How to Apply for a Liquor Sales Business License

Procedure

Procedure

1. 01

   1. Choose the license type and the store — A specific liquor wholesale license covers only designated products, such as takju, yakju, cheongju, traditional liquor and beer made by small-scale liquor manufacturers, bought from manufacturers and sold wholesale. A specialty retail license allows face-to-face sales of liquor other than ethanol to consumers at the licensed store, and liquor paid for face-to-face at the store may be delivered at the consumer's request. Licenses are issued per store, so opening another shop or selling at a different place such as a festival site requires a separate license for that place.

2. 02

   2. Check warehouse and store requirements and grounds for refusal — A specific liquor wholesaler must have a warehouse of 22㎡ or more, and storage containers and insect-proof facilities if it handles liquor that is not bottled. As a rule, a new sales license cannot be issued for a manufacturing site or store that already holds another liquor license, and licenses are also restricted for places not separated or partitioned from facilities used for purposes other than liquor sales. Grounds for refusal, such as national or local tax arrears, less than 2 years since a license revocation, or less than 5 years since a prison sentence for violating the Punishment of Tax Offenses Act or the Food Sanitation Act, also apply to the officers of a corporation.

3. 03

   3. Prepare corporate purposes and attachments — A corporation attaches its articles of incorporation, minutes of the general meeting of shareholders or board of directors, and a list of shareholders and officers, so if liquor sales is not among the business purposes, the articles must first be amended by a special resolution of the general meeting (two-thirds or more of the voting rights of shareholders present and one-third or more of total issued shares) and the change of purpose registered. If the store or warehouse is leased, prepare a copy of the lease, and for a joint business, a copy of the partnership agreement; specific liquor wholesalers also submit a credit information report issued by the comprehensive credit information concentration agency. Business registration under the Value-Added Tax Act is a license requirement for liquor retail.

4. 04

   4. Apply to the competent tax office — Enter the license type and warehouse area on the liquor sales business license application and submit it to the tax office with jurisdiction over the store; it can also be filed through Hometax. The tax office reviews the application and grounds for refusal and may inspect the store and warehouse on site, and the processing period on the form is 40 days. The fee is 50,000 won for specific liquor wholesale and 30,000 won for liquor retail, paid with revenue stamps.

5. 05

   5. Comply with license conditions — The license designates the types of liquor that may be sold and the business scope, and violating the scope can lead to revocation. Specific liquor wholesalers must sell liquor for entertainment and restaurant use to entertainment and restaurant businesses and liquor for household use to liquor retailers, exchanging a liquor sales statement or tax invoice for each sale. To relocate a store, file a relocation report with the tax office of the new location at least 15 days before the planned move.

Filing route

Filing route

Deadlines & processing notes

Deadlines & processing notes

Fees & official charges

Fees & official charges

Included in the basic fee — Initial document review, required-document guidance, basic form preparation, one filing support and one ordinary supplement.

Conditional success fee — For this service, any conditional success fee may be separately agreed within the lawful service scope and stated in a written engagement agreement. No outcome is guaranteed.

Displayed amounts are starting estimates, not statutory or standard rates. The final fee is confirmed after consultation and document review in the engagement agreement. Government fees and actual expenses may change.

Basic documents

Basic documents

Selling liquor without a license is punishable by imprisonment of up to 3 years or a fine of up to 30,000,000 won (or three times the equivalent liquor tax, if greater) under Article 6 of the Punishment of Tax Offenses Act, so start sales only after receiving the license. When a licensed corporation changes its representative or officers, it must report to the competent tax office within 30 days from the registration date, so include officer changes in license management.