Starting a service business in Connecticut

Form your business in Connecticut

File a Certificate of Organization online through business.ct.gov; it includes the appointment of your statutory agent. The fee is $120 as listed by the Secretary of the State in October 2026. A name reservation, if you want one first, is $60.

Ongoing state filings

Every Connecticut LLC files an annual report online between January 1 and March 31 each year. The fee is $80 as listed in October 2026, payable by card through business.ct.gov. All annual reports must be filed online, and the portal's FAQ covers what to do if an outside company offers to file it for you, so read that before paying anyone.

Using a business name (DBA)

Trade names are filed with the town clerk, not the Secretary of the State, in the town where the business is primarily transacted, and only in one town even if you work in many. An LLC can file in the town of the trade name address or of its principal place of business. The filing fee is $20, paid to the town clerk, as listed in October 2026. New application forms apply to trade names filed on or after October 1, 2026; they must be hand signed and notarized, and an LLC's name, business ID and address must match its record on business.ct.gov exactly.

Not sure whether you need an LLC at all? Read LLC vs sole proprietor for contractors, then get your free EIN from the IRS.

Licensing for service trades

The Department of Consumer Protection (DCP) handles most licensing. Under the Home Improvement Act, anyone contracting with a consumer to work on residential property must register as a Home Improvement Contractor. That covers any permanent change, including driveways, roofs, siding, flooring, patios, landscaping, painting, fences, windows and waterproofing. It does not cover jobs under $200, subcontracted work, commercial property, work within a trade license, building new homes (a separate New Home Construction Contractor registration), or property maintenance such as snowplowing, mowing, pruning, cleaning, and tree and shrub cutting. Electrical, plumbing and pipefitting, and heating, cooling and sheet metal work need DCP occupational licenses, and towns issue their own permits.

• Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection: Home Improvement Contractor: Registration for residential home improvement work over $200 ($220 non-refundable application fee and $20,000 minimum general liability insurance, as listed in October 2026)
• Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection: New Home Construction Contractor: Building new homes or portions of new homes
• Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection: Electrical: Electrical licenses
• Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection: Plumbing and Pipefitting: Plumbing and pipefitting licenses
• Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection: Heating, Cooling and Sheet Metal: Heating, cooling and sheet metal work licenses

Workers' compensation

The Workers' Compensation Commission says that, with few exceptions, all employers in Connecticut must carry workers' compensation insurance for their employees. Owners have choices: a sole proprietor is not covered unless they accept the Act's provisions, and corporate officers, LLC members and partners may elect to be excluded. Coverage comes from licensed insurance companies, approved self-insurance, or group self-insurance organizations licensed by the Connecticut Insurance Department, which also sets rates each year with NCCI. The Commission does not sell insurance; an agent or a property and casualty insurer can write the policy. Out-of-state employers must cover their employees working in Connecticut.

More on coverage: business insurance for contractors.

Sales tax on services

Connecticut taxes far more services than most states. The Department of Revenue Services list of services subject to sales and use tax includes landscaping and horticulture services, janitorial services, window cleaning, exterminating, swimming pool cleaning and maintenance, painting and lettering, repair services to air conditioning and refrigeration equipment, certain contractor services to real property, and services to commercial and income-producing real property such as electrical, plumbing, painting and carpentry. Owner-occupied homes with no more than three units are excluded from the income-producing category. If any of your services are on the list, register through myconneCT before your first invoice; the sales and use tax permit costs $100 as listed in October 2026.

Recording business calls in Connecticut

Connecticut treats phone calls and in-person talk differently. The criminal eavesdropping law (§ 53a-187) requires the consent of only one party. But § 52-570d bars recording a private phone call unless all parties consent in writing or at the start of the recording, a recorded verbal notice opens the call, or an automatic warning tone repeats during it, and anyone recorded without that can sue for damages and attorney's fees. For a business phone line, play a notice on every call; our recording guide has a script.

See our guide to recording business calls before you turn on call recording or an AI receptionist.

How the seasons shape the work

Connecticut has a full four-season calendar. Snow plowing, roof snow and ice dam work run from December through March, and nor'easters can bring heavy snow or coastal flooding along Long Island Sound. Spring cleanup, mulching and exterior painting crowd into April through June, fall brings leaf removal and gutter cleaning in the wooded towns, and summer hurricanes and tropical storms occasionally knock down trees across the state.

Mowing and plowing are outside home improvement, but still taxable

DCP's list of work excluded from home improvement registration includes snowplowing, mowing, pruning and cleaning services. That does not settle sales tax: the Department of Revenue Services taxes landscaping and horticulture services, janitorial work and window cleaning. Check both agencies before you set up a route business.

Then set up the back end that gets you hired

The paperwork makes you legal. Customers still have to find you, reach you and pay you. Before your first job, set up a business phone number, email on your own domain, a Google Business Profile, a simple website, and a way to send quotes and take card payments. The launch checklist lays out the order.

Connecticut questions