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).