Dog Grooming Salon Permit Requirements in Lexington, 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. Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government — Division of Revenue — Occupational License

   Every business entity operating in Fayette County must apply for and obtain an initial occupational license from the LFUCG Revenue Department before starting business. The occupational license fee is a flat 2.25% of an individual's compensation and a business's net profits — there is no fee tier by business type — reported on an annual Net Profits License Fee Return. Employers file an Employer's Return of License Fee Withheld quarterly, or monthly when quarterly withholding exceeds $300, plus an annual Reconciliation of License Fee Withheld.

   Official government source

   $100 initial license fee and a $100 annual minimum license fee, plus the 2.25% occupational license fee on net profits and payroll·Not published by the LFUCG Revenue Department; the license must be obtained before starting business

   $100 initial license fee and a $100 annual minimum license fee, plus the 2.25% occupational license fee on net profits and payroll

   Not published by the LFUCG Revenue Department; the license must be obtained before starting business

2. Animal Care Facility Permit — not issued in Fayette County

   Lexington-Fayette Animal Care and Control issues no animal care facility permit or grooming salon licence. LFACC's licensing programs are individual pet licences and a kennel licence for premises keeping multiple dogs, neither of which applies to a grooming salon that does not board animals. A grooming business's actual obligations are the LFUCG occupational licence, zoning approval, and a certificate of occupancy from the Division of Building Inspection.

   Official government source

   No fee — no grooming facility permit exists; LFACC does not publish its pet and kennel licence fees on the LFUCG page·Not applicable — there is nothing to apply for

   No fee — no grooming facility permit exists; LFACC does not publish its pet and kennel licence fees on the LFUCG page

   Not applicable — there is nothing to apply for

3. Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government — Certificate of Occupancy

   A commercial dog grooming salon must obtain a Certificate of Occupancy, and the space must meet the LFUCG Zoning Ordinance's requirements for a pet services business. A Certificate of Occupancy is required for any business to operate in Lexington-Fayette County and is issued by the LFUCG Division of Building Inspection, 101 E. Vine St., (859) 258-3770. If you are not changing the use of the space and are not doing additions or remodeling that would require a building permit, you may apply directly for a Certificate of Occupancy at lexingtonky.gov/permits and then schedule a life-safety inspection with a Fire Inspector at (859) 231-5668. If the use is changing or remodeling is taking place, you apply for a building permit instead and the Certificate of Occupancy is issued once the permit conditions are met.

   Official government source

   $25 for a Certificate of Occupancy for an existing commercial building, per the Division of Building Inspection's published contractor-registration requirements; a home-based location instead takes a $10 Home Office Certificate. A Certificate of Occupancy reached through a building permit carries that permit's fee, which the division does not publish online·Not published by the Division of Building Inspection; the life-safety inspection is scheduled by appointment with the Fire Inspector

   $25 for a Certificate of Occupancy for an existing commercial building, per the Division of Building Inspection's published contractor-registration requirements; a home-based location instead takes a $10 Home Office Certificate. A Certificate of Occupancy reached through a building permit carries that permit's fee, which the division does not publish online

   Not published by the Division of Building Inspection; the life-safety inspection is scheduled by appointment with the Fire Inspector

Official Sources

• Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government — Revenue Division
• Fayette County Animal Services

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