Atlantic City Mercantile License: CCO First, the 9% Luxury Tax and CRDA Zoning

If you are working out how to start a business in Atlantic City, the mercantile license is the city document that ties your approvals together. It is the last application in the city's permit sequence, but the certificate of occupancy (CCO) inspection is a condition of that license. That means you should plan around the CCO first. This guide covers the steps, the application fee, the 9% luxury tax on rooms and admissions, and the point where CRDA zoning comes into play.

This article is informational content, not legal or tax advice. Atlantic City licensing rules, fees and renewal dates change. The figures below reflect rates and fees as of October 2026, but you should confirm each one with the agency named before you file. For a complex lease, a casino-adjacent property, or a lodging or hospitality business, consult a New Jersey attorney and a CPA.

What You Need Before You Start

• A decision on your legal structure. An LLC or corporation formation filing costs $100 with the state, and the Certificate of Formation is the document you file.
• A signed lease or deed for the exact street address where you will operate. Zoning is tied to the address, not to the city as a whole.
• Floor plans and a written description of your operations, including any food, drink, spa, or overnight accommodation services.
• A projected revenue mix that separates room sales, admissions, drinks sold by the glass, and everything else. Your luxury tax treatment depends on it.
• Your New Jersey tax identification number from NJ-REG, which produces your Business Registration Certificate (BRC).
• Cash for the mercantile application fee, which is $25 or $40 when the Division of Health must approve, plus the license fee for your business type.

Step-by-Step: From Entity Formation to Mercantile License

1. Form your entity and register with the state. File through the Online Business Entity Filing portal at njportal.com. The LLC or corporation filing is $100, and the annual report is $75, due every year by the last day of the month in which the business was formed. New Jersey has no publication requirement, so you do not need to run a newspaper notice. Next, complete tax and employer registration through NJ-REG at the NJ Business Portal. The BRC you receive is proof of tax registration. It is not a license. New Jersey issues no general statewide business license, and counties license nothing, so the city mercantile license is the local approval you need to find.
2. Confirm whether your property is in the Tourism District. In the Tourism District, CRDA (the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority) issues the zoning permit, called a Certificate of Land Use Compliance under N.J.A.C. 19:66. Ask CRDA which approvals apply before you sign a lease. Finding out after you have a lease is the most expensive mistake in this process.
3. Apply for the city zoning land-use permit. The commercial zoning land-use permit costs $50 and can be filed online. It is first in the city's order of permits.
4. Obtain the construction, food, spa and fire permits your business needs. The city's order is construction permits, then food and spa permits, then the fire safety permit. Only the permits that match your operations apply to you. Atlantic City runs its own health department, separate from the state and county, so ask it directly about food and health-related approvals.
5. Schedule the CCO inspection. A certificate of occupancy inspection is a condition of the mercantile license for a new business, and it is required again when ownership or use changes. Schedule it once the build-out is finished and the space matches the approved plans. A failed inspection can push back your opening date, so fix any punch-list items before you request the visit.
6. File the mercantile application. The application fee is nonrefundable: $25, or $40 if the Division of Health must approve the application. The license fee depends on your business type under section 170-5 of Chapter 170 of the city code. The code was last amended in 2006, so confirm the current license fee for your category with the Mercantile Division before you budget for it.
7. Register for sales tax and set up luxury tax collection. Sales tax registration runs through the NJ Business Portal, and the state sales tax rate is 6.625%. Atlantic City adds its own luxury tax layer on certain sales, covered in the next section. Confirm with the New Jersey Division of Taxation how your registration and collection should be set up for both.
8. Calendar your renewal. The code says mercantile licenses expire July 31 and fees are due August 1. Because the code is older, confirm the current renewal date with the Mercantile Division before you put it on your calendar.

The 9% Luxury Tax and How It Changes Your Sales Tax Math

Atlantic City charges a 9% luxury tax on rooms, admissions and similar sales. When the luxury tax applies, the sales tax on those sales is reduced to 3.625%, so the combined rate is 12.625%. Drinks sold by the glass follow a different split. Use this table as a starting point for your pricing, and confirm which category each of your sales falls into with the Division of Taxation.

Sale type	Luxury tax	Sales tax	Combined rate
Rooms, admissions and similar sales	9%	3.625%	12.625%
Drinks sold by the glass	3%	6.625%	9.625%

Two other charges can sit on top of these rates. A 1% state occupancy fee applies to certain lodging, and casino hotels pay additional fees. Confirm which of these reaches your business with the Division of Taxation before you set prices.

Expected Results

When the steps above are completed in order, your zoning, permits, CCO and tax registrations may line up so that your opening date is set by inspections rather than by surprises. Results depend on your property, your business type, the inspection schedule and agency processing times, and no outcome is guaranteed. Expect the CCO to be the step that most often sets your timeline, so build your lease and build-out schedule around it.

Tips and Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Signing a lease before confirming zoning. Confirm the use at that exact address with CRDA and the city first.
• Treating the BRC as a license. The BRC proves tax registration. The mercantile license is a separate city approval.
• Looking for a county license. New Jersey counties license nothing for this purpose.
• Paying the wrong application fee. The fee is $25 by default and $40 when the Division of Health must approve, so ask which applies to your file.
• Applying the 9% luxury tax to everything. Drinks by the glass carry a 3% luxury tax, not 9%.
• Trusting old fee schedules. The city code was last amended in 2006, so verify current fees and renewal dates directly with the Mercantile Division.
• Planning around UEZ benefits. Atlantic City is not an Urban Enterprise Zone, so do not build your budget around UEZ incentives.
• Booking your opening before the CCO. Schedule the CCO inspection before you commit to a public opening date.

When to Talk to a Professional

A straightforward retail or office use at a known address can often be handled with careful reading of the agency pages. A lodging, casino-adjacent, food-service or mixed-use project usually involves several agencies and several tax categories at once. In those cases, a New Jersey attorney can review your lease and zoning position, and a CPA can confirm how the luxury tax, sales tax and occupancy fee apply to your revenue mix. Bring your confirmed fee questions to the agencies listed above, and get written answers where you can.