Starting a house cleaning business in Pennsylvania: the housekeeping tax and the maid exception

Pennsylvania's rule for house cleaners fits in one sentence, then spends several pages on exceptions. Housekeeping is taxable, and most of the details concern what you pay tax on when you buy supplies, which arrangements are not taxable, and the local layer on top of the state rate. For the general steps of opening a cleaning company, use the national cleaning startup guide; the Pennsylvania startup page has the rest of the state basics.

Housekeeping is taxable building cleaning

The Pennsylvania Business Hub states that residential and commercial building cleaning services are subject to sales tax, and that you get the required sales tax license through the Department of Revenue's myPATH system at no cost. The Hub also says there is no general business license that all Pennsylvania businesses must obtain, and that a cleaning business has no other requirements beyond what the page lists. Local governments can still have rules of their own, so check with your municipality.

The regulation behind it is 61 Pa. Code 60.1. It defines building cleaning services as work that removes dirt, dust, grease or grime from a building or its interior and keeps the building and contents clean, neat and orderly. The taxable cleaning list in subsection (c) names housekeeping, office cleaning including windows, carpets, floor waxing and furniture polishing, chimney and fireplace cleaning, indoor pool cleaning, fire restoration cleaning, exterior siding cleaning and pressure washing, and duct, acoustical tile and venetian blind cleaning. Subsection (d) adds general apartment building maintenance, replacing light bulbs and changing air filters.

Some work is outside the tax. The regulation excludes building repair, boiler and furnace maintenance, cleaning outdoor in-ground pools, interior and exterior painting, snow plowing, plumbing repairs and driveway sealing. Drapery and upholstery cleaning is treated under the rules for taxable services to tangible personal property, so a cleaner who adds upholstery as an extra should read that rule separately. Cleaning an office inside a private residence is taxable when the home is not predominantly used for business, which the regulation defines as over 50 percent of the square footage.

The two-party maid exception

The regulation carves out maid services in a two-party arrangement, where the homeowner must withhold federal income and Social Security taxes. The exception describes a household that employs the cleaner directly and handles the payroll withholding itself. A cleaning company that sends its own staff to the house sells a service and takes the sales tax license; if you are unsure which side of the line a particular client falls on, ask the Department of Revenue before you quote. Our guide on employee versus independent contractor explains the classification side.

When the regulation lets you pay no tax on supplies is also specific. Items you transfer to the customer during the work, such as polishes, waxes and air fresheners, can be bought with a resale exemption. Items you use up or keep are taxable when you buy them: cleaners and soaps, brooms, mops, brushes, dust rags, buckets, polishers, scrubbers and ladders. Administrative supplies carry no resale exemption either. Track which of your shelves are resale and which are tools before you set your tax account up. See the house cleaning supplies list for a full inventory.

The rate: 6 percent, plus Philadelphia and Allegheny

The Department of Revenue lists the state rate as 6 percent. Allegheny County adds 1 percent, and Philadelphia adds 2 percent, so a cleaning in Philadelphia carries 8 percent. Your invoices to customers across a county line may carry different totals. Set up your invoicing software with the service address, not your office address. Compare the structure with other states in the home services sales tax table.

Workers' comp, wages and sick time

The Department of Labor and Industry says workers' compensation coverage is mandatory for all employers who have one or more employees, part-time or full-time, including family members. You can buy through an agent or broker, from one of 300 or more private carriers, by self-insuring, or from the State Workers' Insurance Fund (SWIF), a state agency that covers businesses that struggle to get private coverage. New businesses often fall into that group.

The state minimum wage remains $7.25 an hour on the Department of Labor and Industry's wage page, with time and a half after 40 hours in a workweek for most employees. Cities add their own rules. Philadelphia's Promoting Healthy Families and Workplaces ordinance (chapter 9-4100) requires employers with ten or more employees to provide paid sick time, accrued at one hour per 40 hours worked in Philadelphia, capped at 40 hours a year unless the employer picks a higher limit, and usable from the 90th calendar day. Employers with fewer than ten employees for at least forty weeks a year are not required to provide it. The ordinance text cited here dates from 2015, and the city amended the sick leave law through its 2025 POWER Act (for example, a three-year record-keeping period), so confirm current terms with the city's Office of Worker Protections. A route that crosses the city line starts counting hours from the first Philadelphia clean. Our first employee guide covers the steps before payroll starts.

LLC, annual report and trade name

The Department of State lists the domestic LLC Certificate of Organization at $125, and there is no newspaper requirement to form it. Since 2025, LLCs must file an annual report between January 1 and September 30 for $7, and beginning with reports due in 2027 a missed report leads to dissolution six months after the due date. A fictitious name registration costs $70. When an individual is listed on the registration, you must also advertise it in two newspapers of general circulation in your county, one of them a legal newspaper. Selling under the LLC's exact name avoids both. See the LLC fee comparison for other states.

If you record booking calls, Pennsylvania requires the consent of all parties, and intercepting a call otherwise is a third-degree felony under 18 Pa.C.S. 5703. Read our recording guide before you turn on call recording.

First steps in order

1. File the LLC and register for a sales tax license in myPATH.
2. Split your supply spending into resale items and tools, and keep receipts for both.
3. Decide how you will quote tax: included in a flat price, or added as a line using the customer's local rate.
4. Get a workers' comp quote before your first hire, including a SWIF quote.
5. If you work in Philadelphia, build sick time accrual into payroll once you reach ten employees.

Confirm with the state

What you read above reflects the Pennsylvania sources listed below as of October 2026. Treat it as general information rather than legal or tax advice. The ordinance and regulation texts may be amended, and the Philadelphia text cited here is the original 2015 version posted by the city. Phone the relevant office before you rely on any single line.

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