Dept. of Licensing expands online business license renewal

OLYMPIA - The Washington State Department of Licensing recently expanded the agency's Internet business license renewal process, allowing the state's many restaurant owners to renew their state Liquor Control Board liquor endorsements online.

This change will allow an estimated 5,000 liquor licensees representing larger restaurants, lounges, and caterers to easily renew their annual licenses from their home or business using a credit or debit card. Last fall, some 8,000 Liquor Control Board licensees from grocery, convenience stores and smaller restaurants became eligible to renew online.

The ability to take care of these routine renewals online is part of DOL's goal of offering as many services as possible over the Internet.

"In addition to continually offering new online services, DOL is working to expand our existing services to serve as many citizens and business owners as possible," DOL Director Fred Stephens said.

DOL's Master License Service (MLS) administers a combined licensing program that provides a one-stop approach to business license application and renewal, simplifying how businesses are licensed with the State of

Washington. The program currently services the licensing needs of 10 state agencies and four cities.

"With DOL as a central clearinghouse, our MLS services save governmental agencies both time and money, and help bring more convenience to business license customers," Stephens said.

There are still more licenses to add to the process, as well as hurdles to overcome to expand the use of the Internet. Because of the combined-licensing approach, if a business holds several licenses, and even just one of them is not yet eligible for online renewal, it disqualifies that entire renewal from online service and the licensee must renew through the mail or in person.

In the latest expansion of online services, City of Richland businesses now join those from the cities of Tumwater and Sammamish in being able to renew their business licenses online through DOL. Bellevue, the fourth municipality partnering with DOL, does not require annual renewal of its business registration.

MLS staff members are working to increase the number of cities using the combined licensing service, which then leads directly into offering online renewals as well.

Other licenses now available for renewal online include licenses for cigarette vending machines, whitewater river outfitters and intermediate level commercial weighing scales. Also available for renewal online are licenses for nursery retailers and wholesalers, smaller weighing scales, cigarette retailers, underground petroleum storage tanks, and rental car companies.

The MLS program began providing the option of filing an original business license application online in December 2000 for the basic business and employer registrations, including the permit for employers to hire minors.

The nearly 220,000 corporations and limited liability companies MLS services on behalf of the Secretary of State were given an online renewal option for their entity licenses in June 2001 and the first business license renewals were added soon after.

More information about MLS, combined business licensing, and online filing is available at www.dol.wa.gov/businesses.htm.