Mississippi Alcohol License: ABC Permits, Local Option Wet and Dry Rules and City Beer Licenses

If you plan to sell beer, wine or liquor in Mississippi, you will deal with two layers of approval: a state permit from the Department of Revenue's ABC Division, and local approval from the city or county where the business sits. Many owners expect one all-purpose liquor license that covers everything. Mississippi does not work that way. The state permit is the core, but whether you can use it at a given address depends on local option votes, zoning rules and local fees. This guide covers how the pieces fit, what the state permit amounts are for 2026, and where to confirm each number before you sign a lease.

Start with the right agency

Mississippi has no state general business license. Registering your company with the Mississippi Secretary of State creates the entity, but that is a registration, not a license to sell alcohol. The Department of Revenue issues a sales tax permit, which is a tax registration and not an alcohol permit.

Alcohol permits come from a separate track. The Department of Revenue's ABC Division issues all alcoholic beverage permits online through TAP. Counties and cities cannot issue these state permits. If you searched for mississippi alcoholic beverage control or mississippi abc license, this is the agency you need. Start at the Department of Revenue website at dor.ms.gov.

Step 1: Confirm that alcohol sales are allowed at your address

Mississippi uses local option. A permit can only be issued where voters approved sales. The Department of Revenue's ABC FAQ reports that 34 of 82 counties are completely dry for liquor, 4 more are half dry, and 36 counties are dry for beer and light wine. The state publishes a wet and dry map on its site, so check it before you look at any space.

Do not stop at the county line. Confirm the status for your exact address with the city clerk if you are inside city limits, or the county if you are not. Get the answer in writing where you can. A lease signed before this check is the most expensive mistake in this process because you cannot undo it easily.

Step 2: Pick the permit class and budget the annual cost

For most owners, the number behind a search for mississippi liquor license cost is the annual state permit amount. The Department of Revenue's 2026 annual amounts are:

Permit class	Annual amount (DOR, 2026)	What it covers
On-premises retailer	$925	Drinks served and consumed at the business
Wine-only	$475	Wine sales only
Package store	$1,825	Packaged alcohol sold for take-home
Food truck	$225	Mobile food operation; confirm eligibility with DOR

Each amount already includes the state privilege tax, the local license tax and a $25 processing fee. Do not add the $25 again when you budget. These four classes are the ones this guide covers. If you need a different class, ask the ABC Division for the full class list and the fee for each.

This guide does not list application fees, background check charges, or fees for changing ownership or location. Confirm those with the ABC Division before you set your budget, because they can add to the first-year cost.

Beer and light wine: a state permit plus a local permit

Beer and light wine use a different path than full liquor. You need a Department of Revenue beer permit, which costs $30 at retail per location. You also need a local permit from the city or county. The local fee can be up to 50% of the state fee, which means up to $15 on a $30 state permit. Tupelo, Ocean Springs and Horn Lake each charge $15 for the local permit.

Two points to keep in mind. First, the state fee is charged per location, so a multi-site operator pays for each address. Second, a county that is dry for beer and light wine cannot issue a local permit at all, so the state permit has no use there. Check the map before you apply.

Siting rules: distance and zoning

Even in a wet area, local zoning decides where an alcohol business can operate. The rules are different in each city, and they change, so treat these examples as illustrations and confirm current text with the planning office.

• Brandon: its alcohol permit form asks for 400 feet of separation from a church or school.
• Pearl: its 2024 Zoning Ordinance requires liquor stores to sit 1 mile apart and keeps them off gas station sites.
• Oxford: the city publishes an alcohol permit checklist that you should request before you apply.

Ask the planning office two questions before you sign: how the distance is measured (from property line or from the building entrance), and whether the ordinance has changed since the version you read. A measurement method can change whether a site qualifies.

The city or county privilege license

Mississippi has no state business license, so local government fills that role. Under Miss. Code 27-17, every city, town and village issues its own privilege license. Counties license only businesses located outside municipalities. If your address is inside city limits, the city is the local authority. If it is outside, the county is.

The local license tax built into the Department of Revenue's annual permit amounts is not the same thing as a city privilege license. Ask the city clerk or county whether you also need a separate privilege license, and what it costs. This guide does not list those local fees, so do not budget from a neighbor's number.

Entity, name and tax registrations

Your alcohol permit will be issued to a legal entity, so the business structure comes first. These figures apply to the common registrations:

• LLC Certificate of Formation (Form F0100): $50, filed through the Secretary of State's online portal at corp.sos.ms.gov. Most paid online filings are approved and filed immediately. The LLC name must include "limited liability company" or "LLC."
• Fictitious (assumed) business name (Form F0070): $25, filed with the Secretary of State, not the county. Use this if you will trade under a name other than your registered entity name.
• Sales tax permit: there is no fee from the Department of Revenue, although a bond may be required for applicants without a permanent Mississippi location. The state sales tax rate is 7%, with no county add-on. City levies apply only in Jackson and Tupelo.

Expect to collect sales tax on retail sales, and confirm with the Department of Revenue how it applies to alcohol. The sales tax permit application is at the DOR registration page. Business services at the Secretary of State are at sos.ms.gov.

A practical order of operations

1. Check the wet and dry status for your exact address on the DOR map, then confirm with the city clerk or county.
2. Ask the planning office for the distance and location rules, and request any alcohol permit checklist.
3. Form the entity with the Secretary of State ($50) and file any assumed name ($25).
4. Register for the sales tax permit with the Department of Revenue (no fee).
5. Apply for the ABC permit through TAP and pay the annual amount for your class.
6. If you sell beer or light wine, get the $30 state beer permit and the local permit, which can be up to 50% of the state fee.
7. Get the city or county privilege license if your locality requires one.

Ask the ABC Division for its current processing time before you commit to an opening date. This guide does not list a processing time for alcohol permits, so do not promise one to investors or landlords.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Signing a lease before checking wet and dry status and distance rules.
• Assuming the county's status applies to a city address, or the reverse.
• Treating the Secretary of State registration as the liquor license.
• Paying the $25 processing fee twice, once in your budget and again on the permit.
• Filing an assumed business name with the county instead of the Secretary of State.
• Copying another city's distance rule. Brandon, Pearl and Oxford each set their own.

What to confirm with each agency

Some figures are not covered in this guide, so confirm them directly rather than relying on a summary:

• ABC Division (Department of Revenue): application fees, background check charges, ownership change fees, the full list of permit classes, and current processing times.
• City clerk or county: the local privilege license fee, the local beer permit fee for your address, and whether a separate privilege license applies.
• Planning office: the current distance and zoning rules for your site, and how distance is measured.

When to get professional help

This is informational content, not legal or tax advice. Alcohol licensing, zoning and entity formation each have details that depend on your specific facts, and the rules differ from one locality to the next. Talk with a qualified Mississippi attorney before you sign a lease or purchase a business that already holds a permit, since permits and ownership changes can carry conditions. Ask a CPA how the permit costs, sales tax and entity choice affect your tax position. Verify every figure in this guide with the agency that issues it before you rely on it, because fees and ordinances change.