Idaho
Residential and commercial cleaning aren't taxable in Idaho, an inference from cleaning's absence on the Tax Commission's list of taxable goods and services; no source names cleaning. Unemployment insurance uses a two-part test, and the minimum wage is $7.25 an hour, in effect since July 24, 2009, with no local minimum wages.
Idaho's rules for a cleaning business hold still. The minimum wage hasn't changed since 2009, no change is announced, and there are no local minimum wages. The sales tax answer comes from what's missing from a list rather than a rule that names cleaning, and the employee test has two parts that both have to be shown. Below: sales tax, the employee test, payroll registration, the minimum wage, and what it all means for your books.
Residential and commercial cleaning aren't taxable in Idaho. That's inferred: cleaning doesn't appear on the Idaho State Tax Commission's list of taxable goods and services, and no source names it. The answer rests on the definition of a sale in Idaho Code 63-3612(2). The conditions, including what this page doesn't cover about supplies, are on my page on Idaho sales tax and cleaning.
Source: Idaho State Tax Commission, Collecting Sales Tax in Idaho (last updated June 26, 2023)
Source: Idaho Legislature, Idaho Code 63-3612, Sale
Idaho uses a two-part test for unemployment insurance under Idaho Code 72-1316(4). The two parts are freedom from control or direction, and being engaged in an independently established trade or business, and both must be shown. The way employees and subcontractors each appear in the books is in 1099 subcontractors vs. W-2 employees. Whether a particular cleaner is an employee under the test is a legal question for your CPA or an employment attorney.
Source: Idaho Legislature, Idaho Code 72-1316, Covered employment
Idaho taxes wages, and employers withhold state income tax under Idaho Code 63-3035. Withholding is administered by the Idaho State Tax Commission and unemployment insurance by the Idaho Department of Labor. Both registrations go through the state's business registration system.
Source: Idaho Legislature, Idaho Code 63-3035, State withholding tax
Source: State of Idaho business portal, Register a business
Source: Idaho Department of Labor, IBRS registration page
Idaho's minimum wage is $7.25 an hour, effective July 24, 2009. No change is announced as of October 20, 2026, and the state rate tracks the federal minimum. Idaho has no local minimum wages, so there's no city rate to watch.
Source: Idaho Department of Labor, Guide to Idaho Labor Laws (July 2026)
Source: Idaho Legislature, Idaho Code 44-1502, Minimum wages
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division, State Minimum Wage Laws (updated July 1, 2026)
With cleaning off the taxable list, there's no collected tax to hold for that work. What the books still need is a clear line between service income and supplies, since supplies are a separate question this page doesn't cover. A wage that hasn't moved since 2009 makes labor easy to stop thinking about. Costing labor at the legal minimum in your books is a bad habit, flat out: the job costs what you actually pay, and that's the number I record. The payroll page shows how wages and withholding land in the books.
I'm a bookkeeper, not a CPA or an Enrolled Agent. Whether any part of your work is taxable, and how anything is reported, is a question for your CPA.
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 Idaho 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
Cleaning sits off Idaho's taxable list, so the bookkeeping here is about keeping service income and supplies on separate lines and recording payroll at the wage you actually pay, not the $7.25 floor. Withholding and unemployment insurance each get their own liability account. Pick a time below for a short call about your Idaho books.
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 run a cleaning business in Idaho and want the books to show what your labor really costs, send me a note. We'll look at it together, and the first conversation doesn't cost anything.
