Starting a service business in Utah

Form your business in Utah

You create a Utah LLC by filing a certificate of organization with the Division of Corporations and Commercial Code, part of the Department of Commerce. The filing fee is $59 on the division's current fee schedule in October 2026 (the posted schedule is labeled fiscal year 2026, effective July 1, 2025). Expedited processing costs $75 per filing on the same schedule.

Ongoing state filings

Utah LLCs renew every year by filing a renewal (annual report) with the division. The renewal fee is $18, which includes a $5 surcharge for the state's single sign-on portal, and a late renewal adds $10, per the division's fee schedule in October 2026. If an LLC expires for missed renewals, reinstatement costs $54 plus $18 for each missed year and a $10 delinquency fee.

Using a business name (DBA)

A business that operates under any name other than its legal name registers an assumed name (DBA) with the same division. Registration is $22 and each DBA renewal is $18, as listed in October 2026. Register the DBA before the name goes on your truck wrap, your Google Business Profile or your invoices.

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

DOPL licenses general and specialty contractors, electricians and plumbers under the Utah Construction Trades Licensing Act. The key rule for a new handyman or small remodeler is the exemption in Utah Code section 58-55-305 (effective May 7, 2025, and scheduled to be renumbered January 1, 2027): you may alter, repair, remodel or improve a building without a contractor license when the contracted value is less than $7,000, labor and materials included, counting every change order. The exemption has hard limits. Work on an electrical or plumbing system must be done by a licensed electrical or plumbing contractor (a licensed journeyman may swap a component such as a faucet, toilet, fixture, outlet or switch). Gas appliance work needs state certification, HVAC installation or replacement must be done by a DOPL-licensed HVAC contractor, and fire sprinkler, alarm and radon systems need their own licensed trades. If the project is over $3,000, you must file a one-time affirmation with DOPL that you carry public liability insurance and, if you have employees, workers' compensation. DOPL runs this as a handyman registration that expires November 30 of odd-numbered years. Cities and counties issue building permits and business licenses on top of this.

• Utah Division of Professional Licensing: Contracting: General and specialty contractor licenses
• Utah Division of Professional Licensing: Handyman: Handyman exemption registration for projects under $7,000
• Utah Division of Professional Licensing: Electrical: Master, journeyman and apprentice electricians
• Utah Division of Professional Licensing: Plumbing: Master, journeyman and apprentice plumbers

Workers' compensation

The Utah Labor Commission says that, with few exceptions, all employers must provide workers' compensation coverage for their employees. Under Utah Code section 34A-2-103, any person who regularly employs one or more workers is an employer, and section 34A-2-201 gives two ways to comply: insure with a company authorized to write workers' compensation in Utah, or get approval from the Labor Commission's Industrial Accidents Division to self-insure. For a small crew that means buying a policy before your first hire starts work. The same coverage matters for licensing: a handyman taking jobs over $3,000 has to affirm to DOPL that employees on the job are covered.

More on coverage: business insurance for contractors.

Sales tax on services

Utah's sales tax law (Utah Code section 59-12-103) lists the transactions it taxes. Besides sales of tangible personal property, the list includes services for repairs or renovations of tangible personal property, amounts charged for assisted cleaning or washing of tangible personal property, and laundry or dry cleaning. So repairing a customer's equipment or cleaning their belongings can be taxable, while work on the house itself is a different question. If you sell goods or any of the listed services, register for a sales tax license with the Utah State Tax Commission, and ask the commission how your mix of services is treated before you set prices.

Recording business calls in Utah

Utah follows one-party consent. Utah Code section 77-23a-4(7)(b) allows anyone not acting for the government to intercept a communication if they take part in it or if one participant agreed in advance, so long as the aim is not a crime or a tort. Your own business calls can be recorded; for customers phoning from all-party states, play a short notice. Our guide to recording business calls walks through it.

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

How the seasons shape the work

Utah's Wasatch Front has four distinct seasons: hot, dry summers that push sprinkler, lawn and cooling work, and snowy winters that keep snow removal and furnace crews busy from November into March, with heavier snow in the mountain towns. Water is a constant theme, so irrigation repair, xeriscape conversions and sprinkler blowouts each fall are steady work. Rapid home building along the I-15 corridor means plenty of newer homes needing first-time cleaning, window, landscaping and maintenance service, and the St. George area runs on a desert calendar with mild winters.

Keep change orders under the $7,000 line

The handyman exemption counts the full contracted or agreed value of the job, including labor, materials and all changes or additions to the work. A $6,500 bathroom refresh that picks up a $900 change order is now a $7,400 project, and the exemption no longer applies. Write change orders down and check the running total before you agree to extra work.

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.

Utah questions