How to File a Boone County Net Profit Tax Return

To file a Boone County net profit tax return, report your federal net profit on the county’s Net Profit License Tax Return, apportion it to activity inside the county, apply the 0.8% rate (capped at $635.95 for 2026), and submit the return with payment by April 15 for calendar-year filers.¹ Fiscal-year filers are due on the 15th day of the fourth month after their year ends.²

Who Has to File

Any person or business earning a profit from activity in Boone County owes the tax and must file the return. That covers corporations, S-corporations, partnerships, sole proprietorships, and LLCs, and it reaches independent contractors and anyone reporting self-employment income on a federal Schedule C.³ For partnerships and S-corporations, the tax applies to income at the entity level, before it passes through to owners. A business located outside the county still owes tax on the share of profit earned from work done or sales made inside the county.

File even if you lost money. The county requires a return every year a business operated, regardless of whether it turned a profit.⁴ Skipping a loss-year return is a common way filers end up with penalties and license-standing problems.

What You Need Before You Start

Finish your federal return first. The county return pulls numbers directly from it, so trying to work the two in parallel wastes time.

Your completed federal return: Form 1120 for corporations, Form 1065 for partnerships, or Schedule C for sole proprietors.
Your SSN or Federal Employer Identification Number.
Your five-digit Boone County account number, assigned when you registered. The business name and address on the return have to match county records.
Gross receipts earned inside Boone County and total gross receipts everywhere, plus the same split for payroll. These feed the apportionment formula.

The current year’s Net Profit Tax Return form is on the county’s tax forms page.⁵

Calculating What You Owe

Start With Federal Net Profit

Begin with net profit (or loss) from the federal return that matches your entity type. That figure is your starting line.

Apportion to Boone County

If your business operates both inside and outside the county, you only owe tax on the share tied to county activity. The apportionment formula averages two factors:

Payroll factor: compensation paid in Boone County divided by total compensation paid everywhere.
Sales factor: gross receipts from Boone County sales divided by total gross receipts everywhere.

Add the two percentages and divide by two.⁶ If only one factor applies (sales in the county but no payroll there, for example), divide by one instead of two. Multiply your federal net profit by the resulting fraction to get apportioned net profit.

Apply the Rate and the Cap

Multiply apportioned net profit by 0.008. For 2026, the maximum taxable net profit is capped at $79,494, so the most any filer owes is $635.95.¹ The cap changes periodically, so pull the current year’s rate sheet before filing. If you already paid a minimum license fee for the year, credit it against the tax due.

Filing and Paying

You can file the completed return and supporting federal schedules through the county’s online portal at boonecounty.munirevs.com, which confirms receipt immediately.⁷ Paper returns can be mailed to the Boone County Occupational License Department with payment enclosed.

Make checks payable to the Boone County Fiscal Court and write your five-digit account number in the memo line. The online portal accepts electronic payments, though card transactions may carry a processing fee. Payment has to accompany the return. Filing without paying puts the account into delinquency the same day and starts the penalty clock.

Deadlines and Extensions

Calendar-year filers are due April 15.⁷ Fiscal-year filers are due the 15th day of the fourth month after the year closes. A June 30 fiscal year means an October 15 deadline.²

You can get an automatic six-month extension by filing the Boone County Net Profit Extension Form (or a copy of your federal extension application) before the original due date. The request needs your five-digit account number and the signature of an authorized agent.⁴

An extension buys time to file, not time to pay. Your estimated tax is still due on the original deadline, and unpaid tax during the extension accrues interest at 12% per year. If the county later finds unmet filing or payment obligations from prior periods, it can revoke the extension and assess penalties as if none had been granted.⁴

Penalties and Interest for Late Returns

Late filing and late payment each carry a penalty of 5% of the tax due per month (or partial month) overdue, up to a 25% cap. The minimum penalty is $25, no matter how small the tax owed.⁸

Interest runs separately at 12% per year (1% per month) on unpaid tax from the original due date until paid in full.⁸ A partial month counts as a full month for both charges, so being one day late triggers the first month of each. A return that lands five months late on a $500 bill would owe $125 in penalties (hitting the 25% ceiling) plus five months of interest.

Who Doesn’t Have to File

A handful of entities are fully exempt from both the tax and the filing requirement, including banks and other financial institutions under KRS 68.197, Kentucky-incorporated insurance companies that pay a separate premium tax, public service corporations assessed under KRS 136.120, and nonprofits operated exclusively for religious, charitable, scientific, literary, educational, or civic purposes. Qualifying investment fund distributions under KRS 154.20, Kentucky National Guard training pay, and election precinct worker pay are also excluded. Nonprofits claiming the exemption have to submit proof of federal tax-exempt status to the county.⁹ Alcoholic beverage licensees are a partial case: they still file a return but may exclude profit from the licensed activity itself.

1
Boone County Fiscal Court. Tax Rates for 2026
2
American Legal Publishing. Boone County Code of Ordinances – Filing Deadlines
3
Boone County, Kentucky Code of Ordinances. Boone County Code 110.03 – Occupational License Tax Payment Required
4
Boone County Fiscal Court. Net Profit License Tax Return Instructions 2024
5
Boone County Fiscal Court. Tax Forms
6
American Legal Publishing. Boone County Code of Ordinances 110.28 – Apportionment
7
Boone County Fiscal Court. Occupational Licensing
8
American Legal Publishing. Boone County Code 110.99 – Penalty
9
American Legal Publishing. Boone County Code 110.27 – Occupational License Tax Payment Required