Texas taxes the office and exempts the house, and apartment common areas fall on the taxable side
Answer
Texas charges sales tax on commercial cleaning (offices, retail, industrial) at rates up to 8.25%, but residential cleaning (houses, individual apartment units, short-term rentals) is fully exempt under Tax Code §151.0045.
- Commercial building cleaning is taxable; residential house cleaning is exempt.
- Tax rate is based on the service location, not your business address.
- Quote commercial jobs as price plus tax to avoid absorbing the cost after contract signing.
8.25% Maximum combined Texas sales tax rate (6.25% state + up to 2% local, 2025)
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Is Cleaning Taxable in Texas?
Most cleaning businesses assume residential services face Texas sales tax. They don't. Texas Tax Code §151.0045 and Comptroller Rule 3.356 impose sales tax on "nonresidential cleaning services" and exempt residential work entirely. If you clean office buildings, retail centers, or industrial facilities in Texas, you collect tax at rates up to 8.25%. If you clean houses or individual apartment units, you don't.
| Service Type | Taxable in Texas? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Commercial building cleaning (office, retail, industrial) | ✅ Yes | "Nonresidential cleaning service" — Tex. Tax Code §151.0045 |
| Janitorial / custodial services (ongoing contract) | ✅ Yes | Recurring contracts must charge and collect tax |
| Post-construction cleaning (commercial) | ✅ Yes | Cleaning new or renovated nonresidential space is taxable |
| Residential house cleaning | ❌ No | Residential cleaning is exempt from Texas sales tax |
| Apartment/condo interior cleaning (individual unit) | ❌ No | Treated as residential — exempt |
| Short-term rental (Airbnb/VRBO) unit cleaning | ❌ No | Residential classification — exempt |
| Common area cleaning (apartment complex lobbies, halls) | ✅ Yes | Common areas are nonresidential spaces |
| Window cleaning (commercial building) | ✅ Yes | Part of building maintenance — taxable |
| Pressure washing (commercial building exterior) | ✅ Yes | Nonresidential cleaning service |
| Medical office cleaning | ✅ Yes | Healthcare facilities are nonresidential |
| Government facility cleaning (state/local) | ✅ Yes | Government entities pay Texas sales tax on services (no general governmental exemption for sales tax) |
| Federal government cleaning contracts | ❌ No | Federal government is exempt from state sales tax |
How Texas Sales Tax Works for Cleaning Contractors
Current rates (2025):
- State rate: 6.25%
- Local rate: Up to 2.0% (set by city, county, transit, special purpose districts)
- Combined maximum: 8.25%
- Houston combined rate: 8.25%
- Dallas combined rate: 8.25%
- San Antonio combined rate: 8.25%
- Austin combined rate: 8.25%
How to determine the applicable rate: The tax rate is based on the location where the cleaning service is performed, not where your business is located. Use the Texas Comptroller's rate locator to look up the exact rate for any address.
Registration and Filing Requirements
Who must register: Any cleaning business performing taxable cleaning services in Texas must obtain a Texas Sales Tax Permit (also called a Texas Sales and Use Tax Permit) — even if you are based in another state but perform cleaning work in Texas.
How to register: Online through eSystems at Texas Comptroller. Registration is free.
Filing frequency (determined by Comptroller after your first return):
- Monthly: if annual tax liability > $500
- Quarterly: if annual tax liability $500–$1,000
- Annual: if annual tax liability < $500
Due dates: Monthly returns are due by the 20th of the following month. Early filing discount: 0.5% of the tax collected (maximum $1,500 per period) for timely filers.
Practical Compliance for Cleaning Contractors
The contractor's most common mistake: Quoting a commercial cleaning contract without including sales tax, then realizing after contract signing that you must collect it. Now you either absorb the tax (reducing margin) or renegotiate with the client. Always quote commercial cleaning in Texas as "price + applicable sales tax" and add a tax line to invoices.
Resale certificates: If a facility management company hires you to clean a building they manage for a third-party owner, the FM company may provide you a Texas resale certificate (Form 01-339). In that case, you do not collect tax from the FM company — they are responsible for collecting from their client. Verify the certificate is properly executed.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is commercial cleaning taxable in Texas?
Yes. Nonresidential cleaning is a taxable service under Texas Tax Code §151.0045 and Comptroller Rule 3.356, so offices, retail spaces, warehouses, and similar commercial accounts get sales tax on the invoice. Residential cleaning of houses and apartment units is the exception and stays exempt. Publication 96-122 is the Comptroller's plain-language walkthrough if a customer wants to see where the rule actually comes from.
What rate should I charge on a janitorial invoice?
Charge the 6.25% state rate plus whatever local tax applies at the service address. Local option tax is capped at 2%, which is why jobs in Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio commonly land at 8.25% combined. The rate follows the address where the cleaning is performed, not where your office sits, so run each site through the Comptroller's rate locator before you bill a new account.
Do I have to tax a lump-sum bid that includes labor and supplies?
You do. A lump-sum bid for nonresidential cleaning is taxable in full, so there is no splitting out labor to shrink the taxable base. If you itemize chemicals separately on the invoice, those lines are taxable as well. Supplies you consume performing the service work the other direction: pay tax on them at the time of purchase rather than buying them tax-free for resale.
How does a customer claim an exemption from the tax?
The customer gives you a completed Form 01-339 exemption certificate, and you keep it on file for every account you do not charge. Nonprofit status alone does not generally exempt taxable services, though certain nonprofits have specific exemptions worth verifying before you agree to bill without tax. Residential accounts need no certificate at all, since the exemption for houses and apartment units is written into the statute.
What do Texas auditors look at with cleaning companies?
Auditors look hard at this industry, because the Comptroller audits cleaning regularly. The records that decide the outcome are your Form 01-339 certificates, the service address you used to set each rate, and how you treated lump-sum bids. Tex. Tax Code §151.0045, Rule 3.356, and Publication 96-122 are the sources an auditor will cite, so matching your invoicing to them now beats reconstructing years of billing later.
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Opora editorial sources from BLS OEWS wage tables, ISSA-447 production rates, NCCI workers' compensation classifications, EPA List N, OSHA 29 CFR standards, and primary state regulatory filings. We don't recycle blog posts — we audit primary documents.
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