Kentucky charges 6% sales tax on more than 30 categories of services, and the list grew substantially on January 1, 2023, when House Bill 8 and later House Bill 360 pulled in everyday work like landscaping, pet grooming, dry cleaning, personal training, and website hosting.1Kentucky Department of Revenue. TaxAnswers FAQs for Sales and Excise Taxes If you want to know what services are taxable in Kentucky, the short answer is: most consumer-facing and many business-to-business services now fall inside the base, while traditional professional services (legal, medical, accounting, education) remain outside it. There are no local sales taxes added on top of the 6%.2Kentucky Department of Revenue. Sales and Use Tax The taxable categories are listed in KRS 139.200.
Home and Property Services
Landscaping is one of the largest categories the expansion brought in. Lawn care and maintenance, tree trimming and removal, landscape design and installation, and snow plowing are all taxable. Weekly mowing bills carry the 6% charge.
Janitorial work is in the same group, covering both residential and commercial cleaning along with carpet, upholstery, and window cleaning.3Justia Law. Kentucky Revised Statutes 139.200 – Imposition of Sales Tax Interior decorating and design for homes and commercial spaces are taxable, as are specialized design services for clothing, costumes, fashion, and lighting. Household moving services carry the 6% tax too.
Personal Care, Fitness, and Body Services
Several personal services became taxable in 2023, most of them with a medical-necessity carve-out.
- Massage services, unless medically necessary.
- Cosmetic surgery, with an exemption for reconstructive procedures correcting problems from birth disorders, trauma, burns, or disease. A nose job is taxed; reconstructive surgery after a car crash is not.4Kentucky Legislative Research Commission. HB 360 SCS 1 – Cosmetic Surgery Services Definition
- Tattooing, piercing, and other body modification, unless medically necessary. The statute reaches as far as scarification and subdermal implants.5FindLaw. Kentucky Revised Statutes 139.200 – Imposition of Sales Tax
- Personal fitness training and recreational or athletic instruction, including one-on-one sessions and instructor-led group classes.
- Photography and photo finishing, with an exception for diagnostic photography.
Pet and Small-Animal Veterinary Services
Veterinary care for small animals is taxable, which catches most pet owners by surprise. Vet visits for dogs, cats, and other companion animals carry the 6% charge. Care for livestock and farm animals does not: horses, cattle, poultry, swine, sheep, goats, llamas, alpacas, and buffalo stay exempt.3Justia Law. Kentucky Revised Statutes 139.200 – Imposition of Sales Tax
Non-medical pet services are taxable across the board. Grooming, boarding, pet sitting, and obedience training all collect the 6%.
Laundry and Dry Cleaning
Non-coin-operated laundry and dry cleaning are taxable. Dropping clothes at a dry cleaner or using a wash-and-fold service means paying the 6%. Coin-operated laundromat machines are the exception.3Justia Law. Kentucky Revised Statutes 139.200 – Imposition of Sales Tax
Industrial laundry has its own taxable category, covering uniform supply, protective apparel supply, and industrial mat and rug supply. Linen supply for tablecloths, bed linens, and non-industrial uniforms is also taxable.
Business-to-Business Services
Several services that one business buys from another are now in the tax base:
- Website design, development, and hosting. Both the build and the recurring hosting fee are taxable.
- Executive recruitment and headhunter services.
- Lobbying, at any level of government.
- Private investigation, personal background checks, and bodyguard services.
- Private mailroom services, including presorting, barcoding, and private mailbox rentals.5FindLaw. Kentucky Revised Statutes 139.200 – Imposition of Sales Tax
Repairs, Warranties, Events, and Parking
Labor to repair or alter apparel, footwear, watches, and jewelry is taxable even when no new materials change hands. Lapidary work (cutting, polishing, and engraving precious stones) falls under the same rule. Labor and services to repair or maintain commercial refrigeration equipment are taxable, including service calls and trip charges. Extended warranties and service contracts sold alongside a product or service are taxable at the warranty price.
Short-term rental of event space is taxable, covering meetings, conventions, weddings, banquets, parties, and entertainment events. Parking services, including valet, carry the 6% charge, with an exemption for parking at educational institutions.5FindLaw. Kentucky Revised Statutes 139.200 – Imposition of Sales Tax
Lodging has been taxable in Kentucky for years, but HB 8 added campgrounds and RV parks. Any room, campsite, or accommodation rented to transients for fewer than 30 consecutive days is subject to the tax.3Justia Law. Kentucky Revised Statutes 139.200 – Imposition of Sales Tax Recreational camp tuition that includes activity fees is taxable as well.
What Still Isn’t Taxed
The exemption list matters as much as the taxable one, because it covers the services people most often assume must be taxable too. Traditional professional work stays outside the base: legal services, accounting, financial planning, and other professional consulting are not subject to sales tax. Medical and healthcare services are broadly exempt, including physician visits, prescription medications, and medical devices.
Educational services, including tuition and fees at schools, colleges, and accredited training programs, remain exempt. So do testing services for medical, educational, or veterinary purposes. Sales by government entities, and purchases that state and local governments make for governmental functions, are also excluded.6Justia Law. Kentucky Revised Statutes 139.470 – Exempt Transactions
Residential utilities get partial protection. Sewer service, water, and fuel used for heating, cooking, lighting, and other residential purposes at a person’s home are exempt.6Justia Law. Kentucky Revised Statutes 139.470 – Exempt Transactions The same utilities at a commercial property stay taxable.
The $6,000 Small Provider Threshold
Kentucky exempts very small service providers from the 2023 expansion. If your gross receipts from the newly taxable service categories don’t exceed $6,000 in a calendar year, you don’t have to collect the tax. Once you cross $6,000, every dollar of those receipts for the rest of the calendar year becomes taxable. The threshold lives in KRS 139.470(23) and applies only to services added by HB 8, not to categories that were already taxable before 2023.
Because the threshold runs on gross receipts rather than profit, it fills up quickly. A weekend landscaper or a freelance web designer with a few steady clients can clear $6,000 inside a few months and must register, collect, and file from that point on.
Bundled Transactions
Businesses that sell packages combining taxable and exempt items need to be careful. The default rule is that when taxable and exempt items are sold together for a single price, the entire charge is taxable.7Kentucky Legislative Research Commission. Kentucky Revised Statutes 139.215 – Taxation of Bundled Transactions
Two exceptions soften that. A “true object” test can pull a bundle out of the rule when the tangible property is essential to the service, provided only in connection with it, and the customer’s real purpose is the service. And when the taxable portion of a bundle is 10% or less of the total price, the whole transaction can escape the bundled-transaction classification. Clean records separating the taxable and exempt components are the safest practice.
Services Bought From Out-of-State Providers
Buying a taxable service from a provider in another state does not avoid the tax. If the out-of-state seller doesn’t charge Kentucky sales tax, you owe use tax at the same 6% rate and report it yourself.2Kentucky Department of Revenue. Sales and Use Tax A Kentucky business that hires a web developer in another state without being charged Kentucky tax is responsible for the 6% use tax on that purchase.