In this week’s news, two big mergers were announced. Actavis is buying Allergan and Halliburton is merging with Baker Hughes. As these companies look to grow their businesses together, its important to remember that while they may be able to merge their staff and share assets, they won’t be able to share their business licenses. This is going to be a long process before they get a joint license portfolio in order.

Uber is changing up ride-sharing. Pennsylvania’s Public Utility Commission recently gave Uber permission to operate in most Pennsylvania cities (except Philadelphia). With this, traditional taxi services will be competing with the disruptive service that Uber provides.

“The state utility commission, which held exhaustive hearings on the issue last summer, set some reasonable conditions on Uber X’s operation, during what will be a two-year experiment. Its drivers will have to have background checks and proper insurance, and no vehicle older than eight years is permitted.

Those kinds of safety and quality of service regulations will need to continue. But it’s clear that the old-fashioned way of regulating the taxi industry is on the way out. It has been a great deal for those who own the taxi operating permits. It’s not so great for drivers or the passengers they carry.”

Think only your business is affected when you don’t have a proper business license? Think again. Harrisburg’s new treasurer has stepped down after it was discovered that he ran his business without a business license. Most business licenses do not cost an absurd amount of money and I’m sure it wasn’t worth the cost of losing the position of city treasurer for Tyrell Spradley.

“The tax office said Spradley did apply for a business license for Minotaur Services LLC just hours before City Council selected him to fulfill the Treasurer’s Office.”

Unfortunately, it was too late to save Mr. Spradley’s position.

There can be serious consequences for not being up to date on your business licenses, especially if you are audited. What’s worse – sometimes there are unexpected consequences too.

To get an idea of what can happen after an audit from Municipal Auditing Services (MAS), look no further than an April 2013 lawsuit filed by Stanton-based Hospitality Enterprise Management, otherwise known as 007 Showgirls.

The lawsuit came after MAS was contracted to review business licenses and unpaid fees in Stanton, a city west of Anaheim. As a result of that audit, Stanton officials asked 007 Showgirls for additional business license fees, according to the lawsuit. And each of 007 Showgirls’ dancers was asked to pay $369 for a business license and $94 per year for each subsequent year; then they would have to pay separate fees for every location at which they danced.

“Through MAS, the city has announced that it will charge the fees for each location even if the dancer only dances there once,” according to the lawsuit. Hospitality Enterprise Management dropped its lawsuit against MAS and the city, but the case provides some insight into how audits of unpaid business license fees can have unexpected consequences.

Depending on the state, there can be. Consider this recent article by the CATO institute:

“Under Ohio law, it isn’t illegal to buy gold, it isn’t illegal to sell gold, and it isn’t illegal to talk about buying and selling gold. But—and it’s a significant “but”—if you talk about buying gold, you’re not allowed to actually buy any. At least not without a license.

That’s right: in Ohio, it’s illegal for anyone who advertises a willingness to buy gold to do so without a license. Obtaining and maintaining that license isn’t easy, or cheap. Licenses must be renewed every year, and license holders have to make daily reports to the police detailing their purchases. This law creates a two-tiered system: dealers who have complied with the onerous licensing regime may freely advertise their businesses, while others can’t so much as put up a sign reading “We Buy Gold” without facing criminal prosecution and fines of up to $10,000 per transaction.”

Second hand dealer licenses can be complex and understanding them and ensuring you are properly licensed may seem daunting. Download our free white paper, Why are Second Hand Dealer Licenses Such a Big Deal, that specifically focuses on second-hand dealer licenses and the intricacies of acquiring them.

As we are seeing in more and more articles, cities are cracking down on unlicensed business owners and its not only those who own businesses in the city. In Pelham, AL, you need a license even if you conduct business in Pelham, such as making deliveries.

To learn more about Pelham’s license compliance, view the article here.

Concerned about whether your business needs licenses for the different cities it operates in? We can help. Contact us to learn more about our Business License Management System.

“Bitcoins, the most popular virtual currency, have drawn interest from entrepreneurs and investors including venture capitalists looking to popularize it as a low-cost alternative to established payment systems, supplanting credit cards to international wire transfers. Lawsky said when proposing the regulatory regime in July that he wants to protect people and root out wrongdoing without stifling innovation.”

In an intriguing development, New York is considering granting “transitional licenses to small virtual-currency firms and startups to let them grow before facing the full burden of new regulation.” In an emerging industry, it is important to stay on top of the regulations around it, especially before complex compliance measures are added.

In many cities, there is a set amount of liquor licenses and a business needs to buy and transfer one from an existing business in order to obtain one. In Oshtemo, MI, the process to transfer is about to get a bit more complex.

“Another change to the ordinance requires that any necessary remodeling or construction required for use of the license must begin within three months, rather than the previous six.”

It’s interesting how liquor licenses interact with so many other areas of a retail business. Everybody who’s in the business of opening and closing new locations has to take this into consideration. You can’t just look at liquor licenses in a vacuum.

There can be serious consequences if you don’t get properly licensed in the states in which you are operating. Just ask AIG. They just settled for $35 million with the state of NY. You can read more about AIG and their settlement with New York state here.