Cleaning Service Permit Requirements in Louisville, 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 Workers' Compensation Coverage — Department of Workers' Claims (KRS Chapter 342)

   Kentucky sets no minimum-employee threshold. KRS 342.630(1) makes any person, other than one engaged solely in agriculture, that has one or more employees in this state mandatorily subject to KRS Chapter 342, so a cleaning service is covered from its first employee, part-time included. KRS 342.340(1) then requires every employer either to insure and keep insured its liability with a carrier authorized to write workers' compensation in Kentucky, or to furnish the commissioner satisfactory proof of financial ability to self-insure and post whatever security, indemnity or bond the commissioner directs. KRS 342.340(2) requires the carrier or self-insured group to file evidence of coverage with the commissioner within ten days after a policy or endorsement issues, and requires immediate notice on cancellation, lapse, termination, expiration or nonrenewal. KRS 342.650 lists the exempt classes, which include domestic servants in a private home where the employer has fewer than two employees each regularly working forty or more hours a week, persons employed not exceeding twenty consecutive work days on maintenance or repair in or about the employer's private home, agricultural employees, direct sellers under IRC 3508(b)(2), certain religious and charitable workers, and persons who elect out under the commissioner's regulations. A sole proprietor with no employees is not an employer under KRS 342.630 and needs no policy, but a sole proprietor is also not an employee and is not covered unless he or she elects coverage. Independent contractors are tested on the facts, not on the label in a contract.

   Official government source

   No state fee — coverage is bought from a private carrier or through self-insurance, and the premium is set by the carrier from payroll and class code, not by the Commonwealth. Going without coverage is what carries fixed numbers: KRS 342.990(7)(c) sets a civil fine of not less than $100 and not more than $1,000 per offense for violating KRS 342.340 or 342.630, and each employee and each day of violation is a separate offense; KRS 342.990(9)(a) adds a criminal fine of $100 to $1,000 per offense or 30 to 180 days' imprisonment, or both; KRS 342.990(9)(c) makes the sole proprietor, partner, LLC principal or corporate officer who knowingly authorized the failure personally and jointly liable·Coverage must be in force before the first employee works. The carrier or self-insured group must file evidence of compliance with the Department of Workers' Claims within ten days after the policy or endorsement issues (KRS 342.340(2)); a cancellation takes effect no earlier than ten days before the commissioner receives notice unless replacement coverage is in place

   No state fee — coverage is bought from a private carrier or through self-insurance, and the premium is set by the carrier from payroll and class code, not by the Commonwealth. Going without coverage is what carries fixed numbers: KRS 342.990(7)(c) sets a civil fine of not less than $100 and not more than $1,000 per offense for violating KRS 342.340 or 342.630, and each employee and each day of violation is a separate offense; KRS 342.990(9)(a) adds a criminal fine of $100 to $1,000 per offense or 30 to 180 days' imprisonment, or both; KRS 342.990(9)(c) makes the sole proprietor, partner, LLC principal or corporate officer who knowingly authorized the failure personally and jointly liable

   Coverage must be in force before the first employee works. The carrier or self-insured group must file evidence of compliance with the Department of Workers' Claims within ten days after the policy or endorsement issues (KRS 342.340(2)); a cancellation takes effect no earlier than ten days before the commissioner receives notice unless replacement coverage is in place

1. Louisville Metro Revenue Commission — Occupational License Tax Registration

   Louisville Metro does not issue a general local business license. The Louisville Metro Revenue Commission states that to start a new business "there is no local business license required"; instead a new business must register with the Revenue Commission, the Jefferson County Clerk's Office, and the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Registration with the Revenue Commission opens an occupational license tax account. The tax is on net profits (and on employee wages, withheld quarterly on Form W-1), reported annually on Form OL-3, due the 15th day of the 4th month after the end of the taxpayer's fiscal year. There is no flat annual license fee. The claim's Develop Louisville URL is the wrong agency; the Revenue Commission administers this registration.

   Official government source

   No local business license fee. Occupational license tax of 2.2% (resident rate) or 1.45% (non-resident rate) on net profits and on wages; minimum $25 penalty for filing late·Not published by the Revenue Commission; registration is completed online. The annual OL-3 return is due the 15th day of the 4th month after the fiscal year ends

   No local business license fee. Occupational license tax of 2.2% (resident rate) or 1.45% (non-resident rate) on net profits and on wages; minimum $25 penalty for filing late

   Not published by the Revenue Commission; registration is completed online. The annual OL-3 return is due the 15th day of the 4th month after the fiscal year ends

2. Louisville Home Occupation Rules or DBA Registration

   A cleaning service run from a Louisville home is governed by the city's home occupation rules: allowed as an accessory use in residential zones when conducted by the resident, with no exterior change, no signage, no outdoor storage of business equipment, and no more than two commercial deliveries a day. A home occupation licence from Planning and Design Services is required only if clients come to the site or a non-resident employee works there. If using a trade name, file a certificate of assumed name — under KRS 365.015(3) a sole proprietor files with the Jefferson County Clerk, while an LLC or corporation files with the Kentucky Secretary of State and records a filed copy with the county clerk.

   Official government source

   $46 Jefferson County Clerk DBA registration fee ($20 to the Secretary of State for entities); no fee for a home occupation that requires no licence, and Louisville does not publish the licence fee·An assumed name certificate is effective on the date filed and lasts five years; Planning and Design Services publishes no home occupation processing time

   $46 Jefferson County Clerk DBA registration fee ($20 to the Secretary of State for entities); no fee for a home occupation that requires no licence, and Louisville does not publish the licence fee

   An assumed name certificate is effective on the date filed and lasts five years; Planning and Design Services publishes no home occupation processing time

Official Sources

• Louisville Metro Revenue Commission
• Kentucky Department of Revenue — Sales and Use Tax Permit

Related Guides