicine shows each run $26.25 per day. Certain categories stack: catering, drive-in/curb service, mobile food service and take-out service each carry their own $26.25 tax in addition to the base restaurant/eating establishment tax.