Economic Development

St. Johns County requires all businesses to have a business tax receipt through the St. Johns County Tax Collector Office.

The first step to obtaining a business tax receipt is to get zoning approval for your business location. If your business is located within St. Johns County and not within the City of St. Augustine or City of St. Augustine Beach, then you will need to get zoning approval through the St. Johns County Planning and Zoning Division. Information and the application can be found by clicking the following button. If your business is a home office, then only page one of the application will need to be completed.

For the zoning approval, there is a $22 application fee. You will need to have your signature on the application notarized if not signed in front of County staff. If you're submitting the application electronically, then you will need to send a copy of your driver’s license for verification. If you are operating your business out of a home office and live within a homeowners association, then you will need to include a signed affidavit for certificate for a home-based business with the zoning application. See below for additional information if your business is located within the City of St. Augustine or City of St. Augustine Beach. To submit the application in person, the Planning and Zoning Office is located at 4040 Lewis Speedway in St. Augustine. To submit the application electronically, email plandept@sjcfl.us.

Once the application has been submitted and approved through St. Johns County Planning and Zoning, then the approved zoning application will need to be taken to the St. Johns County Tax Collector Office along with the completed business tax receipt application, which can be found by clicking the following button.

To submit the business tax receipt application in person, visit a Tax Collector Office location, which can be found by clicking the following button.

Business tax receipts through St. Johns County range in cost, depending on the business service, from $18 to $30. Also, state licensed professionals will need to provide a copy of their current State of Florida license when obtaining a business tax receipt. Businesses in sales will have to provide a sales tax number.

If your business is located within the City of St. Augustine or City of St. Augustine Beach, then zoning approval and a business tax receipt will need to be obtained from those offices. For more information, call 904-825-1065 for the City of St. Augustine or 904-471-2122 for the City of St. Augustine Beach. Once you have received zoning approval and a business tax receipt through either city, then the business tax receipt can be taken to the St. Johns County Tax Collector’s Office to also obtain a business tax receipt through the county.

For additional information about business tax receipts, call the St. Johns County Tax Collector Office at 904-209-2250 or click on the following button.

This information can be found on iMap. Once on iMap, type in the parcel number or address at the top right corner. The information about the property will appear on the left – click on the information and it will show up on the map. Next, click on the layers tab (to the right of the printer icon) and select zoning. To determine the future land use of a parcel, follow the same steps except select future land use in the layers tab.

St. Johns County has a Map Mart, which provides 90+ maps in PDF, including proposed transportation improvements, zoning, community redevelopment areas, education facilities, boat ramps, parks and much more. This information can be found on the St. Johns County Map Mart.

The Small Business Development Center at the University of North Florida in partnership with St. Johns County offers a full-service location for small businesses in St. Johns County with an office located in the Growth Management Permit Center, 4040 Lewis Speedway, at the main County complex in St. Augustine.

Marge Cirillo serves as the primary SBDC contact for St. Johns County. Marge is a certified business analyst who works exclusively with small business owners to provide management advice and technical assistance with little to no cost. Appointments are available by calling 904-209-1295.

ESRI demographic reports such as business summary, community profile, housing profile, traffic county profile and more for St. Johns County can be found on the JAX USA Partnership map.

St. Johns County has two opportunity zones. Visit the following link to view the opportunity zones in St. Johns County on an interactive map to determine if a property is within one of the two opportunity zones. The opportunity zones are outlined in blue on the JAX USA partnership opportunity zones map.