How to Get a Massachusetts Liquor License

Last updated: September 11, 2026

In Massachusetts the question is rarely how much a liquor license costs; it is whether your town has one left to give. M.G.L. c.138 §17 caps the number of on-premises “pouring” licenses a city or town may issue at one for each 1,000 residents, with at least 14 guaranteed to every municipality, and off-premises package store licenses at one per 5,000. The license is granted by your local licensing authority after a published notice and public hearing, then approved by the state Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission, which charges a $200 application fee; the annual license fee itself is set by the town. No license issues or renews until you show liquor liability insurance of $250,000 per person and $500,000 per accident, and towns that adopt the 2025 statute now let a wine and malt licensee trade up to a full license without buying one on the open market.

Training: The Town and the Insurer Decide, Not the State Chapter

Chapter 138 licenses the premises and the manager, not the bartender. The individual’s obligations arrive through the local licensing authority’s conditions and through §69, which forbids selling or delivering an alcoholic beverage on any licensed premises to an intoxicated person — the standard a server is trained to apply.

Towns fill the gap with their own rules, and they are specific. Plymouth’s Server Training Requirements, approved August 26, 2025, require all employees engaged in serving alcohol to complete a program in observation and detection to avoid serving intoxicated persons or minors — TIPS or a substantially equivalent course — with the manager certified before appointment and every bartender certified at establishments with a bar, a training roster kept for inspection and submitted with each renewal, and in-house training for all other staff who serve or sell. Chelmsford’s regulations require TIPS for restaurants and lounges or Beverage Alcohol Training for package stores, with managers holding a current certificate, other selling employees certified within 30 days of employment, recertification every three years, and copies of every certificate kept on the premises. Read your own town’s liquor regulations before your first hire; they are enforced at renewal.

The Quota Comes First

Section 17 sets the arithmetic. A city or town may issue §12 on-premises licenses at one for each population unit of one thousand or fraction thereof, plus one for each ten thousand over the first twenty-five thousand, and at least fourteen regardless of population; §15 off-premises licenses at one per five thousand, with at least two. Municipalities that have voted to allow all alcoholic beverages may grant additional wine and malt licenses at one per five thousand, with a floor of five. No quota is decreased because of a loss in population. The ABCC’s own FAQ lists “the city/town quota is full” among the most common reasons applications are denied or returned, and Boston’s licensing board tells applicants that availability “is fluid” and it can only issue licenses pending availability.

Since July 1, 2025 there is a second door. Under §12D, in a city or town that accepts the section, the local licensing authority may allow a licensee holding a wines and malt beverages license under §12 to trade it in for an all alcoholic beverages license. The converted license becomes non-transferable, the town may charge a reasonable fee that shall not be excessive and set additional requirements, and the conversion does not increase the total number of licenses authorized under §17.

Local Authority First, ABCC Second

Retail applications are submitted to the municipality. In Chelmsford the packet requires the $200 ABCC application fee paid online and a $150 town filing fee; a public hearing before the Select Board is scheduled roughly three weeks out; notice of the hearing is published in the local newspaper at least 10 days before it, and within three days of publication the applicant sends the notice by certified mail to every abutting property owner and to any school, hospital or church within 500 feet. After the board approves, the town forwards the application and its certification to the ABCC for investigation. Boston follows the same sequence with a $170 legal advertisement, a $100 hearing fee and a community process through the Office of Neighborhood Services, and estimates the whole process at four to twelve weeks. Section 16C is why the churches and schools are on the mailing list: premises within 500 feet of a school or church may not be licensed unless the local authority determines in writing, after a hearing, that they are not detrimental to its educational or spiritual activities.

Insurance Is a Condition of the License

Section 12 states it directly: no license shall be issued or renewed until the applicant provides proof of coverage under a liquor legal liability insurance policy for bodily injury or death of at least $250,000 on account of injury to or death of one person and $500,000 on account of any one accident. The same section leaves the annual license fee to the local licensing authorities, who set it when originally issuing and at each renewal.

What It Costs

Fee or requirement	Who sets it	Amount
§12 on-premises annual license fee	Local licensing authority (M.G.L. c.138 §12)	Set by the town — Chelmsford restaurant all-alcohol example $3,000
ABCC application fee	Paid online to the ABCC with a new retail application	$200
Town filing fee — Chelmsford example	Select Board	$150
Legal advertisement and hearing fee — Boston example	Licensing Board	$170 / $100
Liquor liability insurance	§12, before issue or renewal	$250,000 per person / $500,000 per accident
§12D trade-in fee (wine and malt to all alcoholic)	Town that accepts §12D; “reasonable” and “not excessive”	Set by the town
Server training (TIPS or equivalent)	Local regulations, e.g. Plymouth, Chelmsford	Course price set by the provider
Massachusetts LLC	Certificate of Organization / annual report (M.G.L. c.156C §12)	$500 / $500 a year

A Fixed Number of Licenses, and the 2025 Law That Loosened One Knot

The quota does what quotas do: in a built-out town the only path to a pouring license has been to buy one from a holder who is leaving, at whatever the market says it is worth, and then carry it through the same local hearing and ABCC approval as a new applicant. Section 12D was written for the licensee already inside that system with a wine and malt license — a restaurant that grew into a bar. Where the town has accepted the section, that licensee can trade up without entering the resale market at all. The price is transferability: the converted license cannot be sold on, which keeps the town’s total constant and keeps the new full license out of the very market the statute bypasses. Montana handles the same scarcity by auctioning newly available licenses to the highest bidder against a floor tied to market value; Massachusetts handles it town by town, one hearing at a time.

The insurance clause in §12 is the state’s answer to the question Maryland’s courts declined to answer. Massachusetts does not need a dram shop verdict to make a bar carry coverage; the license itself does not issue without proof of a $250,000 and $500,000 policy, and it does not renew without it either. Section 69 supplies the conduct rule the policy underwrites: no sale or delivery to an intoxicated person on any licensed premises.

Two procedural facts matter more here than in most states. A licensee has five business days from receipt of a written local decision to appeal it to the ABCC, and thirty calendar days from an ABCC decision to appeal to Superior Court. And the manager the town and the ABCC approve is a named person: the ABCC treats the managers of an LLC as it treats corporate directors for the citizenship and residency requirements, so the entity structure and the manager choice are licensing decisions, not just tax ones.

How to Get Licensed, In Order

1. Ask the town clerk or licensing office whether a §12 license is available under the §17 quota, and whether the town has accepted §12D. If the quota is full, the route is a transfer from an existing holder.
2. Register the entity — a Massachusetts LLC Certificate of Organization is $500, and the annual report is $500.
3. Bind liquor liability coverage of $250,000 per person and $500,000 per accident; the license cannot issue without the certificate.
4. File with the local licensing authority: the ABCC new retail license application, the $200 ABCC fee paid online, the town’s own filing fee and forms, and the proposed manager.
5. Publish and mail the notice. The hearing notice runs in the local paper at least 10 days before the hearing; within three days of publication, send it by certified mail to abutters and to any school, hospital or church within 500 feet, and bring the receipts to the hearing.
6. Attend the hearing. On approval the town forwards the application and its certification to the ABCC, which investigates and approves the license.
7. Pay the town’s annual license fee once the premises pass the Board of Health and Building Department inspections, and get the manager and bar staff certified under the town’s training rule before opening.

Staying Licensed

Renewal renews the insurance check. The §12 proof-of-coverage requirement applies on renewal as well as issue, and the local authority sets the renewal fee each year.

Keep the training roster current. Towns like Plymouth require an updated roster of trained employees with each renewal application; Chelmsford requires a certificate for every selling employee on the premises and recertification every three years.

Changes need approval. Changing a manager, stockholder, officer, director or interest holder, or adding a partner or investor, is a transaction submitted through the local authority and the ABCC, not a paperwork update.

Watch the appeal clocks. Five business days to take a local decision to the ABCC; thirty calendar days to take an ABCC decision to Superior Court.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much is a liquor license in Massachusetts?

The annual license fee is set by your city or town under M.G.L. c.138 §12, so it varies by municipality. Chelmsford’s packet lists a restaurant all-alcohol license at $3,000 a year. On top of the town’s fee, a new retail application carries a $200 ABCC application fee paid online; towns add their own filing and hearing costs — Chelmsford charges a $150 filing fee, Boston a $170 legal advertisement and a $100 hearing fee. Where a town is at its §17 quota, the license itself is usually acquired by transfer from an existing holder at a negotiated price.

How many liquor licenses can a Massachusetts town issue?

Under M.G.L. c.138 §17, one §12 on-premises license for each 1,000 residents plus one for each 10,000 over the first 25,000, with at least 14 in every city or town; one §15 package store license per 5,000 residents, with at least two; and in towns that allow all alcoholic beverages, additional wine and malt licenses at one per 5,000 with a floor of five. A quota is never reduced for a loss in population.

What is the new Massachusetts liquor license trade-in law?

M.G.L. c.138 §12D, effective July 1, 2025. In a city or town that accepts it, the local licensing authority may allow a licensee holding a §12 wines and malt beverages license to trade it in for an all alcoholic beverages license. The converted license becomes non-transferable, the town may charge a reasonable fee and set additional requirements, and the trade-in does not increase the town’s §17 quota.

Is liquor liability insurance required in Massachusetts?

Yes. M.G.L. c.138 §12 says no license shall be issued or renewed until the applicant or licensee provides proof of a liquor legal liability policy for bodily injury or death of at least $250,000 for one person and $500,000 for any one accident.

Do you need TIPS certification to bartend in Massachusetts?

Chapter 138 licenses the premises and manager rather than the bartender, so the requirement comes from your town. Plymouth requires every employee who serves alcohol to complete TIPS or a substantially equivalent program, with the manager certified before appointment and a training roster submitted at renewal; Chelmsford requires TIPS or BAT within 30 days of employment and recertification every three years. Check your own town’s liquor regulations.

How long does it take to get a liquor license in Massachusetts?

Boston’s licensing board estimates four to twelve weeks depending on the application. The sequence is fixed by the process: the local hearing must be advertised at least 10 days in advance and abutters notified within three days of the ad, the local authority decides, and the application then goes to the ABCC for investigation and approval.

Can a Massachusetts bar be within 500 feet of a church or school?

Only with a finding. Under M.G.L. c.138 §16C, premises within 500 feet of a school or church may not be licensed unless the local licensing authority determines in writing, after a hearing, that they are not detrimental to the educational and spiritual activities of the school or church; the distance is measured in a straight line from the nearest points. That is why hearing notices go to schools and churches within 500 feet.

Forming the company, taxes, insurance, and hiring are covered in our full guide to starting a business in Massachusetts.

Sources

Source	What It Covers
M.G.L. c.138 §17 — Number of licenses; population quota	One license under section twelve for each population unit of one thousand or additional fraction thereof, plus one for each population unit of ten thousand over the first twenty-five thousand, and at least fourteen licenses under section twelve; one license under section fifteen for each population unit of five thousand, and at least two; cities and towns voting to permit all alcoholic beverages may grant additional wine and malt licenses at one per five thousand with at least five; no quota shall be decreased because of any loss in population
M.G.L. c.138 §12 — Licenses for sale of alcoholic beverages to be drunk on the premises	No license shall be issued or renewed under this section until the applicant or licensee provides proof of coverage under a liquor legal liability insurance policy for bodily injury or death for a minimum amount of $250,000 on account of injury to or death of 1 person, and $500,000 on account of any 1 accident resulting in injury to or death of more than 1 person; the local licensing authorities may determine in the first instance, when originally issuing and upon each annual renewal, the amount of the license fee; licenses may be issued to a common victualler, an innholder, a pub brewer, a continuing care retirement community and a keeper of a tavern
M.G.L. c.138 §12D — Trade-in of a wine and malt beverages license for an all alcoholic beverages license	In any city or town that accepts this section, the local licensing authority may allow a licensee licensed to sell only wines and malt beverages under section 12 to trade in that license for a license to sell all alcoholic beverages; the traded-in license becomes non-transferable upon issuance of the all alcoholic beverages license; the local licensing authority may charge a reasonable fee that shall not be excessive and may establish additional requirements; a traded-in license shall not increase the total number of licenses authorized under section 17; effective July 1, 2025
M.G.L. c.138 §69 — Sale or delivery to intoxicated persons	No alcoholic beverage shall be sold or delivered on any premises licensed under this chapter to an intoxicated person
Town of Chelmsford Select Board — New or Transfer Alcohol License Application Packet (Rev. February 2024)	Pay the $200 ABCC application fee online and print the receipt; submit the $150 filing fee payable to the Town of Chelmsford; Restaurant (all alcohol) $3,000 annual license fee; a public hearing before the Select Board may be approximately three weeks after application submission; a notice of the public hearing must be published in the local newspaper at least 10 days prior to the hearing; within three days after publication the applicant sends the notice by certified mail to owners of all abutting property and to any schools, hospitals and churches within a radius of 500 feet; liquor liability insurance minimum of $250,000 for injury to or death of one person and $500,000 for any one accident (M.G.L. ch.138 §12); managers and staff who sell alcoholic beverages complete TIPS for restaurants and lounges or Beverage Alcohol Training (BAT) for package stores; TIPS certification every three years; other employees who sell alcoholic beverages complete TIPS certification within 30 days of employment
City of Boston Licensing Board — Apply for an alcoholic beverages retail license	Complete the ABCC new retail license application; the $200 filing fee is due to the ABCC; legal advertisement $170 to the Boston Herald, run 10 calendar days prior to the hearing; $100 hearing fee; abutters notified by certified mail within three (3) days of the printed legal advertisement; the number of liquor licenses in the City of Boston is established by Massachusetts General Law and availability is fluid; the Board can only issue licenses pending availability; the manager must be a U.S. citizen or Massachusetts resident; the entire application process can typically take four to 12 weeks
Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission — Most Frequently Asked Questions (as posted by the Town of Burlington)	Massachusetts law places a restriction commonly referred to as a quota on the number of on-premises and off-premises licenses a city or town can issue, based on the population enumerated in the most recent federal census; three classifications of retail licenses: Section 12 on-premises pouring licenses, Section 15 off-premises package store licenses, and Section 14 special licenses; under Section 16C premises within a radius of five hundred feet of a school or church shall not be licensed unless the LLA determines in writing after a hearing that the premises are not detrimental to the educational and spiritual activities of that church or school, measured in a straight line from the nearest points; a licensee has five days (business days) from receipt of the written decision to appeal a local decision to the ABCC and thirty calendar days to appeal an ABCC decision to Superior Court; the most common reasons for denial include that the city/town quota is full; the ABCC analogizes the managers of an LLC to the directors of a corporation for the citizenship and residency requirements
Town of Plymouth — Server Training Requirements for Liquor License Holders (approved August 26, 2025)	All employees engaged in the serving of alcoholic beverages must complete a program designed to train management and bartender employees in methods of observation and detection to avoid selling or serving to intoxicated persons or minors; the manager shall have completed the program prior to appointment and completion is required for all bartenders at all establishments with a bar; an in-person or online course such as Training for Intervention Procedures by Servers of Alcohol (TIPS) or a substantially equivalent program; a training roster available for inspection and submitted with the annual renewal; all other employees who serve or sell receive in-house training
M.G.L. c.156C §12 — Certificate of organization; annual report; fees	The fee for the filing of the certificate of organization shall be five hundred dollars; the fee for the filing of the annual report shall be five hundred dollars