Yes, it seems like most cities (at least larger cities, but at least many of the small ones too) and a few states require business licenses for any business. S

Yes, it seems like most cities (at least larger cities, but at least many of the small ones too) and a few states require business licenses for any business. Some cities wave the fee for low income folks and some will happily charge you more than you made as "business income" in some cases (Philadelphia going after folks who put ads on their blog is the one I know about, there may be more). I think most state licensing is more limited, but still tends to cover wide professional areas and often is more trade protectionism than public benefit.