Dog Grooming Salon Permit Requirements in Bowling Green, KY

1. EIN (Employer Identification Number)

   Required if you have employees or operate as an LLC or corporation. Free from the IRS.

   Official government source

   Free·Immediate (online application)

   Free

   Immediate (online application)

1. Kentucky Department of Revenue — Sales and Use Tax Permit (Retailer's or Seller's Permit)

   KRS 139.200 imposes a 6% tax on the gross receipts of all retailers from retail sales of tangible personal property and of digital property, and from the furnishing of the services enumerated in subsection (2). That enumerated list is long and catches many service businesses that assume they are untaxed: landscaping services including lawn care and maintenance, tree trimming, landscape design and installation, and snow plowing or removal (paragraph (g)); janitorial services including residential and commercial cleaning and carpet, upholstery and window cleaning (h); small animal veterinary services (i); pet care services including grooming, boarding, pet sitting and obedience training (j); non-coin-operated laundry and dry cleaning (l); indoor skin tanning (n); non-medical diet and weight reducing (o); extended warranty services (p); photography and photofinishing (q); telemarketing (r); lobbying (t); executive employee recruitment (u); website design and development (v) and website hosting (w); bodyguard services (z); security system monitoring (aa); private investigation (ab); process serving (ac); repossession (ad); personal background checks (ae); parking and valet (af); rental of space for meetings, conventions, weddings, banquets, parties and other short-term social events (ai); social event planning and coordination (aj); leisure, recreational and athletic instructional services (ak); recreational camp tuition (al); personal fitness training (am); massage except when medically necessary (an); cosmetic surgery (ao); body modification including tattooing, piercing, scarification and branding (ap); non-medical laboratory testing (aq); interior decorating and design (ar); household moving (as); specialized design (at); lapidary (au); labor to repair or maintain commercial refrigeration equipment where no property is sold (av); labor to repair or alter apparel, footwear, watches or jewelry where no property is sold (aw); prewritten computer software access services (ax); and data brokering services (ay), the last effective August 1, 2026. KRS 139.240(1) requires every person presently engaged in or desiring to engage in business as a retailer or seller in Kentucky to file a permit application for each place of business, and KRS 139.250 requires the department to issue a separate permit per location, makes it nonassignable, limits it to the person named, and requires it to be conspicuously displayed. There are no local sales and use taxes in Kentucky, so the rate is 6% statewide.

   Official government source

   No fee. Neither KRS 139.240 nor KRS 139.250 prescribes a charge for the retailer's or seller's permit, and the Department of Revenue issues the account at no cost through the Kentucky Business One Stop registration·Not published by the Department of Revenue. KRS 139.240(1) requires the application to be on file before engaging in business as a retailer, and KRS 139.240(4) waives the written signature for electronic registrants, so file through the Kentucky Business One Stop before the first taxable sale

   No fee. Neither KRS 139.240 nor KRS 139.250 prescribes a charge for the retailer's or seller's permit, and the Department of Revenue issues the account at no cost through the Kentucky Business One Stop registration

   Not published by the Department of Revenue. KRS 139.240(1) requires the application to be on file before engaging in business as a retailer, and KRS 139.240(4) waives the written signature for electronic registrants, so file through the Kentucky Business One Stop before the first taxable sale

2. No Kentucky Dog Groomer License — but Grooming Is a Taxable Service

   Kentucky licenses no dog or pet groomers. The Department of Professional Licensing administers twenty-five regulatory boards, covering professions from applied behavior analysis and chiropractic to massage therapy, private investigators, geologists and radon safety, and none of them regulates grooming; the Kentucky Business One Stop portal likewise states that Kentucky has no statewide business license applying to all businesses, and directs owners to its license database only for business types the Commonwealth specifically regulates. Certification from a private body such as the National Dog Groomers Association of America or International Professional Groomers is voluntary, is not recognized or required by any Kentucky agency, and confers no legal authority. What Kentucky does impose is tax and local licensing. KRS 139.200(2)(j) subjects pet care services, expressly including grooming and boarding services, pet sitting services and pet obedience training services, to the 6% sales tax, so a groomer must register for a sales and use tax permit under KRS 139.240 and collect tax on grooming fees; the flat 6% applies statewide because Kentucky has no local sales and use taxes. Retail sales of shampoos, brushes, collars and other products are separately taxable as tangible personal property under KRS 139.200(1)(a). A groomer must also hold the occupational license of the city or county where the shop operates, which the Department of Revenue does not administer, and a groomer who boards animals overnight crosses into local animal-services kennel licensing, which in Louisville is a Metro Animal Services boarding kennel or cattery license.

   Official government source

   No state license fee, because no Kentucky license exists. Private groomer certification is priced by the association offering it and is not a government charge. The sales and use tax permit itself carries no fee under KRS 139.240 and 139.250; the obligation it creates is collecting 6% on grooming receipts. Local occupational license fees are set by the city or county·Nothing to apply for at the state level. Register for the sales and use tax account through the Kentucky Business One Stop before the first taxable grooming sale, and obtain the local occupational license before opening

   No state license fee, because no Kentucky license exists. Private groomer certification is priced by the association offering it and is not a government charge. The sales and use tax permit itself carries no fee under KRS 139.240 and 139.250; the obligation it creates is collecting 6% on grooming receipts. Local occupational license fees are set by the city or county

   Nothing to apply for at the state level. Register for the sales and use tax account through the Kentucky Business One Stop before the first taxable grooming sale, and obtain the local occupational license before opening

1. City of Bowling Green Finance Department — Business License

   Bowling Green requires all businesses operating within city limits to register with the Office of Occupational License (Finance Department) — a one-time $50 registration fee (a $275 cash bond may also apply), not an annually re-issued license. Businesses must also file and pay an Occupational License Tax of 2% of net profits (increased from 1.85% effective Jan. 1, 2024) via annual Net Profit Tax Returns, plus periodic Employee Withholding Tax Returns if they have employees.

   Official government source

   $50 one-time registration fee; ongoing 2% Occupational License Tax on net profits·Processing time not published by the city

   $50 one-time registration fee; ongoing 2% Occupational License Tax on net profits

   Processing time not published by the city

2. Animal Care Facility Permit — not required in Warren County

   Warren County has no Animal Care Facility permit or kennel license for grooming salons, and there is no department called Warren County Animal Services. Animal control is a division of the Warren County Sheriff's Office, which investigates care, stray, nuisance, and vicious-animal complaints and enforces state law and county ordinances but issues no facility licenses; sheltering is handled by the separate Bowling Green/Warren County Humane Society. A grooming salon still needs the usual city occupational license registration, zoning approval, and certificate of occupancy.

   Official government source

   No fee — no such permit exists·Not applicable — there is nothing to apply for

   No fee — no such permit exists

   Not applicable — there is nothing to apply for

3. Bowling Green Certificate of Occupancy

   A commercial grooming salon needs a certificate of occupancy before operating. It is issued by the City of Bowling Green Building Division within Neighborhood and Community Services, which handles building permits, plan review, inspections, and changes of occupancy. Zoning compatibility for a pet services use is administered separately by the City-County Planning Commission of Warren County, whose Land Use Certificate documents zoning compliance.

   Official government source

   The Building Division does not publish a permit fee schedule online; the City-County Planning Commission charges $50 for a Land Use Certificate and $330 for a Conditional Use Permit where one is required·Not published by the City of Bowling Green Building Division

   The Building Division does not publish a permit fee schedule online; the City-County Planning Commission charges $50 for a Land Use Certificate and $330 for a Conditional Use Permit where one is required

   Not published by the City of Bowling Green Building Division

Official Sources

• City of Bowling Green Finance Department
• Warren County Animal Services

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