Sales tax on landscaping and lawn care in North Carolina
Do landscapers in North Carolina charge sales tax on their services?
Most lawn and landscape work in North Carolina is not taxable
Mowing, planting, fertilizing, pruning and pesticide application are listed as not taxable in North Carolina. Irrigation repairs, landscape lighting and fence repair are taxable.
The Department of Revenue publishes a chart of services to real property. Under landscaping and yard care, it treats most planting and lawn work as capital improvements. Capital improvements are not subject to sales tax on the service.
The chart then lists the exceptions line by line. Those are the jobs where you charge the customer tax. The table below groups the lines a lawn and landscape company is most likely to sell.
| Service | Treatment |
|---|---|
| Mow, aerate, reseed, over seed, sod bare spots | Not taxable |
| Plant or replace lawns, sod, flowers, shrubs and trees | Not taxable |
| Apply fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides | Not taxable |
| Prune or fertilize trees or shrubs | Not taxable |
| Remove trees or shrubs without replacing them | Not taxable |
| Install or fully replace a sprinkler system | Not taxable |
| Repair, maintain, install or replace irrigation components | Taxable |
| Repair, maintain, install or replace landscape lights | Taxable |
| Install or replace landscaping timbers, planter boxes, fabric or raised beds | Taxable |
| Repair fences and gates | Taxable |
The Department of Revenue lists mowing, aerating, reseeding, over seeding and sodding bare spots as not taxable capital improvements. — North Carolina Department of Revenue, retrieved 2026-09-27
Irrigation is split between install and repair
A new or fully replaced sprinkler system is not taxable. Repairing or replacing its parts is taxable.
The chart lists the full installation or replacement of a sprinkler system as a capital improvement. Separately, it lists repairing, maintaining, installing or replacing irrigation components as taxable. Underground sprinkler component work is listed as taxable too.
That makes a spring start-up and head replacement visit a taxable call. A new system on a new lawn is not. Keep the two on separate invoices. The irrigation license that sits under both is covered in the irrigation contractor license page.
The Department of Revenue lists full installation or replacement of sprinkler systems as not taxable, but repair, maintenance or replacement of irrigation components as taxable. — North Carolina Department of Revenue, retrieved 2026-09-27
Pesticide and weed control service is not taxable
Applying fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides to a lawn is not taxable in North Carolina. That includes a service contract whose purpose is pesticide application.
The chart lists pesticide application to real property as not taxable. It names service contracts where the obligation is to apply pesticide. A yearly weed-control program therefore stays outside sales tax on the service.
This is the one piece of good news in the pesticide rules. The license is still required. See the pesticide applicator page.
The Department of Revenue lists application of pesticides to real property, including service contracts to apply pesticide, as not taxable. — North Carolina Department of Revenue, retrieved 2026-09-27
You pay tax on the materials you install
On a capital improvement job, you are the consumer of the materials. You pay sales tax to the supplier on the plants, mulch and stone you install.
The Department of Revenue says a real property contractor is the consumer of items it buys and installs to fulfil a real property contract. It pays tax to the vendor. It lists landscaping among capital improvement activities.
So price the tax you paid into your bid. Do not add sales tax to the customer's invoice for the planting itself. That would be collecting tax the service does not owe.
The Department of Revenue treats a real property contractor as the consumer of items it purchases and installs for a real property contract, owing tax to its vendors. — North Carolina Department of Revenue, retrieved 2026-09-27
The rate on taxable repair and maintenance work
Taxable repair, maintenance and installation work carries the 4.75% general state rate. Local and transit rates are added on top.
The Department of Revenue says these services are taxed at the general state, applicable local and applicable transit rates. The combined rate depends on the county where the work is done.
Report the tax on Form E-500 or through the department's online filing. A job that mixes a capital improvement with unrelated repairs has its own treatment, set out in the department's Bulletin 72.
4.75%North Carolina taxes repair, maintenance and installation services to real property at the 4.75% general state rate plus applicable local and transit rates. — North Carolina Department of Revenue, retrieved 2026-09-27
Register before your first taxable invoice
If you sell any taxable line, register with the Department of Revenue first. Registration is free.
The department says there is no fee to apply for a certificate of registration. It also warns about private sites that charge for it. Apply online or by mail.
A lawn-only crew may never need to. A crew that fixes sprinkler heads or installs landscape lighting will. The registration step sits in its place in the setup guide, and the yearly filings are in annual reports and state taxes.
$0The North Carolina Department of Revenue charges no fee to apply for a sales and use tax certificate of registration. — North Carolina Department of Revenue, retrieved 2026-09-27
Questions
Do I charge sales tax on weekly mowing in North Carolina?
No. The Department of Revenue lists mowing, aerating, reseeding and over seeding lawns as capital improvements that are not taxable, so weekly mowing carries no sales tax on the service.
Is landscape lighting taxable?
Yes. The Department of Revenue lists repairing, maintaining, installing or replacing landscape lights as taxable, whether the work is a new install or a repair.
Should I add sales tax to mulch on a planting invoice?
On a capital improvement job such as planting, you are the consumer of the materials and pay tax to your supplier. Build that cost into your price rather than adding tax to the customer's bill.