If you operate a business from your home, you must comply with City Ordinances and standards. Home-based businesses must be clearly incidental and accessory to the use of the residence as a home. Operators of home-based businesses must fill out a Home Occupation Application along with their business license form. The City charges a Home Occupation permit fee in addition to the business license fee and must be submitted with the application, for more information, please click here.

Before you sign a lease, purchase a commercial building, or begin operating a business from your home, check in with the Fairfield Community Development Department to make sure that your business is a permitted use for that property. To talk to a planner about the zoning regulations of your planned business site, call 707.428.7461. They’ll explain where you can locate your type of business and what special requirements, including Conditional Use Permits, that might apply. 

You must obtain a seller's permit if you:

•  Are engaged in business in California

Both wholesalers and retailers must apply for a seller's permit. For more information, please call the State Department of Tax and Fee Administration at their local office in Fairfield at 707.427-4800. This office is located at 2480 Hilborn Road, Suite 200, Fairfield, CA 94534. 

If you employ workers in your business, you must have a State Identification Number and a Federal Employer Identification Number to report employee taxes. For more information, contact the California Employment Development Department at 1-888-745-3886.  There is a local office at 316 Marin Street in Vallejo, CA.  For the federal number, contact the Internal Revenue Service at 800.829.3676.

If you plan to use a fictitious business name (a name different from your own), you need to check with the Solano County Clerk to make sure that no one else is using that name. You can contact the County Clerk at 707.784.7485, 675 Texas Street, Suite 1900, Fairfield, CA 94533.

Other local organizations which provide advice and/or assistance to businesses in the area include:

Fairfield-Suisun Chamber of Commerce
1111 Webster Street
Fairfield, CA 94533
707.425.4625
 
Solano Small Business Development Center (SBDC)
500 Chadbourne Road
Fairfield, CA 94534
707.646.1071

Solano Economic Development Corporation (Solano EDC)
5050 Business Center Drive, #200
Fairfield, CA 94534
707.864.1855