Landscaping Business 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 Pesticide Applicator License

   If you apply pesticides or herbicides for hire as part of landscaping services in Kentucky, you must hold a Commercial Applicator License from the Kentucky Department of Agriculture under 302 KAR 26:020, which requires passing a written exam in the applicable category (e.g. ornamental and turf). Employees applying under a licensed applicator need a commercial operator license.

   Official government source

   $25 exam fee plus $25 commercial applicator license ($100 for an operator license)·Not published by KDA; the license is issued after the exam is passed and the fee paid

   $25 exam fee plus $25 commercial applicator license ($100 for an operator license)

   Not published by KDA; the license is issued after the exam is passed and the fee paid

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. No Louisville Metro Landscaping Contractor Registration

   Louisville Metro does not register or license landscaping contractors. The Louisville Metro Office of Construction Review publishes the complete list of contractor licenses it issues — Building Type A and B, HVAC, Manufactured Fireplace, Range Hood, Mechanical Refrigeration, Fire Detection, Fire Suppression, Moving, Sign, and Wrecking Type A and B — and landscaping and irrigation are not among them. Metro's own Business Licensing Guide directs contractors to register locally only if they are electrical, plumbing, or HVAC contractors. Kentucky likewise has no statewide general contractor license. What a landscaper does need is a Louisville Metro occupational license tax account with the Louisville Metro Revenue Commission, registered through its eMINTS system. Irrigation work that ties into a potable water supply is plumbing and must be done by a plumber licensed by the Kentucky Department of Housing, Buildings and Construction, which issues those permits at state level.

   Official government source

   No fee — no landscaping contractor registration exists. A Louisville Metro contractor's license is only needed if the crew pulls building permits, at $125/year for Building Type A or $50 for a single-permit Building Type B; the Metro occupational license is a tax account registration rather than a priced permit·Not applicable — there is no landscaping contractor registration to apply for in Louisville Metro

   No fee — no landscaping contractor registration exists. A Louisville Metro contractor's license is only needed if the crew pulls building permits, at $125/year for Building Type A or $50 for a single-permit Building Type B; the Metro occupational license is a tax account registration rather than a priced permit

   Not applicable — there is no landscaping contractor registration to apply for in Louisville Metro

Official Sources

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

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