Earlier editions: 2026-09
Chapter 10B — Business License Taxes
Fairfield Municipal Code Art. II License Tax Schedules
Fairfield Municipal Code · 2026-10 edition · updated 2026-10-04 · Fairfield
Cite as: Fairfield Municipal Code Article II · Text as of 2026-10-04
§ 10B.40. Established.¶
The amount of license taxes to be paid to the city by any person conducting or carry on any business activities within the City of Fairfield is hereby established as herein provided. Such license tax shall be paid by every person engaged in conducting or carrying on any such profession, trade, occupation, calling or business in its city.
§ 10B.41. License Taxes, Gross Receipts.¶
Every person who engages in the business activities described in classifications “A,” “B”,” and “C,” of this Section within the City of Fairfield shall pay a business license tax based upon gross receipts category at the rate listed for each category and in the gross receipts classifications set forth below:
Fairfield Business License Tax 2024 – Proposed Tax Table
| Index | From (Greater Than Equal To) | To (Less Than) | Class A | Class B | Class C |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Index | From (Greater Than Equal To) | To (Less Than) | Rate | Rate | Rate |
| 1 | $0 | $50,000 | $55 | $111 | $55 |
| 2 | $50,000 | $100,000 | $105 | $131 | $63 |
| 3 | $100,000 | $200,000 | $242 | $365 | $96 |
| 4 | $200,000 | $300,000 | $374 | $563 | $154 |
| 5 | $300,000 | $400,000 | $462 | $695 | $206 |
| 6 | $400,000 | $500,000 | $575 | $864 | $271 |
| 7 | $500,000 | $600,000 | $667 | $1,002 | $326 |
| 8 | $600,000 | $700,000 | $759 | $1,485 | $395 |
| 9 | $700,000 | $800,000 | $840 | $1,838 | $470 |
| 10 | $800,000 | $900,000 | $888 | $1,982 | $528 |
| 11 | $900,000 | $1,000,000 | $936 | $2,126 | $585 |
| 12 | $1,000,000 and greater (Gross Receipts) | $1,000,000 and greater (Gross Receipts) | $936 + $0.165/$1,000 | $2,126 + $0.165/$1,000 | $585 + $0.115/$1,000 |
As of January 01, 2026, and annually thereafter, the tax rates and tiers in this table shall be adjusted by a percentage equal to the average of each of the percent change in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) in the following three areas: 1) San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA, 2) West, and 3) U.S. city average. This CPI data will be obtained from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, or its successor agency and the comparison will be made between the CPI values for October of the current fiscal year and the preceding October. The new tax rates and tiers shall be rounded to the nearest one (1.00) dollar; for the additional tax on Gross Receipts per every $1,000 above $1,000,000 in tier 12 the tax rate amount shall be rounded to the nearest whole cent (0.01).
(a) Classification "A" - Retail Sales, General Services Contractors, Subcontractors, Rentals, and Other Businesses.
(1) Every business not enumerated elsewhere in this chapter being conducted, managed, or carried out by a person in the City shall be classified in this category.
(2) Personal and repair services, including barber and beauty salons, except professionals and contractors, as defined in the California Business and Professions Code.
(3) Every person engaged in business as a contractor, subcontractor or specialty contractor shall be classified in this category. The business license tax for all contractors and subcontractors shall be due and payable at the time of issuance of permits and shall be paid at the same time the permit fees are paid.
It shall be the responsibility of every general building, engineering or prime contractor to require subcontractors under his control or direction to pay a business license tax as herein provided before permitting said subcontractor to begin or perform services for said general building, engineering or prime contractor. Each general building, engineering or prime contractor shall furnish the collector with a list of each subcontractor upon forms furnished by the collector.
(4) Every person conducting, managing or carrying on the business consisting mainly of leasing or renting apartments, business rentals, industrial or commercial real property, rooms or suites in any multiple dwelling, office building, guest or boarding home, hotel or motel consisting of four (4) or more units will be classified in this category.
(5) Advertising and Handbill Distribution:
Every person not having a fixed place of business within the city and conducting the business of commercial advertising by the distribution of handbills, circulars, or other written or printed commercial advertising material shall pay a license tax of $100.00 annually or $10.00 daily.
(6) Auctioneer:
Every person conducting the business of auctioneer within the City shall pay a license tax of $200.00 annually or $50.00 daily.
(7) Carnivals, Circus and Other Transient Amusements:
Every person conducting a business of carrying on a carnival, circus and other transient amusement operations shall pay a license tax based upon Classification "A" under section 10B.41.
The payment of such license tax shall not relieve such persons from obtaining a permit, as provided in chapter 5A of the city code.
(8) Closing out, Bankrupt and Similar Sales:
Every person conducting, managing or carrying on businesses which are represented as a closing out, bankrupt, insolvent, assignee, adjusters, trustees, executors, administrators, receivers, wholesalers, jobber, and similar sales within the city, shall pay a license tax of $50.00 per day.
(9) Flea Markets, Craft Fairs and Similar Businesses:
Every person conducting a business of the nature or similar to a "flea market," wherein such person for a fee makes available to the other persons a space, room, area, table, booth, enclosure or other fixed location from which such person can sell such goods, wares and merchandise as he desires to sell, shall pay a license fee of 5% of any rental fees charged.
Notwithstanding the above provisions, if any person shall occupy a space, room, booth or enclosure in such market on a regular basis, he may at his option, be classed as a retail business and shall pay the business operations tax in the same manner and rate as any other retail merchant.
(10) Pawnbroker, Junk Dealers and/or Auto Wreckers:
Every person conducting the business of pawnbroking; junk dealing, junk collecting and/or automobile wrecking shall pay a license tax of $100.00 annually.
The payment of such license tax shall not relieve such persons from obtaining a permit, as provided in chapter 13 of the city code.
(b) Classification "B" - Professions, Semi-Professions and Similar Businesses.
(1) Every person engaged in business considered to be of a professional or semi-professional nature shall be classified in this category:
(2) Professions, Semi-professions and similar businesses shall include but not be limited to the following:
| Accountants |
|---|
| Advertising agents (except outdoor advertising) |
| Appraisers |
| Architects (including landscape) |
| Attorneys |
| Bookkeeping services |
| Chemists |
| Chiropractors |
| Collection agencies |
| Consultants |
| Dentists |
| Detective/ |
| Engineers (all types) |
| Funeral services and crematories |
| Geologists |
| Insurance claim adjusters |
| Laboratories |
| Oculists |
| Optometrists |
| Osteopathic physicians |
| Physicians |
| Real Estate Agents and Brokers |
| Stockbrokers |
| Surgeons |
| Surveyors |
| Tax Consultants |
| Taxidermists; and |
| Veterinarians |
(c) Classification "C" - Manufacturing, Wholesaling and Administrative.
(1) Any person engaged in the business of manufacturing, processing and/or selling at wholesale any goods, wares, or merchandise shall be classified in this category.
(2) Any support activity for businesses not operating in Fairfield including administrative headquarters, the services and activities in the city by a public utility, or any other similar activity shall be classified in this category.
(Ord. No. 85-24, § 3; Ord. No. 85-24, § 4; Ord. No. 85-24, § 5; Ord. No. 85-24 §§ 3--5; Ord. No. 84-4 § 1; Ord. No. 2024-04, §§ 1 – 4)
§ 10B.42. License Taxes, Flat Rates.¶
Every person who engages in the following business activities within the City of Fairfield shall pay a license tax based on flat rates at the rates and in the classifications set forth below. Said flat rates shall be adjusted annually by the collector according to the percentage change in the San Francisco Oakland Area Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers for the twelve (12) months from October to October preceding the next tax year. Said adjustment will be effective January 1, 1984.
(a) through (f). Recodified to Section 10B.41(a) by Ord. No. 2024-04.
(g) Personal Care Centers:
Every person conducting, managing or carrying on a personal care center shall pay a license fee for the maximum number of persons cared for during any portion of a year in accordance with the following schedule:
| No. of Persons Cared For | Tax |
|---|---|
| 1 through 5 | $10.00 |
| 6 through 15 | $20.00 |
| 16 through 25 | $30.00 |
| Each additional person over 25 | $1.00 |
"Personal Care Centers" shall include, but not be limited to, boarding homes, boarding schools, convalescent centers, day care centers, foster family homes, hospitals not exempt from the payment of income taxes, institutions, nursery schools, nursing homes, rest homes and sanitariums.
(h) Solicitors, Peddlers and Itinerant Merchants:
Solicitor shall be defined as any person who engages in the business of going house to house, place to place within the city, selling or taking orders for future delivery or for services to be performed in the future.
Peddler shall be defined as any person who sells and makes immediate delivery or offers for sale and immediate delivery any goods, wares, merchandise or thing in the possession of the peddler at any place in the city other than a fixed place of business.
Itinerant merchant shall be defined to include any person or persons who engages in a temporary business in the city by selling or offering for sale goods, wares, merchandise and articles of value for a period of not more than one hundred ninety (190) days.
Every person conducting the business of soliciting, peddling and engaging in the business of an itinerant merchant within the city shall pay a license tax of $150.00 annually per person.
Principal’s Solicitor or Peddler License. Any person, firm or corporation either employing or contracting with one or more individuals to have such individuals solicit the retail sale of any goods, wares, merchandise, services or other things of value for future delivery or to sell or peddle such goods, wares and merchandise who operate in the city longer than one hundred ninety days and who do not have a regularly established place of business within the city may obtain a principal’s solicitor or peddler license and pay a license fee of one hundred dollars plus: twenty dollars for one solicitor; forty dollars for two to five solicitors; sixty dollars for six to ten solicitors; eighty dollars for eleven to fifteen solicitors; one hundred dollars for sixteen or more solicitors.
The principal solicitor or peddler shall promptly notify the collector of the name and address of each individual solicitor or peddler hired or contracted with by such principal for such solicitation or peddling.
Other persons not maintaining a fixed place of business in the City of Fairfield, but who regularly render personal or other services or products either by appointment, call, referral or otherwise from place to place or house to house in the city are subject to the provisions of this section.
Any person maintaining a fixed place of business in the city; provided, that a license fee is specifically required under any other section of this ordinance, shall not be required to pay any further license fee under the provisions of this chapter but shall be required to obtain the necessary solicitor’s permits for each employee so engaged according to the license tax provided above.
License identification cards. All peddlers and solicitors whether operating under a peddler or solicitor license or under a principal’s peddler or solicitor license shall be required to maintain an identification card and photograph at all times as required in chapter 5B of the city code.
The payment of such license tax shall not relieve such persons from obtaining a permit, as provided in chapter 5B of the city code.
(Ord. No. 2008-02, § 4; Ord. No. 2024-04, § 4)
§ 10B.43. Reserved for future legislation.¶
§ 10B.44. Trucking.¶
(a) Every person not having a fixed place of business within the city who makes wholesale or retail deliveries of goods or services by motor vehicles within the city or who maintains, installs or repairs goods, wares, merchandise, or equipment inside the city, or who provides a service not otherwise covered in this section, shall pay an annual license tax of forty dollars for the first vehicle plus twenty dollars for each additional vehicle.
(b) Every person conducting or carrying on the business of making deliveries of gasoline or other motor fuels either within the city limits or from outside the city limits to places within the city limits shall pay an annual license tax of seventy-two dollars per vehicle.
(c) The provisions of this subsection are subject to the terms and provisions of the State Highway Carriers’ Uniform Business Tax License Tax (California Public Utilities Code § 4300, et seq.).
(d) The number of vehicles shall be the average number of vehicles per day used in the city during the license year.
(Ord. No. 83-19, § 1; Ord. No. 83-35, § 1)
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