Fitness Studio 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. Kentucky Attorney General — Health Spa Registration and Surety Bond (KRS 367.900 to 367.930)

   Kentucky's Health Spa Act reaches most fitness studios. KRS 367.900(1) defines a health spa as any for-profit establishment providing as one of its primary purposes services or facilities purporting to improve physical condition or appearance through sports activities, fitness training, exercise or body building, and expressly includes establishments offering access to gymnasiums, swimming pools, tracks, ball courts, weight lifting equipment, exercise equipment or facilities, saunas, steambaths or whirlpools; nonprofits under 26 U.S.C. 509(a) and establishments limited primarily to diet counseling and special dietary foods are excluded. KRS 367.905(1) requires anyone intending to open or operate a health spa to file a registration statement with the Attorney General's Office of Consumer Protection before selling any memberships, and to provide a surety bond meeting KRS 367.906 before the first sale. The registration statement must disclose the spa's name and address, the officers, directors and stockholders of the spa and any parent corporation, type of facilities, approximate square footage, whether a shower area is provided, employees and their qualifications, the membership plans offered and their cost, and any completed or pending litigation against the spa or its officers or directors in the last three years. KRS 367.906(3) sets the bond by the number of unexpired contracts, and KRS 367.906(4) exempts a spa only if no initiation or similar nonrecurring fee is charged at or near the start of the term or renewal and no member is ever charged for facilities or services more than thirty-one days in advance. KRS 367.905(3) requires prepaid contract funds to be held in escrow until the spa has been open thirty days, and KRS 367.905(6) treats each separate location as a separate health spa needing its own registration statement and bond even under common ownership. KRS 367.910 and 367.911 govern the written contract and its term, and KRS 367.913 gives members cancellation rights.

   Official government source

   $100 initial registration fee with the registration statement (KRS 367.905(1)(a)) and a $50 annual registration fee with a new registration statement filed on or before July 1 each year after opening (KRS 367.905(2)). Surety bond in favor of the Attorney General's Office of Consumer Protection under KRS 367.906(3): $10,000 for 150 or fewer unexpired contracts, $25,000 for 151 to 300, and $50,000 for 301 or more; the bond premium is set by the surety. Each separate location pays its own fee and posts its own bond·The registration statement and fee must be filed and the bond provided before any membership is sold in Kentucky — there is no published processing time. Renewal is due on or before July 1 annually. A spa that must file or increase a bond because of a membership or plan change must notify the Office of Consumer Protection in writing at least thirty days before the change

   $100 initial registration fee with the registration statement (KRS 367.905(1)(a)) and a $50 annual registration fee with a new registration statement filed on or before July 1 each year after opening (KRS 367.905(2)). Surety bond in favor of the Attorney General's Office of Consumer Protection under KRS 367.906(3): $10,000 for 150 or fewer unexpired contracts, $25,000 for 151 to 300, and $50,000 for 301 or more; the bond premium is set by the surety. Each separate location pays its own fee and posts its own bond

   The registration statement and fee must be filed and the bond provided before any membership is sold in Kentucky — there is no published processing time. Renewal is due on or before July 1 annually. A spa that must file or increase a bond because of a membership or plan change must notify the Office of Consumer Protection in writing at least thirty days before the change

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. Lexington Certificate of Occupancy — Assembly / Fitness Use

   A fitness studio in a commercial space needs a certificate of occupancy from the LFUCG Building Inspection Department confirming the space is approved for assembly or fitness use, with adequate means of egress, ventilation, and occupant load under the Kentucky Building Code. Remodeling or a change of use requires a building permit first. Every applicant must schedule a life safety inspection with the Fire Inspector. Applications are filed through the lexingtonky.gov permits portal or the One Stop Shop at 101 E. Vine St.

   Official government source

   LFUCG publishes no certificate of occupancy fee; commercial construction fee estimates are available through the One Stop portal·Not published by the Building Inspection Department; issuance follows the fire life safety inspection

   LFUCG publishes no certificate of occupancy fee; commercial construction fee estimates are available through the One Stop portal

   Not published by the Building Inspection Department; issuance follows the fire life safety inspection

3. Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government — Commercial Building Permit (tenant improvements)

   Building out or remodeling a fitness studio — showers, locker rooms, floor systems — requires a commercial building permit from the LFUCG Division of Building Inspection, 101 E. Vine St., (859) 258-3770, applied for at lexingtonky.gov/permits. The permit covers the building work and associated site work; several trades need their own separate applications and permits: fences and retaining walls, signs and HVAC are permitted by LFUCG; plumbing is permitted by the State Inspector at (859) 899-3244; electrical is permitted by LFUCG with inspections by the Commonwealth Inspections Bureau at (859) 263-7800. Fire suppression and fire detection shop drawings are reviewed by Building Inspection and the Lexington Fire Department. For projects over roughly 50 pages the division may require paper plans in addition to the electronic submittal.

   Official government source

   The Division of Building Inspection does not publish a commercial building permit fee schedule online; it does publish $25 for a certificate of occupancy on an existing commercial building and $10 per electrical permit. Confirm the permit fee with the division at (859) 258-3770·Not published by the Division of Building Inspection; a permit is issued after all necessary LFUCG agencies have reviewed and approved the construction documents

   The Division of Building Inspection does not publish a commercial building permit fee schedule online; it does publish $25 for a certificate of occupancy on an existing commercial building and $10 per electrical permit. Confirm the permit fee with the division at (859) 258-3770

   Not published by the Division of Building Inspection; a permit is issued after all necessary LFUCG agencies have reviewed and approved the construction documents

Official Sources

• Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government — Revenue Division
• Kentucky Department of Revenue — Sales and Use Tax Permit

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