Selling a Business and Location or Ownership Changes

An Amended Application Form (PDF) must be completed and submitted to the City of Newnan if you sell or move, relocate, your business or if the ownership changes due to death, divorce, etc. The current occupational tax certificate can be transferred with the business in the event of a sale to a new owner. In these cases, the current Occupational Tax Certificate will have to be surrendered with the Amended Business Application Form for transfer of the certificate. All taxes due by the prior owner will have to be paid in full prior to the transfer being granted by the City of Newnan. Please make sure all personal and real property taxes have been satisfied when purchasing an existing business. This same form is used to record location and/or ownership changes that occur, regardless of the reason.

Closing an Active Business

The online form for reporting the closing or sale of an active business in the City of Newnan can be accessed by visiting the Officially Closing Your Business in Newman website. If you close an active business in the City of Newnan, you must notify the Finance Department of the closing date. Closing the business or ownership out properly with the City will prevent future assessments of personal property taxes by both the City and the County. This will also stop the annual automatic mailing of the occupational tax certificate renewal packet.

For businesses that have been closed or sold, occupational taxes must be calculated and paid on the income earned year-to-date. As you will note, occupational tax renewals are based on prior year gross receipts, therefore, no taxes have been paid on the current year's gross receipts. Please submit the completed form and taxes due to the City within 30 days of the closing date of the business. The owner's signature is required on the form.

If the City was not notified of the business closing and the business/owner received a renewal for the upcoming year, there is a section labeled "Closed Businesses Only" on page 2 of the return. This section must be completed and the form returned to the City, along with the correct amount of occupational taxes for the prior year's gross receipts. Please see the paragraph above for an explanation of the occupational taxes owed when a business closes. The $25 admin fee does not have to be paid in this case.

For additional information concerning the correct way to close out a business in the City of Newnan, please feel free to contact the City's Licensing Office