Written for owners of US cleaning businesses: janitorial and custodial contractors for offices, medical buildings, schools and property managers, residential and maid services, and specialty cleaners doing post-construction, move-out, window, carpet and biohazard work.
The short version
- Check whether your state taxes your cleaning.It depends on the state and the building. Texas, New York and Florida generally tax commercial cleaning; California generally does not.
- Get a W-9 before paying any sub.No valid taxpayer ID? Backup withhold from further payments until you have one.
- File 1099-NEC for subs paid $2,000 or more.For example, a carpet sub paid $2,500 in 2026 is over the $2,000 threshold (As of Oct 2026). File by February 1, 2027.
Two tax questions are specific to cleaning businesses: whether the cleaning itself is subject to sales tax, which changes what the client pays, and what you must file and withhold when you pay a subcontractor for carpet, window or other specialty work.
Sales tax on cleaning in the big four states
Texas: building and grounds, janitorial and custodial cleaning is a taxable real property service, at the state rate of 6.25% plus local tax of up to 2%. New York: ordinary janitorial and window cleaning is taxable, whether one-off or long-term. Florida: cleaning the interior of nonresidential buildings is taxable, while cleaning residential facilities generally is not. California generally does not tax cleaning services. As of Oct 2026.
Tex. Tax Code 151.0048; N.Y. Tax Law 1105(c)(5); Fla. Stat. 212.05(1)(i)
New York eliminated the regular-interior-cleaning contract exclusion on June 1, 1990; ordinary janitorial cleaning is taxable regardless of term.
Price each account knowing whether tax applies, confirm the actual service and locality with the state tax authority, and have a CPA check registration and taxability. Cities and counties may also license or tax your business, for example the Los Angeles business tax registration certificate, so check every city you serve.
Paying subcontractors: W-9 first, 1099-NEC after
The 1099-NEC threshold is now $2,000
File Form 1099-NEC for each non-employee you pay $2,000 or more, for payments made from January 1, 2026; the threshold is indexed after 2026, and $600 was the rule before 2026. It is normally due to the recipient and the IRS by January 31, but for 2026 payments the deadline is February 1, 2027, because January 31 is a Sunday. Collect Form W-9 before payment, or backup withhold 24%. As of Oct 2026.
IRC 3406 and 7503; IRS 1099 instructions
- Request the W-9 now.If you have already paid a subcontractor without one, ask for it before the next payment.
- Withhold if there is no valid TIN.Backup withhold 24% from further payments until you have a valid taxpayer identification number. As of Oct 2026.
- File on time.For example, a carpet cleaning subcontractor paid $2,500 in 2026 is over the $2,000 threshold, so file Form 1099-NEC by February 1, 2027.
The QBI deduction
The qualified business income deduction is up to 20% of qualified business income. A cleaning company is not a specified service business, so above the 2026 thresholds of $201,750 of taxable income ($403,500 married filing jointly) the wage and property limits phase in, not the service rule. Ask a CPA to model it before you change your entity or pay structure. As of Oct 2026.
Paying your own cleaners on Form 1099 because they are "subcontractors" is a classification question before it is a filing question. In California, workers doing the same cleaning your business sells will ordinarily fail the ABC test.
Asked in Greymill
The old exclusion for regular interior cleaning contracts ended on June 1, 1990.
Do now: register for a sales tax permit if you haven't, start collecting the tax, and have a CPA check your registration and what is taxable.
The carpet sub:
1099-NEC: $2,500 is over the $2,000 threshold for 2026 payments (As of Oct 2026), so file one. The old $600 threshold was for payments before 2026.
Due: February 1, 2027, not January 31, because January 31 is a Sunday.
W-9: get it before you pay them again. With no valid taxpayer ID, hold back 24% of further payments (backup withholding, As of Oct 2026) until you have one.
Say the word and I'll draft the W-9 request, ready to send today.
Ask it about your own business
Paste this into Greymill with your own figures, and Tax & Bookkeeping works it through for your business.
I run a cleaning business in [state], in the US. We clean [types of building, for example offices, medical buildings or homes] in [cities]. This year we paid [number] subcontractors for [services, for example carpet or window cleaning], about [amount] each, and we [do or do not] have W-9s on file. Tell me whether our cleaning is subject to sales tax where we work, what we need to register for, and what 1099-NEC filing and backup withholding we owe for 2026.
More for cleaning and facilities in the US
- Bidding a janitorial account by the square foot without losing moneyBuild a janitorial bid from cleanable square feet and production rates up to a fully burdened labor cost, overhead and margin, then protect it from the next wage increase.Read the lesson
- Making payroll every week while accounts pay in 45 daysWhy a growing janitorial business runs short of cash, how much working capital the payroll gap needs, and the forecast, terms and funding that close it.Read the lesson
- The registrations and OSHA rules a cleaning company actually has to meetMost states do not license cleaning, but registration, hazard communication, bloodborne pathogens, injury reporting and a few state rules apply to janitorial and specialty cleaners, with a HazCom date this fall.Read the lesson
- The janitorial contract clauses that decide whether an account makes moneyEscalation, termination, indemnity, insurance and payment terms decide an account's margin long after the bid, and recurring residential plans carry their own auto-renewal rules.Read the lesson
- Paying cleaners right for drive time, per-house pay and overtimeDrive time between houses, flat per-house pay, state minimums and pay-frequency rules are where cleaning businesses underpay without meaning to.Read the lesson
- Winning janitorial accounts from property managers, public buyers and federal agenciesCommercial buyers choose on readiness, records and a credible start-up plan, public bids add registrations and wage determinations, and taking over an account can bring the previous crew with it.Read the lesson
- Our cleaners are on 1099s and someone is asking whether they are really employeesPaying your own cleaners as independent contractors, or running cleaning teams as franchisees or app workers, can fail state and federal tests and bring back payroll tax, wages and penalties.Read the lesson
Open the interactive lesson · Every cleaning and facilities lesson · What Greymill knows about the trade
Sources
The primary sources behind this lesson, checked Oct 2026.
- Lab. Code 1420 to 1434; 1429.5 (State and local janitorial law: ca, ny, tx, fl)
- Cal. Lab. Code 1061(b)(1) to (3), (e), (f) (State and local janitorial law: ca, ny, tx, fl)
- Admin. Code 22-505 (State and local janitorial law: ca, ny, tx, fl)
- Lab. Law 230 to 239 (State and local janitorial law: ca, ny, tx, fl)
- Tax Code 151.0048, 151.051 (State and local janitorial law: ca, ny, tx, fl)
- Pub. 94-111 (10/2006), Cleaning and Janitorial Services; 34 TAC 3.356(a)(7) (State and local janitorial law: ca, ny, tx, fl)
- Instructions; IRC 3406 (Tax points)
- IRS Publication 15 (2026), Social security and Medicare tax rates and wage bases; section 9 Additional Medicare Tax withholding (Tax points)
- IRC 199A; Rev. Proc. 2025-32 (Tax points)
- IRS Notice 2026-11 secs. 2.02(1), 3.02, 3.03, 3.07; IRC 168(k) and 280F (Tax points)
- IR-2025-128; mid-year notice (Tax points)
- IRC 7503 (Tax points)
- Lab. Code 2775(b)(1)(B), applicable exemptions including 2776, and 226.8 willfulness conditions; counsel confirmation before remediation (Hard cases: pay, tax and safety)
- 778.111; 785.38; 29 U.S.C. 255(a) (Hard cases: pay, tax and safety)
- Tex. Lab. Code 406.122(a)-(b), 406.123(a)-(b), 406.127 show why subcontractor coverage is not automatic (Hard cases: pay, tax and safety)
- 1910.1030(f)(3); 1904.8 (Hard cases: pay, tax and safety)
- 29 CFR 1910.1200(j)(2)(ii) and (j)(3)(ii), alternative workplace labeling (Hard cases: pay, tax and safety)
- EO 14236 sec. 2 revokes EO 14026 (Pitfalls that embarrass the product)
- 785.35, 785.38 (Pitfalls that embarrass the product)
- Coverall North America v. Commissioner, 447 Mass. 852 (2006) (Pitfalls that embarrass the product)
- c.149 sec. 148B; 220 N.J. 289; 447 Mass. 852; 707 F. Supp. 2d 80 (Worker classification, the misclassification penalty and janitorial franchises)
- Field Assistance Bulletin 2025-1 (Worker classification, the misclassification penalty and janitorial franchises)
- NPRM announced February 26, 2026, comments closed April 28, 2026 (Worker classification, the misclassification penalty and janitorial franchises)
- Chamber of Commerce v. NLRB (E.D. Tex. 2024) (Worker classification, the misclassification penalty and janitorial franchises)
- VCSP (Worker classification, the misclassification penalty and janitorial franchises)
- Occupations Code ch. 1958 (Licenses, registrations and federal contracts)
- 41 U.S.C. 6702(a), 6703(1) to (2), 6707(c) (Licenses, registrations and federal contracts)
- 31 U.S.C. 3901 to 3907 (Licenses, registrations and federal contracts)
- 31 CFR 1010.380 as amended by 91 Fed. Reg. 52508, final rule effective August 14, 2026; FinCEN alert updated August 11, 2026 (Licenses, registrations and federal contracts)
- 15 U.S.C. 1681b(b); Gov. Code 12952 (Licenses, registrations and federal contracts)