City of Mesa, Arizona

Tax & Licensing                                   

About Tax & Licensing

The Tax Audit / Collections Office and Licensing Office are workgroups of the Business Services Department.

These workgroups are responsible for licensing, review, audit and ensuring compliance regarding transaction privilege tax, use tax, and transient lodging tax.  The Licensing Office also issues and monitors liquor licenses, special event licenses and all specialty licenses such as massage establishments, secondhand stores, pawnbrokers, scrap metal dealers, auctioneers, peddlers, transient merchants, transient vendors, sexually oriented businesses and employees, teenage dancehalls, fortune tellers and park and swaps.

Important When Purchasing an Existing Business

Pursuant to the Mesa Tax Code, a purchaser of an existing business can be held liable for past due taxes, interest and penalties owed by the seller of the business. In order to avoid this successor liability, the purchaser must request from the seller a copy of a Certificate of Compliance that the seller has obtained from the City’s Tax Audit & Collections Department which states that the seller does not have any amounts due the City. (Refer to Mesa Tax Code Section 5-10-595 for additional information)

What's New

	Proposed Access To Care Program Ordinance (also see more information)
	Related Party Commercial Rental Exemption - HB2324: The Governor signed the bill on 4/3/13, allowing for a city tax exemption on certain related party real property
	Municipal Tax Code Committee changes approved at the March 29, 2013 meeting
	The 1% Temporary Arizona Transaction Privilege Tax increase approved by voters in May 2010 will expire after May 31, 2013. The new State, Maricopa County & City of Mesa combined tax rate effective June 1, 2013 will be reduced to 8.05% (State 5.6%, Maricopa County .7% and City of Mesa 1.75%). NOTE: there is no change or reduction in the City tax rate, just the overall combined rate. For more information refer to the Arizona Department of Revenue’s Website at www.azdor.gov.
	Licensing processing timeframes
	Contractor Declaration Certificate
	Speculative Builder’s Declaration Certificate
	January 11, 2013 Municipal Tax Code Commission Recommended Changes:  Document 1   Document 2
	go to What's New page