Home-Based Businesses and Government Regulation

February 2004

By: Henry Beale, United States Small Business Administration: Office of Advocacy

https://web.archive.org/web/20220131013634/https://www.sba.gov/sites/default/files/Home%20Based%20Business%20and%20Government%20Regulation.pdf
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Home Occupations

This report examines the federal, state, and local regulatory environment for home-based businesses in the U.S. The author’s findings suggest that home-based businesses face disproportionate regulatory compliance pressures due to their small-size. Individual sections address characteristics of home-based businesses, federal regulations, state and local taxes, state and local regulations, zoning, potential beneficial state interventions, and conclusions.

The report recommends flexible, performance standard-based home occupation regulations and suggests that the existing residential characteristics of the neighborhood should guide the initial benchmarks for performance standards (p.ES-7).