A nail business is the fastest of the five to start and the easiest to run badly, because it is high volume, low ticket, and full of cash. Get the structure right in week one and the rest is habit.

Your license and where it lets you work

Your Nail Specialist registration from the DBPR is your license to work. Florida law puts nail services in licensed salons, with one useful carve-out: since 2020 a licensed nail specialist may do polish removal, filing, buffing and cleansing outside a salon. Everything that makes money, gel, acrylic, enhancements, full manicures and pedicures, stays inside a DBPR-licensed salon. That can be your employer's, a salon where you rent a booth, or your own, including a room in your home that is walled off from the living space with its own entrance and restroom and has passed inspection.

Sole proprietor or LLC

• Sole proprietor: you are the business, no state filing, taxes on your personal return. Fine for a booth renter with a modest book.
• Single-member LLC: $125 to file in Florida (plus an annual report fee each spring), the business is a separate legal person, and a claim from a client, an infection, an allergic reaction to a product, stops at the LLC's assets. Once you rent your own studio, buy your own equipment and carry your own products, the LLC starts to earn its fee.

Either way, if you trade under a studio name instead of your own, register the fictitious name with the Division of Corporations ($50, five years) before you put it on a sign.

The EIN, and the day it stops being optional

Get the free EIN at irs.gov on day one so your Social Security number never sits on a booth-rent contract or a wholesale supply account. It becomes mandatory when you form an LLC (the bank will require it) or when you hire anyone. That second point matters in nails more than anywhere else: the first time a friend "helps out on Saturdays" for pay, you are an employer, with payroll, withholding and tip-reporting obligations. Decide up front whether that person is an employee or a booth renter with her own license and her own business; the two are not interchangeable.

Sales tax: services no, products yes

Florida does not tax the manicure. It does tax the bottle of polish, the cuticle oil and the top coat you sell on the way out. If you retail anything, register as a sales-tax dealer with the Florida Department of Revenue before the first sale, collect the state rate plus your county surtax, and file the return. If you rent a booth, expect the salon owner to add sales tax to your rent, too; that is explained in the booth rent guide.

The local receipt

The Board of Cosmetology does not regulate booth renters, but your county tax collector does. Orange County and the City of Orlando issue a local business tax receipt to independent techs; get it before you start.

The order, in one list

1. DBPR Nail Specialist registration.
2. Decide: employee, booth renter, or own salon (salon license and inspection if so).
3. Sole proprietor or LLC; fictitious name if you are using a studio name.
4. EIN, free, at irs.gov, in the LLC's name if you formed one.
5. Local business tax receipt.
6. Department of Revenue registration if you will sell product.
7. Business bank account, with the name identical on every document above.

This is general information, not legal or tax advice. Confirm current rules with the DBPR, the Florida Department of Revenue and a licensed professional.

Pristine Beauty Academy Nail Technician students can ask Admissions about Own It resources during the program.

FAQ

Questions people ask

Does a nail tech need an LLC in Florida?

No. A Florida Nail Specialist registration is enough to work as a sole proprietor in a licensed salon. An LLC ($125 to file) is a choice for liability separation, and it becomes more worthwhile once you rent your own booth or studio and carry your own clients and products.

When does a nail tech have to get an EIN?

The moment you form an LLC or hire anyone, including a second tech on payroll. Before that a sole proprietor can use a Social Security number, but the free EIN keeps your SSN off the booth-rent agreement and supplier accounts, so get it on day one.

Can I do nails from home or at a client's house in Florida?

Only the basic services: Florida allows a licensed nail specialist to do polish removal, filing, buffing and cleansing outside a salon. Gel, acrylics, enhancements and the rest of a full manicure or pedicure must be done in a DBPR-licensed salon, which can be a properly separated room in your home.

Do nail techs charge sales tax in Florida?

Not on the service. Manicures and pedicures are not taxed, but polish, top coats and any product you sell at retail are, so register with the Florida Department of Revenue before your first retail sale.