Which cleaning services are taxable — carpet cleaning, upholstered furniture cleaning, and wood floor refinishing/stripping/waxing?

Plain-English summary

A service provider does carpet cleaning, furniture cleaning, wood floor refinishing, and floor stripping and waxing, and asked which of these are taxable.

The Office of Counsel split it:

• Maintaining, servicing, and repairing tangible personal property and real property are generally taxable (Tax Law §§ 1105(c)(3), (5)). But § 1105(c)(3)(ii) excludes laundering and dry cleaning, which the Department reads to include cleaning rugs, wall-to-wall carpeting, draperies, and upholstery (TSB-A-08(8)S; TB-ST-740).
• So carpet cleaning and cleaning of upholstered furniture are not taxable — if the charge is separately stated from other services and reasonable in relation to the total.
• Cleaning non-upholstered furniture is a taxable service to tangible personal property (§ 1105(c)(3)).
• Wood floor refinishing and floor stripping and waxing are taxable services of maintaining real property (§ 1105(c)(5); Publication 862).

What this means for you

Cleaning and floor-care contractors

The exclusion reaches soft goods — carpet, rugs, drapery, upholstered furniture. Hard-surface work — refinishing, stripping, waxing wood floors — and non-upholstered furniture cleaning are taxable. Keep the two on separate, reasonable invoice lines so only the taxable work is taxed.

The upholstered vs. non-upholstered line

Cleaning an upholstered sofa is exempt (laundering); cleaning a non-upholstered (wood/metal/glass) piece is a taxable service to tangible personal property.

Customers

Expect no tax on separately-stated carpet/upholstery cleaning, and tax on floor refinishing/stripping/waxing and hard-furniture cleaning.

Common questions

Q: Is cleaning an upholstered couch taxable?
A: No — upholstery cleaning falls within the laundering exclusion, like carpet cleaning, if separately stated and reasonable.

Q: What about refinishing or waxing a wood floor?
A: Taxable — that's maintaining real property under § 1105(c)(5).

Q: How do I keep the carpet/upholstery work non-taxable? A: Separately state a reasonable charge for it, apart from your taxable services.

Q: Can I rely on this opinion?
A: It binds the Department only as to the petitioner. Use it as guidance and confirm your own facts.

Citations and references

• Tax Law § 1105(c)(3) (taxable services to tangible personal property; laundering/dry cleaning exclusion)
• Tax Law § 1105(c)(5) (taxable maintaining, servicing or repairing real property)
• TSB-A-08(8)S; TSB-A-94(8)S; TSB-A-87(42)S; TB-ST-740; Publication 862

Source

• Landing page: https://www.tax.ny.gov/pubs_and_bulls/advisory_opinions/sales_ao_2018.htm
• Opinion: https://www.tax.ny.gov/pdf/advisory_opinions/sales/a18-4s.pdf

Original ruling text

New York State Department of Taxation and Finance

TSB-A-18(4)S
Sales Tax
August 20, 2018

Office of Counsel
STATE OF NEW YORK
COMMISSIONER OF TAXATION AND FINANCE
ADVISORY OPINION

PETITION NO. S180725A

The Department of Taxation and Finance received a Petition for an Advisory Opinion from REDACTED REDACTED REDACTED REDACTED REDACTED REDACTED RED REDACT. (“Petitioner”). Petitioner asks whether sales tax applies to his services of carpet cleaning, furniture cleaning, wood floor refinishing, and floor stripping and waxing. We conclude that Petitioner’s carpet cleaning services and the services of cleaning upholstered furniture are exempt from sales tax, but other cleaning services and floor refinishing, stripping and waxing services are subject to sales tax. Facts Petitioner provides the services of carpet cleaning, furniture cleaning, wood floor refinishing, and floor stripping and waxing. Analysis Maintaining, servicing and repairing tangible personal property and real property generally are subject to sales tax. See Tax Law §1105 (c)(3) and (5). Tax Law §1105(c)(3)(ii) excludes the services of laundering and dry cleaning. The Department has interpreted this exclusion to include the services of cleaning rugs, wall-to-wall carpeting, draperies and upholstery. See TSB-A-08(8)S; TSB-A-94(8)S; TSB-A-87(42)S; TB-ST-740. Petitioner’s carpet cleaning services and the service of cleaning upholstered furniture are within this exclusion and are not subject to sales tax if the charge for those services are separately stated from other services and the separately-stated charge for cleaning carpets or upholstered furniture is reasonable in relation to the overall charge. The service of cleaning nonupholstered furniture is a taxable service to tangible personal property. See Tax Law §1105 (c)(3). Petitioner’s wood floor refinishing service and floor stripping and waxing services are subject to sales tax as the services of maintaining real property. See Tax Law §1105 (c)(5); TBST-740; Publication 862, Sales and Use Tax Classifications of Capital Improvements and Repairs to Real Property (repair, maintenance or partial replacement of flooring and cleaning,

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TSB-A-18(4)S
Sales Tax
August 20, 2018

stripping, sanding, waterproofing, painting, staining, varnishing and waxing existing floors are subject to sales tax).

DATED: August 20, 2018

/S/
DEBORAH R. LIEBMAN
Deputy Counsel
NOTE:

An Advisory Opinion is issued at the request of a person or entity. It is limited to the facts set forth therein and is binding on the Department only with respect to the person or entity to whom it is issued and only if the person or entity fully and accurately describes all relevant facts. An Advisory Opinion is based on the law, regulations, and Department policies in effect as of the date the Opinion is issued or for the specific time period at issue in the Opinion. The information provided in this document does not cover every situation and is not intended to replace the law or change its meaning.

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TSB-A-18(4)S
Sales Tax
August 20, 2018