Connecticut sales tax
Yes, on both sides. Residential cleaning and commercial cleaning are taxable services in Connecticut, because the state's janitorial services regulation covers cleaning buildings, structures and dwellings whether or not they're commercial. The exclusions are narrow, and neither one describes a cleaning company with a client list.
Connecticut is plain on this question, and the plainness is what catches people. An owner who started out somewhere that treats house cleaning differently can bring that habit along and never charge tax on the residential side. Here's what the statute, the regulation and a 2017 DRS ruling say about residential work, commercial work and the exclusions, followed by what it means for your books and where your CPA comes in. Payroll, wages and the rest of the Connecticut picture are on my Connecticut bookkeeping page.
Residential cleaning is taxable. The regulation that defines janitorial services, Regs. Conn. State Agencies 12-407(2)(i)(Y)-1, describes them as cleaning the interior or exterior of buildings, structures or dwellings, whether or not commercial. Janitorial in Connecticut isn't just the office contract. It's the house you clean every other Tuesday, it's the outside of the building, it's the carpet and the upholstery inside. The regulation lists carpet and upholstery cleaning as included by name.
Commercial cleaning is taxable too. The taxable services are listed in Conn. Gen. Stat. 12-407(a)(37), and DRS Ruling 2017-3 states that janitorial and maintenance services are taxable for all properties. Whether the client is a property manager or a dental office, that "all properties" language is the part to hold on to.
Source: Connecticut General Assembly, Conn. Gen. Stat. Chapter 219, Sec. 12-407(a)(37)
Source: Connecticut Department of Revenue Services, Statutory Provisions for Sales of Taxable Services
The regulation states two exclusions, and both are narrow:
Exception: Connecticut also has an owner-occupied residential exclusion for property of no more than three dwelling units, but it belongs to a separate category, services to industrial, commercial or income-producing real property under Conn. Gen. Stat. 12-407(a)(37)(I). It does not apply to the janitorial category.
Unless one of those narrow exclusions applies, a Connecticut cleaning invoice is a taxable sale, so the bookkeeping question is whether the tax lands in the right place. I record sales tax collected in its own liability account, not in income, and I keep residential and commercial work on separate income lines. The tax treatment is the same for both. The profit often isn't, and you can't see that when the two are blended together.
If the tax has been landing in income for a while, pulling it back out is the kind of work I do in cleanup bookkeeping.
I'm a bookkeeper, not a CPA or an Enrolled Agent. I can tell you what the rule is and keep the books so the numbers behind it are right. How you report and file Connecticut sales tax, and whether a specific job falls under an exclusion, are questions for your CPA. The same goes for the rate itself: this page covers whether cleaning is taxable, not the current rate.
Rules checked against the sources above as of October 20, 2026. Rates and rules change; confirm current figures with the agency or your CPA.
About Figure Eight Financial
Figure Eight Financial is Dave Gordon’s bookkeeping practice for residential and commercial cleaning companies. I work with owners in Connecticut and across the country, and I’m a Certified QuickBooks Online ProAdvisor.
Before bookkeeping I studied computer science at Penn State and spent a career at IBM as an engineer, so I build the books as a system: data comes in once, lands in the right place, and ties back to a statement. I’m a bookkeeper, not a CPA or Enrolled Agent. I keep the books your CPA works from, and the tax decisions stay with your CPA.
Credentials and memberships reported by Figure Eight Financial.
More about DaveHow I Help
Connecticut treats the house you clean every other Tuesday the same way it treats the office contract, so unless one of the narrow exclusions applies, every invoice here is a taxable sale. In your books that means the sales tax you collect goes to its own liability account instead of income, and residential and commercial work sit on separate income lines so you can see which side actually earns. If you'd like a second set of eyes on where your Connecticut tax has been landing, book a short call below.
The core service. Transactions recorded and categorized, every account reconciled so the books and the bank agree, and monthly reports that arrive explained, split by residential and commercial and sliceable per contract.
The full picture of how this works for a cleaning companyFor the months where nothing got entered at all. I fill in the missing periods from the ground up, pulling bank feeds, statements, and receipts until every month has a complete set of records.
How catch-up bookkeeping worksFor books that exist but can’t be trusted. I audit what’s there, fix the unreconciled accounts, duplicate transactions, and wrong categories, and tie every balance back to a statement.
How cleanup bookkeeping worksYour crews paid on time, every pay period, with each payroll run recorded in the books so labor shows up against the jobs it belongs to.
How payroll worksRecurring invoices that match your contracts, an aging report you can trust, and follow-up on slow payers handled by a process instead of your evenings. Built for net-60 commercial accounts.
How invoicing and receivables workA file built right for a cleaning company from day one, or rebuilt after the DIY version drifts, and then I teach you to run it. I’m a Certified QuickBooks Online ProAdvisor, and this is honestly my favorite part of the job.
How a proper setup worksWe start with a short call about your business and where the books stand. The first conversation doesn’t cost anything.
I take a look at what you’ve got, your QuickBooks file, your spreadsheet, whatever exists.
You get a written proposal with the price, so the decision is yours with the number in hand.
Let's Connect
If you're not sure your Connecticut sales tax has been landing in the right account, send me a note and we'll look at it together. The first conversation doesn't cost anything.
