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Renting a booth or a suite in a South Dakota salon? The big question is whether you need your own establishment license or whether you are covered by the salon you rent from. Here is exactly how South Dakota treats it in 2026 — the license question, the fees, the inspection rule, how your rent is taxed, and the steps and postings to get compliant — sourced to the state’s own rules and dated.
Yes for the salon, and separately for the booth — but not for everyone working in it. The article that creates the booth licence is SDCL 36-15-51: 'No person may operate a salon or booth without a license', a Class 2 misdemeanor. ARSD 20:42:03:07 sets the order of operations: the SALON licence must exist at the address before any booth licence can issue there, and a salon licence is required for each unique postal address. The Commission excludes employees explicitly: 'If you are a W-2 employee of a salon and receive a wage from the salon, you are not required to hold a booth license.' The test is how you are paid, not how your station is arranged. Shared stations are now governed by SDCL 36-15-51.3 (SL 2025 ch. 157 s. 1, effective 17 March 2025): sharing is lawful if each sharer maintains the minimum equipment and sanitation and no simultaneous service occurs, each sharer of a booth must hold their own booth licence, the Commission may not demand extra floor area, and where a violation cannot be attributed the salon operator answers for it.
New salon or booth: the first license is issued as a 90-day permit and the fee is $75 (confirmed, https://dlr.sd.gov/cosmetology/licensing_requirements.aspx). After the 90-day inspection is passed, the Commission issues a license that expires annually on the business's opening (anniversary) date. The annual salon/booth renewal fee is $55, with a $30 late penalty if paid/postmarked after the opening date (confirmed, https://dlr.sd.gov/cosmetology/license_renewal.aspx). No separate 're-inspection fee' is published on the Commission's pages — a failed inspection simply requires rectifying all deficiencies before the 90-day permit expires.
Yes. Cite the issuing articles, not the definitions: SDCL 36-15-19.1 (cosmetologist), 36-15-19.3 (nail technician) and 36-15-19.5 (esthetician) are what issue individual licences. SDCL 36-15-2, 36-15-2.2 and 36-15-17.2, often quoted for this, are scope-of-practice definitions. Two renewal clocks run in parallel under ARSD 20:42:03:12: individual licences renew on the licensee's birthday, salon and booth licences on the licence anniversary. Late penalty $30; reinstatement $30 per lapsed year.
Salons are inspected, and there IS a reinspection fee — $75 each under ARSD 20:42:03:01(14), within the cap set by SDCL 36-15-20(14). The Commission's FAQ applies it not only after a failed inspection but also when the inspector is refused entry, cannot inspect, or finds the shop closed during declared open hours. On the Notice of Required Corrective Action, items scored 2 or 3 trigger the $75; items scored 1 are cleared free by emailing proof. Initial 90-day permit $75 and renewal $55 (ARSD 20:42:03:01(12)-(13)) — SDCL 36-15-20 as amended by SL 2025 ch. 156 s. 2 now permits up to $80 and $60, so the statutory ceiling rose while the rule amounts did not.
All salon laws and rules apply to a booth. The booth renter is treated as an independent contractor and must (1) hold their own booth license, (2) hold a personal operator license, (3) obtain their own South Dakota sales tax license from the Department of Revenue (call 1-800-829-9188), and (4) equip the station with its own closed clean-linen/disinfected-equipment containers, one or more wet sanitizers to immerse all instruments, and a separate storage area (e.g., a cabinet) for harmful supplies in a room not readily accessible to the public (nail booths additionally need a closed waste receptacle and mechanical air-purification system). Booth renters may share reception areas, restrooms, fire extinguishers, first-aid kits, health/safety signage, and ventilation. A written owner/renter contract is suggested but not required. The booth license and personal license must be displayed in the working area of the booth when the licensee is working.
South Dakota is one of the states that TAXES salon services — 4.2% state sales tax plus 1% to 2% municipal tax on the services themselves. Each booth renter must hold their OWN Department of Revenue sales tax licence and remit on their own gross receipts. The booth RENT paid to the salon is not itself taxed, but — and this is the trap — it may NOT be deducted from the renter's taxable gross receipts. Source: SD DOR tax fact 'Beauty Salons and Barber Shops' (July 2023).
Work through these in order — the kit turns them into a checklist you can tick off:
South Dakota answers 'do I need my own licence?' twice, and the second answer is the one people miss. First you must personally hold an individual licence from the South Dakota Cosmetology Commission, which sits inside the Department of Labor and Regulation. The Commission issues exactly three credentials: cosmetologist, esthetician and nail technician, and a cosmetologist may practise everything covered by all three. Education hours are 1,500 for cosmetology, 600 for esthetics and 400 for nail technology (Commission FAQ). The licence issues after the prescribed examination under SDCL 36-15-19.1 (cosmetologist), 36-15-19.3 (nail technician) or 36-15-19.5 (esthetician), each of which states the licence 'expires annually on a date set by the commission in rules promulgated pursuant to chapter 1-26, and is renewable annually'. Second, that individual licence does not by itself let you work for yourself. SDCL 36-15-54 provides that 'Cosmetology, nail technology, and esthetics may only be practiced in a licensed salon or booth', with three narrow exceptions: demonstrators; clients unable to come to the salon because of imprisonment, disabling sickness or other disability; and approved special events such as weddings, fashion shows, school dances and professional photography sessions, where only non-permanent hair manipulation, nail polish and makeup application are allowed and the service must still be documented through a salon or booth. So the practical test for a booth renter is: hold a current cosmetologist, esthetician or nail technician licence; work at an address that already carries a salon licence; and, if you are genuinely independent rather than a W-2 employee, hold a booth licence for your station. The Commission states the carve-out explicitly: 'If you are a W-2 employee of a salon and receive a wage from the salon, you are not required to hold a booth license.' That sentence is the fork in the road for the whole programme. Reciprocity runs through SDCL 36-15-19.2: apply with the fee, hold the qualifications required by SDCL 36-15-15, have passed an examination acceptable to the Commission, and pass a written examination on chapter 36-15 and its rules. The FAQ confirms every reciprocity applicant sits the State Laws and Rules examination, that the Certification of Licensure must come from the issuing state, and that review takes up to 15 business days. SL 2026, ch 159, s 2 lets the Commission licence an applicant whose out-of-state credential is not equivalent where relevant work experience compensates for the education-hour deficiency.
Yes, and the statute is blunt. SDCL 36-15-51 opens with six words that settle it: 'No person may operate a salon or booth without a license.' A violation is a Class 2 misdemeanour, and SDCL 36-15-60(8) separately criminalises operating 'a salon, booth, or school for any of the practices of cosmetology without having first obtained the applicable license'. The architecture has two layers and the order matters. ARSD 20:42:03:07: 'The premises or location must have a salon license before any booth license is issued to that premises or location.' You cannot be the first licence at an address by taking a booth licence. The Commission's FAQ restates it from the other side: 'a booth is required to be registered under an existing salon license. A salon license is required for each unique postal address.' Whether YOU need the booth licence turns on how you are paid, not on how the station looks. The Commission calls a booth 'an independent person salon within a salon' and its holder 'a booth renter or independent contractor' running a private business, then exempts the W-2 employee paid a wage by the salon. If you pay rent, keep your own money and file your own taxes, the booth licence is not optional. Two recent additions tightened the rest. ARSD 20:42:04:01.02 (effective 3 October 2019) makes the salon the backstop: 'A salon must ensure that any individual providing licensed services in the salon has the required booth or individual license, or both.' And SDCL 36-15-51.3 (SL 2025, ch 157, s 1, effective 17 March 2025) legalised shared stations on conditions: each individual maintains the minimum equipment and sanitary requirements, the sharers do not provide services at the station at the same time, and 'If the individuals share a work station or other space within a booth, each individual possesses a booth license for the respective services that the individual will provide.' The Commission may not demand extra square footage for shared stations and equipment may be shared, but where an inspection finds a violation and the Commission cannot determine which sharer committed it, the salon operator is responsible. That last sentence is why South Dakota landlord salons want the booth paperwork in the file before you plug in a dryer. The licence follows the person and the address, not the business. The Commission states that 'All salon and booth licenses are valid for the original owner(s) and original physical address only', SDCL 36-15-51.1 requires a new application whenever the address changes, sole ownership changes, a partnership changes any partner, or controlling ownership of a corporation is transferred or the corporation reorganised, and ARSD 20:42:03:07 makes the licence non-transferable. Moving your chair three doors down the strip mall is a new licence, not a change-of-address form.
The licence is issued by South Dakota Cosmetology Commission, Department of Labor and Regulation. Barbershops instead: South Dakota Board of Barber Examiners, SDCL ch. 36-14..
Fee: $75 for the initial salon or booth permit licence, set by rule at ARSD 20:42:03:01(12) ('Salon or booth initial license fee, seventy-five dollars') in the version effective 1 July 2025 (51 SDR 141), and matching what the Commission publishes. There is a trap worth understanding before budgeting. SDCL 36-15-20 sets only maximums, and the 2025 legislature raised them: as amended by SL 2025, ch 156, s 2, the statute now permits a 'Salon or booth initial permit license fee, eighty dollars' and a 'Salon or booth license renewal fee, sixty dollars'. The Commission has not moved its rule to those ceilings, so the amounts actually payable are $75 and $55, but the headroom to charge $80 and $60 now exists and a rule amendment can take it without new legislation. Other Commission fees that touch a booth renter, all from ARSD 20:42:03:01 and all expressly nonrefundable: examination and initial individual licence $120; examination retake $90; individual renewal $45; instructor $45; reciprocity, initial licence and waiver of examination $120; certification of your licence to another state or school $30; duplicate or replacement $15; lapsed licence $30 for each lapsed year; reinspection for a failed salon $75 each; pre-opening inspection of a prospective salon or booth at your own request $75 each. The most commonly missed line is the reinspection fee. It is real, it is $75 per reinspection, it sits in both rule (ARSD 20:42:03:01(14)) and statute (SDCL 36-15-20(14)), and the FAQ confirms it also applies when an inspector is denied entry or cannot conduct the inspection, or when the premises is closed at a time you said it would be open.
Renewal: $55 a year, due on or before the anniversary of your opening date, with a $30 penalty if postmarked or paid after that date (ARSD 20:42:03:01(13); Commission renewal page). Two clocks, both yours. ARSD 20:42:03:12 renews individual cosmetologist, nail technician, esthetician and instructor licences 'on or before the licensee's birth date' and 'All salons and booths ... on or before the anniversary date of the initial license'. The personal renewal is $45 plus a $30 late penalty, the booth renewal $55 plus a $30 late penalty, and they will rarely fall in the same month. The rule does give one cushion: if you have met its requirements you may continue to practise pending issuance of the renewed licence; otherwise the licence lapses. Reinstatement is priced by the year. A licence expired less than five years is reinstated by paying the renewal fee for each lapsed year plus a $30 penalty per year; expired more than five years additionally requires passing the state board theory examination and the state laws and rules examination (Commission renewal page). ARSD 20:42:03:01(16) carries the same $30 per lapsed year and SDCL 36-15-20.1 caps that fee at $40 per year. There is also a discipline trigger: 'If any license is lapsed for longer than 60 days, the licensee is subject to disciplinary action.' Failure to comply with any requirement of the chapter or rules is an enumerated ground under SDCL 36-15-56(2), which lets the Commission refuse, revoke or suspend under SDCL 36-15-55.2. Renewal is not automatic on the establishment side either: established salons and booths 'will be inspected annually, at a minimum', and continued licensure is conditioned on passing that inspection as well as paying.
Booth rental is not merely tolerated here, it is defined in the statute. SDCL 36-15-1(3): a 'Booth' is 'any part within a licensed salon that is rented or leased for the purpose of rendering licensed cosmetology services as a separate, independent salon business.' Those last five words do real work: your chair is legally its own salon sitting inside somebody else's salon, and every consequence flows from that. The Commission's booth guidance says the same in plainer language, calling a booth 'an independent person salon within a salon' and its holder 'a booth renter or independent contractor', then adds the requirement newcomers miss: 'A booth licensee needs a personal license also (either cosmetologist, nail technician or esthetician license).' Two pieces of paper, and both 'must be displayed in the working area of the booth when the licensee is working.' What you must own. Because the booth is a separate business, the sanitation kit does not come with the rent. The Commission requires each booth to have its own closed clean containers for clean towels and linens and for disinfected equipment; its own closed container for used towels, linens and equipment; one or more wet sanitisers sufficient to immerse all of that licensee's instruments; and an area, for example a cabinet, for harmful supplies in a separate room not used by or readily accessible to the public. A nail booth adds a closed waste receptacle and a mechanical air purification system. ARSD 20:42:04:04(8) layers on 'A station for each working licensee with its own clean, closed, and labeled container for storage of all clean and disinfected implements used in direct contact with clients'. What you may share, per the Commission's list: reception areas, restrooms, fire extinguishers (one per 1,500 square feet), first aid kits, the posted health and safety rules, the unregulated-services signage, and ventilation systems. That list is why a landlord salon can spread the expensive infrastructure across renters, and also why a failing shared restroom fails for everyone at the address. Shared stations, new since March 2025. SDCL 36-15-51.3 expressly permits more than one licensee to share a work station or other space, provided each maintains the minimum equipment and sanitary requirements, they do not provide services at the shared station at the same time, and where the sharing is inside a booth 'each individual possesses a booth license for the respective services that the individual will provide'. The Commission may not require extra working space for sharers and equipment meeting minimum standards may be shared, but if a violation cannot be attributed to a particular sharer the salon operator is responsible. Two stylists splitting a chair on alternate days is now clearly lawful, and clearly two booth licences. Contract. The Commission suggests, but does not require, a contract between owner and renter, and recommends consulting a legal or accounting professional. There is no state-mandated lease form, no filing with the Commission and no minimum term. Where the model breaks. If you are paid a wage on a W-2, you do not need a booth licence and the owner reports all receipts for sales tax. And SDCL 36-15-54 blocks working anywhere but a licensed salon or booth: there is no mobile salon licence in chapter 36-15, and the only escapes are demonstrations, clients genuinely unable to come to the salon, and approved special events, each still documented through a salon or booth. A South Dakota booth renter cannot lawfully build a travelling blow-dry business on the side.
South Dakota inspects before you open and then every year. This is the operational centre of the programme and the reason the state front-loads a 90-day permit instead of issuing an annual licence on day one. Pre-opening. The Commission: 'If you are opening a new cosmetology, esthetics, or nail salon or booth, you must apply for your first license, which is a 90-day permit. The fee is $75. Your salon/booth will be inspected during that 90-day period.' The prohibition that follows is absolute: 'You may not open for business before the salon/booth permit license is received by mail and posted.' Pass, and the Commission issues a licence expiring annually on the opening date; fail, and you must rectify every reason for failure before the 90-day permit expires, with no extension unless the Commission itself caused the delay. SDCL 36-15-51.1 creates the same window on a change of address or ownership: the Commission may issue a temporary permit valid ninety days and 'During that time, the commission shall inspect the premises.' Scheduling and access. You must state which days the booth will be closed precisely so inspectors can arrive unannounced. Two access failures cost money: being denied entry or leaving the inspector unable to inspect, and being closed at a time you said you would be open, each triggers a reinspection fee. Failure to respond to an 'Attempted Inspection Notice' within 10 days can result in the Commission closing the salon or booth. What failure looks like. A failed inspection produces a 'Notice of Required Corrective Action', a pink half-sheet listing the inspector, date, areas of non-compliance and required corrective action, with findings graded by number. Items marked 1 require emailed proof of correction, such as a receipt or photo, and cost nothing. Items marked 2 require a $75 reinspection fee and a reinspection. Items marked 3 require the same $75 fee and reinspection and are 'serious compliance issues' that 'will be referred to the investigative committee for review'. The fee sits in ARSD 20:42:03:01(14) and is capped by SDCL 36-15-20(14). Ongoing. 'Established salons and booths will be inspected annually, at a minimum.' Continued licensure is tied to passing that yearly inspection as well as paying the renewal and any late penalty, and inspecting 'salons, booths, schools, nail technicians, estheticians, and cosmetologists' is an express Commission duty under SDCL 36-15-13. The optional pre-inspection. If you are fitting out and want certainty, the Commission sells a pre-inspection for $75, ordered online under 'Pay for an Application' by ticking 'Reinspection / Pre-Inspection License Fee' or by mailing the Payment Identification Form. The Commission also publishes a salon/booth self-inspection checklist, which is the closest thing to seeing the inspector's own list in advance. For a booth renter the inspection covers your station as well as the premises: shared reception and restrooms are the landlord salon's problem, but your wet sanitiser, your labelled closed containers, your harmful-supplies storage and your two posted licences are yours. Under SDCL 36-15-51.3 a violation at a shared station that cannot be attributed to a particular licensee is charged to the salon operator, which is exactly why landlord salons police booth compliance.
Read this section twice. South Dakota taxes personal services at retail, and the most expensive mistake a booth renter here can make is assuming that because there is no state income tax, there is no state tax. Your services are taxable. The Department of Revenue tax fact 'Beauty Salons and Barber Shops' (July 2023) opens with it: 'Services provided by barbers, cosmetologists, nail technicians, and estheticians are subject to state plus applicable municipal sales tax.' It extends the same treatment to permanent makeup, tattooing, tanning services (spray tans or tanning beds), ear candling, massage therapy, reflexology, aromatherapy, piercing and branding. A haircut in Sioux Falls carries sales tax the way a bottle of shampoo does. Rates. The state sales and use tax rate is 4.2% and 'Applies to all sales or purchases of taxable products and service'; the DOR Sales and Use Tax page confirms 'The South Dakota sales tax and use tax rates are 4.2%'. Municipal sales and use tax runs 1 to 2% and applies where the purchaser receives or uses the product or service in a municipality imposing it; municipalities may also impose an additional 1% municipal gross receipts tax on specified categories such as alcoholic beverages, lodging and admissions. A typical combined salon rate is 6.2% in a 2% town. You need your own sales tax licence, and the salon owner's does not cover you. Under 'Independent contractors - Booth Renters' the DOR states: 'Each person that rents a booth from a salon or barber shop owner is required to have a sales tax license and is responsible for remitting sales tax on their receipts.' Apply at https://apps.sd.gov/rv23cedar/main/main.aspx or call 1-800-829-9188. The Cosmetology Commission's booth guidance repeats the instruction, which is how many renters first learn of it. The rent is NOT taxed, but the deduction you want does not exist. Two consecutive DOR sentences do all the work: 'Booth rent is not subject to sales or use tax. The booth renter cannot deduct the payment for booth rent from their gross receipts which are subject to sales tax.' You pay no sales tax on the rent cheque, and you may not subtract that rent from the service receipts you are taxed on. Take in $4,000 of services and pay $1,200 of rent, and you remit tax on $4,000. The mirror rule binds owners: 'The owner cannot deduct the wages or commissions from the gross receipts which are subject to sales tax.' Non-taxable sales go in line 1 gross receipts and come out on line 3, which does include 'receipts for booth rentals or commissions', but the DOR narrows it immediately: 'Only commissions received may be deducted. Do not deduct commissions paid to others.' Use tax on everything you use on clients. The provider is the consumer of the products and supplies used in performing the service and 'is responsible for remitting the use tax on all supplies taken from inventory that were purchased without tax'. Sales and use tax is due on all equipment used by a salon or service provider, and where the supplier charges no tax the provider owes state plus municipal use tax on the purchase price including delivery or handling. The DOR lists taxable equipment explicitly: capes, cleaning supplies, combs and brushes, computers and software, curling irons, gloves, hair dryers, laser hair removal equipment, manicure and pedicure equipment, massage tables, magazines, razors, salon chairs, scissors, tanning beds and towels; and consumables from colour and bleach through lash extensions, nail polish, perms, shampoo, wax and wax remover. Retail sales are taxable and buying for resale needs paperwork. Products sold to clients for their own use carry state plus municipal sales tax and may be bought for resale on an exemption certificate. A booth renter responsible for any products sold reports those sales on their own return, and a renter buying retail stock from the salon owner or another renter should give that seller an exemption certificate, then collect and remit tax on the sale to the client. Misuse has teeth: a purchaser who knowingly lists items for resale that will not be resold, or gives an invalid certificate intending to evade tax, 'must pay the use tax on these items and may be guilty of a Class I misdemeanor and fined up to 50% of the tax owed.' Tips: 'Voluntary tips are not subject to sales or use tax. Mandatory tips are included in the gross receipts and subject to sales tax.' An automatic service charge on a bridal party creates taxable receipts. Gift certificates are not taxed at purchase; they are included in gross receipts, deducted as non-taxable, and taxed on redemption. Candy, pop and chips are taxable; prepared food carries state, municipal and municipal gross receipts tax; food or drink given free or as part of a spa package is taxable when purchased, with use tax due if no sales tax was paid, and the total spa package charge is itself taxable. The DOR states flatly that 'Salons and booth renters cannot sell or serve wine or champagne or other alcoholic beverages, including complimentary alcoholic drinks, without the appropriate alcohol license.' Records. Any business subject to sales, use or contractor's excise tax must keep all business records at least three years, including invoices, general ledger, register and journal tapes, guest checks, bank deposit slips and statements, cash receipts journals, contracts, pricing information and appointment books. 'Anyone who fails to keep the records and books required, or refuses to exhibit these records to the Department of Revenue for the purpose of examination, could be found guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.' Do not include sales tax in line 1 gross receipts, and back tax out of a price only if the pricing information states tax is included; use-taxable items go on line 2. A renter working across states can register through the Streamlined Sales Tax System. What South Dakota does NOT charge: there is no state individual or corporate income tax, so net profit is a federal income tax and self-employment tax question only. That absence is exactly why the sales tax on services is so easy to overlook here; a renter arriving from an income-tax state with untaxed services will have both obligations backwards.
The Cosmetology Commission calls you an independent contractor. That is a licensing label, not an employment-law determination, and the two can disagree. South Dakota's operative test for reemployment assistance (unemployment insurance) is SDCL 61-1-11, a two-prong test with the burden on the party claiming the exemption. The text: 'Service performed by an individual for wages is employment subject to this title unless and until it is shown to the satisfaction of the Department of Labor and Regulation that: (1) The individual has been and will continue to be free from control or direction over the performance of the service, both under his contract of service and in fact; and (2) The individual is customarily engaged in an independently established trade, occupation, profession, or business.' Three features matter for a booth. The default is employment: services for wages ARE employment 'unless and until' the exemption is proved, so an unproved arrangement is the salon owner's risk. Prong (1) demands freedom from control 'both under his contract of service and in fact', so a lease reciting independence while the salon sets hours, prices, product line and appointment book fails on the 'in fact' half. Prong (2) asks whether you are customarily engaged in an independently established business, which is where the ordinary booth indicia carry weight: your own booth licence in your own name, your own sales tax licence, your own tools and wet sanitiser, your own clientele and pricing, your own retail inventory and supply purchases. Notably South Dakota omits the 'or outside the usual course of the business' alternative found in some states' prong B, so the enquiry is purely whether YOUR business independently exists, not whether the work sits inside the salon's usual course. That is a comparatively renter-friendly formulation. Workers' compensation is a different title. Chapter 62-1 defines 'employee' and excludes independent contractors from certain categories, but it contains no general codified test for this trade; the only statutory certification route in the chapter is the narrow owner-operator trucking certificate. South Dakota courts therefore resolve compensation status by a right-of-control and independent-business analysis of the kind reflected in SDCL 61-1-11, which means a booth renter can be an independent contractor for reemployment assistance and still be argued into employee status in an injury claim on different facts. If coverage matters, get local advice rather than relying on the booth licence as proof of status. Federal classification is separate again, under the IRS common-law factors; the DOR tax fact simply refers salons and renters to the IRS or a CPA. Practical file for defending independence: a written owner/renter contract, which the Commission suggests though does not require; a booth licence issued to you personally for your station; a South Dakota sales tax licence in your own name with returns filed on your own service receipts; rent paid on a fixed or documented basis with money moving from you to the salon rather than a commission split administered by the salon; your own tools, labelled containers and wet sanitisers, which state rule already requires; your own retail stock bought on your own exemption certificate; and control over your hours, prices and clientele, which is the prong nobody can document after the fact. The rent point matters most, because the DOR treats a salon that 'collects all receipts' as responsible for remitting the tax on them, so a salon collecting your money and paying you a share is describing an employment or commission relationship in the tax record no matter what the lease is called.
State licensure is not the last permission you need, and in South Dakota the local layer is mostly tax plus zoning. Municipal sales tax. There is no separate city sales tax licence: South Dakota administers the municipal 1 to 2% through the same Department of Revenue licence and return, due where the customer receives or uses the service. The rate on your chair is therefore a function of the town the booth sits in, and as a separately licensed renter it is your responsibility, not the salon's. A renter working occasional events in another municipality is charging a different combined rate that day. A further 1% municipal gross receipts tax applies in many municipalities to alcoholic beverages, lodging, admissions and prepared food; ordinary salon services are outside those categories, but a spa selling prepared food or a suite inside a lodging property can touch them. Local business licences. Municipal codes vary widely and neither SDCL ch. 36-15 nor ARSD art. 20:42 preempts them. The Commission acknowledges the point in the home-salon context: 'You may also be subject to city and county ordinances.' Check the finance office or clerk for the municipality where the salon sits before assuming the booth licence is the only registration required. Zoning and home occupations. This bites hardest on home-based salons. State rule already imposes a hard architectural test (no residential use of the salon space, a permanent floor-to-ceiling solid partition with any door kept closed, services only within the salon, a completely separate outside egress, and a client toilet facility inside the structure). A municipal home-occupation ordinance may separately cap client visits, signage, parking or employees, and county zoning applies outside municipal limits. Sewer connection. ARSD 20:42:04:01(4) and (5) require shampoo bowls, sinks, toilets and lavatories to be connected to a CENTRAL sewer system, and the Commission's FAQ phrases it as a municipal sewer connection. In a state with a large rural population this is effectively a locational restriction: a property on private septic does not obviously satisfy the text, and it should be resolved with the Commission in writing before a lease is signed rather than discovered at the 90-day inspection. Building, fire and health codes. The Commission sets the extinguisher standard (one 5-pound ABC per 1,500 square feet) and the nail ventilation standard, but local fire marshals and building officials enforce occupancy, egress and mechanical exhaust codes. Where a landlord salon retrofits suites, the nail exhaust to open air is the item most likely to need a permit. Barbershops on the same premises answer to the Board of Barber Examiners on a different calendar: the barbershop licence expires 31 May each year, application is made annually before 1 June, and it is not transferable from person to person, location to location, or to a new operator at the same location (SDCL 36-14-27, 36-14-29). The statutory maxima are up to $300 annually per shop plus up to $20 per chair, with an original inspection fee not exceeding $125 (SDCL 36-14-27, 36-14-28), and the shop must be inspected annually with the board able to charge for a subsequent inspection after a failure (SDCL 36-14-30).
South Dakota puts criminal penalties, licence discipline, money penalties and an injunction remedy all on the table, and the criminal exposure is real rather than theoretical. Criminal. SDCL 36-15-51 makes operating a salon or booth without a licence, or practising beyond the limits specified in the licence, a Class 2 misdemeanour. SDCL 36-15-60 lists ten prohibited acts and makes a violation a Class 2 misdemeanour: practising without a licence; intentionally making a false oath or affirmation required by the chapter or rules; failing to display any licence in a conspicuous place in the salon, booth or school; failing to comply with the plumbing, electrical, physical or sanitary requirements in the rules; charging or receiving compensation for teaching an apprentice; operating a school without a licence; employing or allowing an unlicensed person to do work only licensees may do; operating a salon, booth or school without having first obtained the applicable licence; practising a service requiring additional continuing education without completing it; and doing any act prohibited by the chapter. Under SDCL 22-6-2(2) a Class 2 misdemeanour carries up to thirty days in a county jail or a five hundred dollar fine, or both, plus restitution under chapter 23A-28. Note which of those reach a booth renter directly: failing to post your two licences, breaching the plumbing or sanitary rules, opening before the permit is posted, and doing lash extensions, microdermabrasion or electric filing without the certification on file are each independently criminal, not merely a fee. Discipline. SDCL 36-15-55.2 lets the Commission refuse to issue, revoke or suspend a licence on any ground in the chapter, under the administrative procedure act at ch. 1-26. The eleven grounds in SDCL 36-15-56 are fraud or deception in procuring a licence; failure to comply with any requirement of the chapter or rules; untruthful or improper statements made with a view of deceiving the public or a patron; habitual drunkenness or drug addiction affecting practice, or conviction under federal or state narcotics law; failure to furnish a required report or information; employing an unlicensed person for licensed work; failure to publicly display any required licence; wilfully making a false oath or affirmation; conviction of a felony affecting practice, shown by certified record; continued practice while knowingly having an infectious or contagious disease; and practising a service requiring additional continuing education without completing it. Ground (2) is the catch-all that converts any rule breach, including a lapsed renewal, into a discipline case. Procedure. Proceedings may be initiated when the Commission has information that a person may have been guilty of misconduct under SDCL 36-15-56 or is guilty of incompetence, negligence, or unprofessional or dishonourable conduct (36-15-58). Hearings require a majority of members present (36-15-58.3) and a decision to suspend, revoke or cancel requires a majority vote (36-15-58.4). The Commission has subpoena power and may administer oaths and take depositions (36-15-57). Reinstatement requires a majority vote on written application establishing compliance with existing licensing requirements or on witness testimony, and conditions may be imposed including automatic reinstatement after a fixed period (36-15-58.5). Appeals are taken as provided by ch. 1-26 (36-15-59). Injunction. SDCL 36-15-61 allows the Commission OR any resident of this state to sue in circuit court to restrain unlicensed practice or education, to restrain operation of any salon or school without a valid licence, or to restrain any violation of the chapter or rules, and the Commission may employ counsel and spend from its treasury to do so. The 'any resident' standing is unusual: a competitor down the street can sue to shut an unlicensed operation. Money. The recurring financial penalties are the $30 late penalty on a renewal postmarked or paid after the due date; the $30 per lapsed year reinstatement fee (statutory ceiling $40 under SDCL 36-15-20.1); and the $75 reinspection fee for each reinspection, which also applies when an inspector is denied entry or cannot inspect and when the premises is closed at a time you said it would be open. A licence lapsed longer than 60 days subjects the licensee to disciplinary action, and one expired more than five years requires passing the state board theory and laws-and-rules examinations again. Administratively, ignoring an Attempted Inspection Notice for 10 days can result in the Commission closing the salon or booth. Tax-side penalties are separate and enforced by a different agency: misusing a resale exemption certificate may be a Class 1 misdemeanour with a fine of up to 50% of the tax owed, and failing to keep the required three years of records or refusing to exhibit them to the Department of Revenue may also be a Class 1 misdemeanour. Under SDCL 22-6-2(1) that is up to one year in county jail or a two thousand dollar fine, or both. A booth renter who never obtains a sales tax licence is exposed on this axis, not on the Commission's.
Program sources: https://sdlegislature.gov/api/Statutes/36-15.html?all=true (full text of SDCL ch. 36-15 read this session: 36-15-1, 36-15-13, 36-15-19.1/19.2/19.3/19.5, 36-15-20 as amended by SL 2025 ch 156 s 2, 36-15-20.1, 36-15-51, 36-15-51.1, 36-15-51.2, 36-15-51.3 (SL 2025 ch 157 s 1, eff. 17 Mar 2025), 36-15-54, 36-15-55.2, 36-15-56, 36-15-57, 36-15-58 to 58.5, 36-15-59, 36-15-60, 36-15-61) · https://sdlegislature.gov/Statutes/36-15 (public page for the same chapter; renders only via JavaScript) · https://sdlegislature.gov/api/Rules/20:42.html?all=true (full text of ARSD art. 20:42 read this session: 20:42:03:01 as amended 51 SDR 141 eff. 1 July 2025, 20:42:03:07, :08, :12, 20:42:04:01, :01.01, :01.02, :02, :02.01, :04, :09, :09.01, :10, :10.01, :10.02) · https://sdlegislature.gov/api/Statutes/36-14.html?all=true (SDCL ch. 36-14 barbers, ss. 36-14-27 to 36-14-32) · https://sdlegislature.gov/api/Statutes/61-1.html?all=true (SDCL 61-1-11 read verbatim) · https://sdlegislature.gov/api/Statutes/62-1.html?all=true (SDCL ch. 62-1 workers' compensation definitions, checked for a codified independent contractor test) · https://sdlegislature.gov/api/Statutes/22-6.html?all=true (SDCL 22-6-2 misdemeanour classes and penalties, read verbatim) · https://dlr.sd.gov/cosmetology/licensing_rented_booth.aspx (Commission, Licensing Requirements for Booths) · https://dlr.sd.gov/cosmetology/licensing_requirements.aspx (Commission, Licensing and Examinations: 90-day permit, $75, inspection, do not open before the permit is posted, licences valid for original owners and address only) · https://dlr.sd.gov/cosmetology/license_renewal.aspx (Commission, License Renewal: $45 individual, $55 salon/booth, $30 late penalty, reinstatement, 60-day lapse discipline, instructor CE) · https://dlr.sd.gov/cosmetology/documents/Frequently_Asked_Questions.pdf (Commission FAQ, downloaded and text-extracted this session: opening date, 90-day permit, closed days, W-2 carve-out, one salon licence per unique postal address, facility checklist, $75 pre-inspection, corrective-action grading 1/2/3 and $75 reinspection fee, annual inspection, education and certification hours, $35 unapproved provider review, $15 duplicate, reciprocity) · https://dlr.sd.gov/cosmetology/documents/salon_self_inspection_checklist.pdf (Commission self-inspection checklist, cited by the FAQ; referenced, not extracted) · https://dlr.sd.gov/cosmetology/default.aspx (Commission home) · https://dlr.sd.gov/barber/default.aspx (Board of Barber Examiners) · https://dor.sd.gov/media/00iatnn2/beauty-salons.pdf (SD DOR tax fact, Beauty Salons and Barber Shops, July 2023, downloaded and text-extracted in full this session) · https://dor.sd.gov/individuals/taxes/sales-use-tax/ (SD DOR: 'The South Dakota sales tax and use tax rates are 4.2%', municipal up to 2% plus 1% MGRT on specified categories) · https://apps.sd.gov/rv23cedar/main/main.aspx (SD DOR online tax licence application, cited by both the DOR tax fact and the Commission booth guidance) · https://www.streamlinedsalestax.org (multi-state registration route named in the DOR tax fact) · https://www.law.cornell.edu/regulations/south-dakota/ARSD-20-42-03-07 (secondary confirmation) · https://www.law.cornell.edu/regulations/south-dakota/ARSD-20-42-04-01 (secondary confirmation)
South Dakota is unusual on two axes at once. First, it broadly taxes personal SERVICES: a haircut, manicure, or facial carries 4.2% state sales tax plus 1-2% municipal tax, so every independent booth renter must register for their own DOR sales tax license and remit tax on their service revenue — a compliance burden stylists in non-service-tax states never face. Second, the DOR draws a clean line: the booth RENT the stylist pays is explicitly exempt from sales/use tax, but that rent cannot be deducted from the renter's own taxable service receipts. South Dakota also runs a genuine license-per-booth model (each independent needs their own booth license plus a personal license), with real pre-opening and annual inspections. The net effect: going independent here means dealing with two state agencies — the Cosmetology Commission and the Department of Revenue — not one.
Unlike most states, SD taxes the haircut/nail/esthetic service itself at 4.2% state + 1-2% municipal. A booth renter who never registers with the Department of Revenue and never collects tax on their services accrues back-tax liability from day one, independent of the booth-license question.
It does not. Only one person at a location holds the salon license; every other independent operator needs their OWN booth license AND their own personal operator license. Working a chair as an 'independent' without a booth license is unlicensed operation.
The $75 fee buys a 90-day permit, not permission to open. You must pass inspection during that window and physically receive and post the permit license before serving clients. A failed inspection means you must rectify all deficiencies before the 90-day permit expires — and the clock keeps running.
Booth rent is exempt when paid, but the DOR is explicit that the renter cannot subtract the rent they pay from their own gross service receipts subject to sales tax. Only commissions RECEIVED (not rent paid) are deductible on the return.
Timeline: Realistically about 3-6 weeks from application to a posted license: the first license issues as a 90-day permit, an inspection occurs within that window, and you may not open until the license is received by mail and posted (specific application-processing turnaround is not published — confirm with the SD Cosmetology Commission, 605-773-6193).
Cost: $75 for the 90-day initial booth permit; $55 annual salon/booth renewal thereafter (plus a $30 late penalty if paid after the opening date); no separate re-inspection fee is published. A South Dakota sales tax license from the Department of Revenue is free to obtain. Individual operator license renewal is $45 per year (birth-date cycle), which is additional. Commission figures per https://dlr.sd.gov/cosmetology/license_renewal.aspx.
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Build my South Dakota kit →Yes for the salon, and separately for the booth — but not for everyone working in it. The article that creates the booth licence is SDCL 36-15-51: 'No person may operate a salon or booth without a license', a Class 2 misdemeanor. ARSD 20:42:03:07 sets the order of operations: the SALON licence must exist at the address before any booth licence can issue there, and a salon licence is required for each unique postal address. The Commission excludes employees explicitly: 'If you are a W-2 employee of a salon and receive a wage from the salon, you are not required to hold a booth license.' The test is how you are paid, not how your station is arranged. Shared stations are now governed by SDCL 36-15-51.3 (SL 2025 ch. 157 s. 1, effective 17 March 2025): sharing is lawful if each sharer maintains the minimum equipment and sanitation and no simultaneous service occurs, each sharer of a booth must hold their own booth licence, the Commission may not demand extra floor area, and where a violation cannot be attributed the salon operator answers for it.
New salon or booth: the first license is issued as a 90-day permit and the fee is $75 (confirmed, https://dlr.sd.gov/cosmetology/licensing_requirements.aspx). After the 90-day inspection is passed, the Commission issues a license that expires annually on the business's opening (anniversary) date. The annual salon/booth renewal fee is $55, with a $30 late penalty if paid/postmarked after the opening date (confirmed, https://dlr.sd.gov/cosmetology/license_renewal.aspx). No separate 're-inspection fee' is published on the Commission's pages — a failed inspection simply requires rectifying all deficiencies before the 90-day permit expires.
Yes. Cite the issuing articles, not the definitions: SDCL 36-15-19.1 (cosmetologist), 36-15-19.3 (nail technician) and 36-15-19.5 (esthetician) are what issue individual licences. SDCL 36-15-2, 36-15-2.2 and 36-15-17.2, often quoted for this, are scope-of-practice definitions. Two renewal clocks run in parallel under ARSD 20:42:03:12: individual licences renew on the licensee's birthday, salon and booth licences on the licence anniversary. Late penalty $30; reinstatement $30 per lapsed year.
Salons are inspected, and there IS a reinspection fee — $75 each under ARSD 20:42:03:01(14), within the cap set by SDCL 36-15-20(14). The Commission's FAQ applies it not only after a failed inspection but also when the inspector is refused entry, cannot inspect, or finds the shop closed during declared open hours. On the Notice of Required Corrective Action, items scored 2 or 3 trigger the $75; items scored 1 are cleared free by emailing proof. Initial 90-day permit $75 and renewal $55 (ARSD 20:42:03:01(12)-(13)) — SDCL 36-15-20 as amended by SL 2025 ch. 156 s. 2 now permits up to $80 and $60, so the statutory ceiling rose while the rule amounts did not.
South Dakota is one of the states that TAXES salon services — 4.2% state sales tax plus 1% to 2% municipal tax on the services themselves. Each booth renter must hold their OWN Department of Revenue sales tax licence and remit on their own gross receipts. The booth RENT paid to the salon is not itself taxed, but — and this is the trap — it may NOT be deducted from the renter's taxable gross receipts. Source: SD DOR tax fact 'Beauty Salons and Barber Shops' (July 2023).
No. SalonBoothLicense gives general information based on each state's published cosmetology/barbering and tax rules, dated to when we last verified them, and is not a guarantee of licensure. Booth/suite rules also depend on local permitting and your written rental agreement. Always confirm with your state board and local authority.
Sources: SDCL ch. 36-15 (36-15-19.1, -19.3, -19.5, -20, -51, -51.3) and ch. 36-14 ; ARSD art. 20:42 (20:42:03:01, 20:42:03:07, 20:42:03:12) ; SL 2025 ch. 156 and ch. 157 ; South Dakota Cosmetology Commission pages and FAQ ; SD DOR tax fact 'Beauty Salons and Barber Shops' (July 2023). Verified 2026-08-17. General information, not legal advice and not a guarantee of licensure — confirm with your state board and local authority before you open.