Business Classification and Coding in San Francisco
The Office of the Treasurer & Tax Collector in San Francisco currently uses two main coding systems to classify businesses.
Business Class and PBC (Principal Business Code)
“Business Class” describes a general categorization of business types. These Business Class codes are specific to the City and County of San Francisco.
|
CLASS
|
DESCRIPTION
|
|
01
|
Commission Merchant or Broker
|
|
02
|
Building Contractor
|
|
03
|
Hotels, Apartments, etc.
|
|
04
|
Laundry, Dry Cleaning, Dye Agents, etc.
|
|
05
|
Money Lending
|
|
06
|
Personal Property Rental
|
|
07
|
Other Business Services (most services)
|
|
08
|
Retail Sales
|
|
09
|
Storage, Freight Forwarding
|
|
10
|
Telephone, Gas, Electric, Steam, Railroad
|
|
11
|
Transporting Persons for Hire
|
|
12
|
Trucking/Hauling
|
|
13
|
Wholesale Sales
|
|
15
|
Architects and Engineers
|
|
16
|
Nonprofit Garage Corporations
|
|
00
|
Fixed Place of Business
|
A “PBC” (Principal Business Code) provides a more specific indication of business activity. PBCs originated long ago at the federal level but have since been replaced in general usage – first by "SIC Codes" and now by the commonly used "NAICS" (North American Industry Classification System) codes. Both the Business Class and PBC, however, are still required by the City's existing business tax software in order to process a business registration and other tax documents. The table below contains all of the PBC Codes used by the Office of the Treasurer & Tax Collector – sorted by three different methods.
Complete Table of PBC Codes used by Treasurer & Tax Collector (pdf)
NAICS Codes
In 1997, the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) business coding system was replaced by the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). This system is the standard used by the federal government and many municipalities in classifying business establishments for the purpose of collecting and analyzing statistical data.
The document link below provides a summary table of the 2002 version of NAICS codes (as compiled and abridged by the Office of the Treasurer & Tax Collector). To determine the NAICS code for your business, locate the general category heading (in capital letters) for your business. Then select the six-digit code that best categorizes your business operations. If your business operation falls into multiple categories, select the code that represents the majority of your business operations.
Summary Table of 2002 NAICS Codes (pdf)
If you are unable to locate your business activity on this table or need to locate a more specific description, you can view the complete listing of NAICS codes online at: www.census.gov/epcd/www/naics.html
