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How to Start a Hair Salon in Georgia: Licenses, Costs & Requirements

Georgia does not hand you one salon license and send you on your way. The State Board of Cosmetology and Barbers licenses every stylist and the salon itself, the Secretary of State takes your LLC filing, your county Clerk of Superior Court registers your trade name, and the Department of Revenue waits at the retail shelf. This guide walks through each piece with the fees, deadlines, and rules published by Georgia agencies.

Researched from Georgia state sources. Our guides are free. We may earn a commission when you use a partner service, at no additional cost to you.

Who licenses hair salons in Georgia

One agency runs Georgia hair licensing: the Georgia State Board of Cosmetology and Barbers, administered by the Professional Licensing Boards Division of the Secretary of State under O.C.G.A. Chapter 43-10. The board licenses the people, master cosmetologists and hair designers, and it licenses the premises through a single establishment license called the Salon/Shop license. No city or county issues a substitute for either license, though your city or county adds its own occupational tax certificate on top. Applications and renewals run through the Secretary of State's GOALS online licensing system, and the board publishes its full fee schedule on its site. Start there, at sos.ga.gov, because general business blogs routinely quote Georgia salon fees from before the board's current schedule.

Two Georgia quirks shape everything in this guide. First, renewal dates are staggered by license type and split between even and odd years, so a salon owner juggles several different deadlines instead of one renewal season. Second, Georgia still offers an apprenticeship route for every license: a stylist can earn a license working under supervision in a licensed salon instead of attending school, at double the hours. Both quirks come straight from the statute, O.C.G.A. Section 43-10-9, which is the source for every hour count below.

Georgia hair salon requirements at a glance

Georgia licenses for the people who do the hair

The license most of your stylists need is the master cosmetologist license. Its scope under Section 43-10-1 is the widest in the building: cutting and dressing hair, coloring and chemical services, facial and scalp treatments, and the services of an esthetician and a nail technician as well. A master cosmetologist can legally cover your hair menu, a nail station, and basic skin services, which is why most Georgia salon teams are built around this license.

The school route requires 1,500 credit hours at a board approved school over at least nine months. The applicant must be at least 17, hold a high school diploma, an equivalency diploma, or a college degree, and pass both a written and a practical examination approved by the board. The board's application fee for licensure by exam is $30, plus a $5 processing fee for an online application. The license then renews every two years for $50, due by March 31 of even years, with a $100 late renewal inside 30 days and a $200 reinstatement after that. Renewal also requires proof of five hours of continuing education, three of them in a health and safety course, although the requirement does not apply until a licensee's second renewal.

Stylists moving into Georgia from another state apply by endorsement for $75 when they hold an active license at the same level in their home state. What no one can do is work unlicensed while paperwork is pending: a person performing cosmetology services without a license exposes both themselves and your salon's establishment license to board discipline, and the salon answers for who works under its roof.

The Salon/Shop license for your space

The salon itself needs the board's Salon/Shop license, one license that covers a cosmetology salon, a barber shop, or a shop doing both. The application fee is $75, filed through the board with the salon's location and ownership information, and the board's how-to guide is blunt about the sequence: a salon or shop may not perform services until it holds an active license. You do not need a cosmetology license yourself to own the salon. The license attaches to the business and the address, not to the owner's hands.

The license renews for $75 by June 30 of odd years, a different cycle from your stylists' licenses. A late renewal inside six months costs $200, and reinstatement after that costs $300. Changing the salon's name or address costs $45, and a change of ownership costs $75, because the new owner needs the license in their own right. If the salon moves, the board requires a change of location application before you open at the new address, so sequence the paperwork ahead of the move, not after the first client sits down.

Board rules then govern the space itself. Chapter 240-4 of the board's rules gives any board member or inspector the right to enter and inspect the facility during regular business hours, and refusing an inspection can bring sanctions up to revocation. The salon must sit in a permanent and definite location, separated from living or other commercial space by tight, floor to ceiling walls, with toilet and lavatory facilities on the premises or within 300 feet in the same building. The facility license must be posted within fifteen feet of the entrance, and every practitioner's current license must be posted in an open, public area. A salon in your home is allowed under the same rules, with the posted sign optional, but home salons still answer to local zoning.

Hair designers, apprentices and the barber crossover

Georgia keeps a narrower hair license that many states have dropped: the hair designer. Its scope is hair only, cutting, dressing, singeing, shampooing, and coloring, with no skin or nail services. The course is 1,325 credit hours over at least seven months, or a 2,650 hour apprenticeship, with the same $30 exam application and written and practical exams. Hair designers renew for $50 by September 30 of even years, the one deadline in the salon that lands in the fall. For a hair only concept, a team of hair designers is a legitimate staffing model, as long as nobody drifts into facials or nail services their license does not cover.

The apprenticeship route deserves attention from owners, not just students. Every Georgia cosmetology license can be earned in a licensed salon under a licensed supervisor instead of in school: 3,000 hours for a master cosmetologist, 2,650 for a hair designer. The apprentice license application costs $90. Salons that train apprentices build their own pipeline of stylists who already know the shop's systems, and the board's apprentice rules in Chapter 240-5 set the supervision and record keeping duties that come with it. Georgia also lets a master cosmetologist sit for the master barber exam, and a master barber for the cosmetologist exam, after a 300 hour board approved crossover course, which matters if your concept blends salon and barbershop services.

Forming your LLC with the Georgia Secretary of State

Most Georgia beauty businesses organize as a limited liability company, and Georgia makes the filing simple. To form the LLC, file Articles of Organization with the Corporations Division of the Secretary of State, online through the eCorp system. Under the Corporations Division fee schedule effective September 6, 2025, the filing fee is $100 plus a $10 service charge, $110 in total, and the same $110 applies whether you file online or on paper. Older guides still quote $100 or $105; the September 2025 schedule replaced both numbers. Your Articles name the LLC, give its address, and name a registered agent with a Georgia street address who accepts legal papers on the business's behalf.

The filing owners miss is the annual registration. Every Georgia LLC files one with the Secretary of State each year between January 1 and April 1, starting the year after formation. The statutory fee is $50 plus the $10 service charge, $60 in total, and filing after April 1 adds a $25 late penalty. Let it lapse and the Secretary of State can administratively dissolve the LLC, which strips away the liability protection the entity exists to provide. Put the January to April window on your calendar the day you form, not the first spring it surprises you.

An LLC is not the only route. A sole proprietor files nothing with the Corporations Division, but also gets no separation between business and personal debts and claims. A corporation files Articles of Incorporation at the same $110 total and owes the same $60 annual registration. Whatever you choose, the entity does not change the licensing in this guide. The board licenses, the county trade name filing, and the tax accounts below are the same for an LLC, a corporation, and a sole proprietor.

Registering your trade name with the Clerk of Superior Court

Georgia handles business names at the county courthouse, not at the state level. If you do business under a name that does not disclose who owns the business, a storefront name, a brand, or an LLC trading under a shorter name, O.C.G.A. Section 10-1-490 requires you to register that trade name with the Clerk of Superior Court in the county where the business is chiefly carried on. File before you start doing business under the name. The registration statement is verified by affidavit and lists the names and addresses of the owners and the nature of the business being carried on.

Two steps catch people out. First, the filing is not complete until you publish notice of it in the newspaper in which the sheriff's advertisements are printed, once a week for two weeks. Second, there is no statewide fee: the charge is the clerk's fee prescribed by O.C.G.A. Section 15-6-77, so it is set county by county. Wayne County, as one published example, charges $163 to register a trade name. Ask your own clerk for the current schedule before you go in. You file once; a new and amended statement is required only when ownership changes.

A trade name registration does not create your entity and does not give you trademark rights in the name. It is a public disclosure filing, and your bank will usually ask for the filed statement when you open the business account, so complete it before you sign a lease or print signage under the name.

Getting your federal Employer Identification Number

Your Employer Identification Number, or EIN, is the federal tax ID for the business, issued by the IRS. Apply directly on the IRS website and it is free; any site charging you for an EIN is selling you a form you can file yourself in minutes. You need the number before your first hire, and in practice sooner: most banks require one to open a business account for an LLC, and the Department of Revenue and the Department of Labor both want it when you register your tax accounts. Apply right after your entity filing so it never becomes the bottleneck.

Georgia sales tax: services are not taxed, retail products are

Georgia taxes the retail sale of tangible personal property, and the Department of Revenue states the rule plainly: the tax falls on retail sales of goods and a short list of specific services, and most services are exempt. Haircuts, color services, styling, and chemical treatments are services, and they are not on that taxable list, so you do not charge sales tax on service tickets. The tax lives at your retail shelf: shampoo, conditioner, styling products, and anything else a client pays for and takes home are taxable retail sales.

Register with the Department of Revenue before your first retail sale. Registration runs through the Georgia Tax Center, the Department's online portal, which issues your sales and use tax number and your Certificate of Registration as a dealer. The state rate is 4 percent, and county and city taxes stack on top of it, so the rate you charge is the combined rate for your location from the Department's published rate chart. Inside Atlanta, in Fulton County, that combined rate is 8.9 percent. Charging another county's rate is a common and expensive mistake, because the combined rate follows the place of the sale.

One more rule matters to service businesses. On the products you use up while providing services, your back bar shampoo, color, lightener, and styling products, you are the end user, and sales or use tax is due on those purchases. Buy your retail inventory under your dealer registration and collect the tax when you sell it; pay the tax on what the business consumes itself. Keep services and products on separate lines in your point of sale, file your returns on the schedule the Department assigns, and remit what you collected. That money was never yours.

Hiring staff: unemployment tax, new hires, wages and classification

Hiring your first employee opens accounts with two agencies. With the Georgia Department of Labor, a business becomes liable for unemployment insurance once it pays $1,500 in wages in a calendar quarter or employs at least one person in each of 20 different weeks in a year, and it establishes its UI tax account with the Employer Status Report, Form DOL-1N. New employers are assigned a beginning rate of 2.70 percent, charged only on the first $9,500 of each employee's wages per year, until the Department computes an experience based rate from your own history. Quarterly tax and wage reports, Form DOL-4N, are due April 30, July 31, October 31, and January 31. Separately, register for Georgia income tax withholding through the Georgia Tax Center and have each employee complete Form G-4.

Report every new hire, rehire, and return to work to the Georgia New Hire Reporting Program within 10 days, as O.C.G.A. Section 19-11-9.2 requires. On wages, do not plan around Georgia's $5.15 state minimum wage: the state law covers only employers of six or more employees and excludes employment subject to the federal Fair Labor Standards Act when the federal rate is higher, so nearly every Georgia beauty business must pay at least the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour. Workers' compensation insurance becomes mandatory once you regularly employ three or more people. Part-time staff count toward the three, and so do LLC members and corporate officers.

Then there is classification. Georgia has no salon specific statute that blesses booth rental, so a chair renter is an independent contractor only if the relationship actually works like one: the renter sets their own prices and hours, books and collects payment from their own clients, holds their own license and insurance, and pays you rent for the space rather than working to a schedule and price list you control. The more the arrangement looks like employment, the more likely the Department of Labor and the IRS are to call it employment, with back payroll taxes to match. Get the rental agreement in writing before the first client sits down.

The local layer: occupational tax certificates, zoning and Atlanta

Georgia issues no general state business license. The license that lets you operate day to day is local: an occupational tax certificate, called a business license or a business tax certificate in many jurisdictions, issued by your city when the business sits inside city limits or by your county when it does not. Fees and formulas are set locally, commonly from some mix of business type, employee count, and gross receipts, and renewal dates are local too. Zoning has to allow a personal services business at your address before you sign the lease, and buildout work can need building, plumbing, and electrical permits plus a certificate of occupancy. Do the local checks in that order: zoning for the address, the certificate, then buildout permits.

Metro Atlanta stacks the layers highest. A business inside Atlanta needs the city's business license on top of the county process, and the metro area is split across Fulton, DeKalb, Cobb, and Gwinnett counties, so the county of your actual street address controls your county filings and your combined sales tax rate. Two storefronts a few miles apart can answer to different county offices at different rates. Confirm zoning and the certificate for the exact address before you commit to a space.

Insurance and the costs that keep coming back

Plan on three policies at a minimum. General liability covers injuries in the space, like a client slipping on a wet floor. Professional liability covers claims arising from the services themselves: a color reaction, a chemical burn from lightener left on too long, or extensions that damage a client's natural hair. Property coverage protects your equipment, furniture, and retail stock, and business interruption coverage can carry the business if a fire or flood closes you for a month. Workers' compensation, covered above, is legally required once you regularly employ three or more people and is priced separately.

Premiums vary by city, services, and claims history, so get quotes from brokers who write beauty industry policies and compare the exclusions, not just the price. Then add the recurring state stack to the same budget: practitioner renewals on their staggered dates, the establishment renewal, the $60 LLC annual registration every spring, and your local certificate renewal. None is large on its own. Together they are a real line in the budget, and calendaring them in advance is how owners avoid late renewal fees and reinstatement charges.

Dates to put on your calendar

• March 31, even years: master cosmetologist renewals, $50, with five hours of continuing education complete.
• September 30, even years: hair designer renewals, $50.
• June 30, odd years: Salon/Shop license renewal, $75.
• January 1 to April 1, every year: LLC annual registration with the Secretary of State, $60 total.
• April 30, July 31, October 31, January 31: quarterly unemployment tax and wage reports to the Department of Labor, if you have employees.
• Within 10 days of each hire: new hire report to the Georgia New Hire Reporting Program.
• On the Department of Revenue's schedule: sales and use tax returns for your retail product sales.
• Every year: renew your city or county occupational tax certificate on the local schedule.

Official Georgia sources for this guide

• Georgia State Board of Cosmetology and Barbers: applications, renewals, how-to guides and board news
• Board fee schedule (GSBCB Rev 03/22): every board fee and renewal date in this guide
• O.C.G.A. Section 43-10-9: training hours, apprenticeships and examinations for each license
• Board rules, Chapter 240-4: facility requirements, license posting and health and safety rules
• Corporations Division filing fees (effective September 6, 2025): Articles of Organization and annual registration fees
• Department of Revenue, What is Subject to Sales and Use Tax?: the services versus retail split
• Department of Labor, File Tax and Wage Reports: unemployment tax accounts, the $9,500 wage base and quarterly due dates
• State Board of Workers' Compensation, insurance FAQs: the three employee threshold for coverage

This guide is general information researched from official Georgia sources, not legal or tax advice. Requirements, fees and forms change; verify the current rules with the agencies linked above before you file, sign or spend.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need a cosmetology license to own a hair salon in Georgia?

No. The Salon/Shop license is held by the business for its address, and nothing in Chapter 43-10 requires the owner to hold a practitioner license. What you cannot do is perform services yourself without one. Every hair service in the salon must be performed by a licensed master cosmetologist, hair designer, or other board licensee working inside the scope of their license, in the licensed salon.

How many hours of school does a Georgia master cosmetologist need?

A master cosmetologist completes 1,500 credit hours at a board approved school over at least nine months, or serves a 3,000 credit hour apprenticeship in a licensed salon or shop, under O.C.G.A. Section 43-10-9. Applicants must be at least 17, hold a high school diploma or equivalent, and pass both a written and a practical examination. The board's application fee for licensure by exam is $30.

How much does a Georgia Salon/Shop license cost?

The Salon/Shop license costs $75 to apply for and $75 to renew, and it renews by June 30 of odd years under the board's fee schedule. A late renewal within six months costs $200 and reinstatement costs $300. A change of name or address costs $45 and a change of ownership costs $75. The salon may not perform services until the license is active.

Are hair services subject to sales tax in Georgia?

No. Georgia taxes retail sales of tangible personal property and a short list of specific services, and hair services are not on that list, so cuts, color, and styling are not charged sales tax. Retail products are taxable: shampoo and styling products a client takes home are charged the 4 percent state rate plus your county and city taxes. Register through the Georgia Tax Center before your first retail sale.

What is the difference between a master cosmetologist and a hair designer in Georgia?

Scope. A master cosmetologist, at 1,500 credit hours, can perform hair, skin, and nail services. A hair designer, at 1,325 credit hours, is licensed for hair services only: cutting, dressing, shampooing, and coloring, with no facials or nail work. Hair designers renew by September 30 of even years; master cosmetologists renew by March 31 of even years. Both pay a $30 exam application fee and a $50 renewal.

Can my stylists be booth renters instead of employees?

They can, if the arrangement is genuinely independent. Georgia has no salon specific statute blessing booth rental, so classification turns on how the relationship actually works: renters who set their own prices and hours, book and collect from their own clients, and pay you rent for the chair look like independent businesses. Renters working your schedule, your prices, and your client list look like employees to the Department of Labor and the IRS, whatever the contract calls them.