Does South Dakota tax house cleaning? Yes, every visit
Yes. Most states leave home cleaning untaxed, but South Dakota taxes services as a rule and lists janitorial work by name. A weekly clean in a Sioux Falls townhouse, a move-out clean in Rapid City and a nightly office contract in Aberdeen are all taxable sales. Plan for it from your first quote.
Where the rule comes from
The Department of Revenue’s Sales and Use Tax Guide (July 2026) says the sales tax applies to the gross receipts of all retail sales, including “the sale of services”, unless the buyer gives you an exemption certificate, the service is specifically exempt by law, or it is construction work taxed under the contractor’s excise tax. Cleaning is not on the exempt list. On top of that general rule, section 10-45-5 of the state code names the businesses taxed at the state rate, and the list includes “janitorial services and supplies” next to dry cleaning, laundry and car washing. You can read that wording in House Bill 1137, the 2023 law that last amended the section.
What that means for your jobs
| Job | Taxable in South Dakota? |
|---|---|
| Recurring house cleaning paid by the homeowner | Yes |
| Deep clean or move-in clean | Yes |
| Move-out clean billed to a landlord | Yes, unless the landlord gives you a valid exemption certificate |
| Office, church or shop cleaning | Yes |
| Cleaning for a South Dakota state agency or local government | Usually exempt: collect their exemption certificate and keep it on file |
So a South Dakota cleaner doesn’t sort clients into taxable and exempt piles the way an Iowa cleaner does. Nearly every invoice carries tax, and the only real question is which city rate applies.
Charging 6.2% in Sioux Falls and Rapid City
Get a South Dakota sales tax license before your first paid clean, then charge 4.2% state tax plus the municipal tax of the town where the client receives the service. In the biggest cities that is 2%, for a 6.2% total.
The license
The Department of Revenue’s sales and use tax page says any business with a physical presence in South Dakota must be licensed for sales tax collection. A cleaner who lives and works in the state has that presence from day one. You apply online, then file and pay returns through the state’s EPath system.
Which rate
The tax guide says sales tax applies where the customer receives the product or service, and that municipal tax runs from 1% to 2% where a city has adopted it. For a cleaner, that is the client’s address, not yours. The department’s municipal tax rate chart for July to December 2026 lists a 2% general rate for Sioux Falls, Rapid City, Aberdeen, Brookings and Watertown. A farmhouse outside any town that levies a municipal tax pays the 4.2% state rate alone, so check the chart, or the department’s rate lookup, for each address in your route.
The rate is set to rise in 2027
The 4.2% state rate is temporary. Section 19 of House Bill 1137 repeals the reduced rates on June 30, 2027, which returns the state rate to 4.5% unless lawmakers act first. Price your recurring plans so that a 0.3-point change is a line on the invoice, not a renegotiation with every client.
A worked example
A Sioux Falls cleaner charges $150 for a biweekly clean:
- Tax per visit at 6.2%: $150 × 6.2% = $9.30
- Invoice total: $159.30
- Tax collected over a year (26 visits): $241.80, which goes to the state
- From July 1, 2027, at 6.5%: $9.75 a visit, if the rate returns as scheduled
Show the tax as its own line so clients see that the money isn’t yours. To set the price before tax, start with the house cleaning price calculator, and use the commercial cleaning calculator for office bids.
Registering a DBA in South Dakota for $10
If your business name doesn’t plainly show the owners’ surnames, file a fictitious name statement. It costs $10, lasts five years and covers the whole state.
The Secretary of State’s filing fees page lists $10 to register a DBA and $10 to renew one. You can file online with the Secretary of State or on paper at a county register of deeds. Davison County’s register of deeds explains who has to file: any person regularly doing business in the state under a name that doesn’t plainly display the owners’ surnames, and also corporations and LLCs trading under a name other than their registered one. The county notes that the name expires in five years and that it emails a reminder before it does.
Examples
- “Hansen Cleaning” run by Kari Hansen: the surname is plainly hers, so no filing.
- “Prairie Wind Home Cleaning” run by Kari Hansen: file a $10 DBA.
- “Prairie Wind LLC” trading as “Black Hills Maids”: the LLC also files a DBA for the second name.
A DBA doesn’t create a separate company or protect your savings. It simply puts your trade name on the public record so you can use it on invoices, open a bank account in that name and advertise under it. Brainstorming? The name generator gives you a list to search against the state’s records.
What a South Dakota LLC costs to form and keep
$150 to form online, then $55 a year for the online annual report. With no state income tax and no franchise tax, those two fees are the whole state cost of keeping an LLC.
The Secretary of State’s fee schedule lists:
- Articles of organization: $150 online, $165 on paper.
- Annual report: $55 online, $70 on paper.
- Late fee for a delinquent annual report: $55, which doubles the cost of forgetting.
- Name reservation: $25, if you want to hold a name before you file.
Four years of fees
Filing online, an LLC formed this fall costs $150 plus three annual reports at $55 by the end of its fourth year: $315 in state fees. The annual report is due each year around the anniversary of your filing, so check the due date the online system shows for your company and set a reminder.
No state income tax to plan around
The sales and use tax guide opens by saying South Dakota has no corporate, unitary or personal income tax. Your profit is still subject to federal income and self-employment tax, so set aside money for quarterly federal estimates, but there is no state return to file on it.
Is an LLC worth it? It keeps business debts and lawsuits away from your house and savings, and some commercial clients prefer to sign with one. It doesn’t pay for a broken vase or a client who slips on a wet floor; that is what insurance is for. Our guide on LLCs for cleaning businesses walks through the choice, and the insurance guide covers the policies clients ask about.
Sioux Falls, Rapid City and home-based work
South Dakota has no general state business license, and neither of its two largest cities licenses house cleaners. What Sioux Falls does regulate is a business run out of a home, which is where most new cleaners keep their supplies and paperwork.
Sioux Falls
The city’s licensing page says not all businesses need city licensing, and the licenses it lists cover things like alcohol, pawnbrokers, transportation services and peddlers. Cleaning isn’t among them. The zoning office does require a home occupation permit for business activity conducted within a residence. Its conditions matter if you plan to grow: only people who live in the home can be involved in the home occupation, clients can’t generate more than four visits a day, and the work must stay inside the house, not the garage. A cleaner who works at clients’ homes and keeps a desk and a supply shelf at home usually fits. A crew meeting in your driveway every morning may not, so ask the zoning office before you hire.
Rapid City
Rapid City’s licenses and permits page lists the business types its Finance Office licenses, such as taxis, security, pawn shops and refuse haulers, and says other businesses don’t need a license from that office. Check zoning rules too if you run the business from home.
Smaller towns
Call the city or town office where you live before you advertise. Door-to-door flyers can fall under peddler or solicitor rules, which Sioux Falls handles through police records.
Hiring cleaners in South Dakota: wages, unemployment tax and workers’ comp
South Dakota’s minimum wage is $11.85 an hour in 2026, unemployment tax for a new employer is 1.75% of the first $15,000 per worker, and new hires are reported within 20 days. Workers’ comp isn’t framed as a hard mandate, but going without it leaves you open to lawsuits.
Minimum wage
The Department of Labor and Regulation’s minimum wage page sets $11.85 an hour from January 1, 2026, or $5.925 for tipped employees as long as tips bring them to the full rate. The rate rises every January with the cost of living, rounded up to the nearest nickel, and never goes down. Price your recurring plans with next year’s raise in mind. South Dakota also has no law requiring holiday pay, according to the department’s holiday pay page; paid time off is a recruiting choice, not a legal requirement.
Reemployment assistance tax
The state calls unemployment insurance reemployment assistance. Its employer FAQ says you must register once you pay $1,500 or more in wages in a calendar quarter, or employ anyone in 20 different weeks of a year. For 2026, the taxable wage base is $15,000 per employee. A new non-construction employer pays 1.20% plus a 0.55% investment fee in year one, then 1.00% plus 0.55% in years two and three. That caps year-one cost at $262.50 per employee.
Workers’ comp
The department’s guide to workers’ compensation law says state law permits employers to provide coverage, and that most do it by buying a policy. The catch is in the same guide: if you don’t provide coverage, an injured employee can sue you directly for damages or claim benefits from you as if you were insured. One slip on a client’s stairs could cost more than years of premiums, so buy a policy with your first hire.
New-hire reporting
The New Hire Reporting Center requires every new or rehired employee to be reported within 20 days of the first day of work, including part-time and temporary staff.
A visit priced out
At $16 an hour, a 3-hour clean plus 30 minutes of driving costs 3.5 × $16 = $56 in wages, before unemployment tax, workers’ comp and supplies. On a $150 clean, labor is well over a third of the price, and sales tax doesn’t help because it goes to the state. Test your own numbers in the profit calculator, and read how to hire cleaners before you post the job.
What does a South Dakota cleaning business cost to start?
State fees are small: $10 for a DBA or $150 for an LLC, plus a sales tax license. Insurance and equipment are the real spend, and sales tax is money you collect, not a cost, as long as it’s on the invoice.
Fees were checked on official South Dakota pages on October 10, 2026. Rows marked “estimate” are our ranges, not quotes.
| Item | Cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| DBA registration | $10 | Good for five years. Not needed under your own surname. |
| LLC articles of organization | $150 online, $165 paper | Optional. |
| LLC annual report | $55 online, $70 paper | Every year. $55 late fee. |
| Sales tax license | Apply before the first clean | Required for every South Dakota cleaner. |
| Sioux Falls home occupation permit | Ask the zoning office | If you run the business from a Sioux Falls home. |
| Reemployment assistance tax | Up to $262.50 per employee | 1.75% of the first $15,000, new employers, year one. |
| General liability and workers’ comp | $500 to $1,500 a year (estimate) | Depends on payroll and claims. Get at least two quotes. |
| Supplies and equipment | $200 to $500 (estimate) | See the supplies list. |
| Booking and scheduling software | Optional | BroomBook starts at $29 a month. |
A solo cleaner working under their own surname can start legally for the price of a sales tax license, insurance and supplies. Add the LLC once you sign a commercial account or hire your first cleaner.
Finding South Dakota clients, and where BroomBook helps
In a state of small cities and long drives, route density decides your margin. Pick a few neighborhoods in Sioux Falls or Rapid City and fill them before you take a client 40 minutes out. Referrals, a Google Business Profile listing your service towns, and local Facebook groups bring most first clients. Our guide on how to get clients for a cleaning business has scripts, and the general start-up guide covers services and equipment. Starting near the state line? Compare the Iowa and Minnesota rules before you cross it.
We make BroomBook, a booking, scheduling and crew app for residential cleaning businesses. Clients book online with an instant price, cleaners get a private link with their jobs, checklists and clock-in, and cards are charged after the clean through Stripe, with tips. In South Dakota the optional sales tax setting earns its keep, because nearly every clean is taxable. Its limit: the rates you set (up to two, such as state and city) apply to every booking, not a rate per client address. If all your clients are inside Sioux Falls or Rapid City, 4.2% plus 2% fits. If your route crosses towns with different rates, check the totals with your accountant.
Plans are $29 a month on Solo (up to 2 cleaners) or $59 a month on Team (unlimited cleaners), with a 14-day free trial. See how online booking for cleaners works.