Home / Illinois / Braiding

How to Start a Braiding Business in Illinois: Licenses, Costs & Requirements

Braiding law is a patchwork nationally: some states license it, some register it, and a few, including Pennsylvania in 2024, deregulated it entirely. Illinois licenses it. The Hair Braider license is a real credential with a 300 hour curriculum written into the statute, and a braiding business here is built like any other Illinois salon, with licensed practitioners and a registered premises.

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

The regulator: the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation

An Illinois braiding business answers to the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, through its Division of Professional Regulation, under the Barber, Cosmetology, Esthetics, Hair Braiding, and Nail Technology Act of 1985 (225 ILCS 410) and the rules at Title 68, Part 1175 of the Illinois Administrative Code. Hair braiding is Article IIIE of the Act, with its own definitions, its own license and its own curriculum. The Department licenses hair braiders and hair braiding teachers, and registers the premises, because a hair braiding salon is one of the establishment types named in the Act's registration requirement.

The Illinois position is worth stating plainly because braiders moving into the state get it wrong. Illinois is not a deregulated state. The braiding exemption wave that freed braiders in much of the country did not repeal Article IIIE, and the Department continues to issue, renew and discipline Hair Braider licenses. What Illinois did instead was build a license proportionate to the trade: 300 hours rather than the cosmetologist's 1,500, a curriculum written for braiding rather than borrowed from cosmetology, and no separate examination fee in the Department's published fee table. A braider who learned the trade informally still has to school and license before charging clients in Illinois; a cosmetologist is licensed for braiding work as well.

Illinois braiding business requirements at a glance

Practitioner licenses: the Hair Braider license

Section 3E-2 of the Act sets the qualification: an applicant files an application, pays the required fee, is beyond the age of compulsory school attendance or holds a secondary school certificate or its equivalent, and completes a program of at least 300 clock hours, or a 10 credit hour equivalency, of instruction in a licensed cosmetology school teaching a hair braiding curriculum or a licensed hair braiding school. The statute writes the curriculum out in hours, which is unusual and useful: 35 hours of basic training in theory, personal hygiene and public health, professional ethics, disinfection and sanitation, bacteriology, hair and scalp disorders, and hair analysis; 35 hours of related concepts, braid removal and scalp care, styling knowledge, tools, growth patterns and client consultation; 200 hours of practices and procedures, single braids with and without extensions, cornrows with and without extensions, twists and knots, multiple strands, hair locking, and weaving including sewn in work; and 30 hours of business practices, covering the Act itself, salon management and salesmanship. The license fee is the standard $30 under the Act's fee schedule, and the Department's examination fee table lists no examination fee for hair braiders. Braiders licensed elsewhere apply by endorsement for $45.

The scope line runs through the middle of a braiding salon's menu. The license covers braiding and the techniques in its definition, twisting, wrapping, weaving, extending and locking hair by hand or with mechanical appliances, including the extension and sewn in work the curriculum teaches. It does not cover cutting, coloring, bleaching or chemical services: those are cosmetology, and a braider who relaxes, colors or cuts is practicing outside the license however skilled the work. Salons handle the boundary by staffing: a licensed cosmetologist on the team covers the chemical and cutting menu, and the braiders cover the protective styling the business is known for. Renewal costs $50 for the two year cycle, requires 10 hours of continuing education, one hour of sexual harassment prevention training plus nine subject hours, and expires October 31 of even numbered years regardless of issue date, the same clock as nail technicians. A lapsed license restores for $50 plus lapsed renewal fees, capped at $200.

The establishment credential: the salon registration

The premises credential is the certificate of registration under Subpart M of the Part 1175 rules, and hair braiding salons are named in it expressly. Illinois makes it unlawful to own or operate a hair braiding salon without one. The fee is $40 for the location, and one registration covers the address: a braiding business operating inside a full service salon practices under that salon's registration, while a standalone braiding salon holds its own. Many braiders work from home studios and small suites; the registration requirement follows the business, not the storefront, so a home based braiding salon registers its location the same way, subject to local zoning for home businesses covered in the local section.

All certificates of registration expire November 30 of even numbered years, renewal is $40 for the two year cycle, calculated at $20 a year, and the renewal window opens in the two months before the date. Braider licenses expire a month earlier, October 31 of the same even years, so a braiding salon renews its people and its premises in one autumn stretch every other year. A change of name or address costs $20, a reprinted certificate $20, and a lapsed registration restores for $40 with the business's federal employer identification number and any assumed name certificate in the filing. The registration holder answers for the premises, including sanitation, which in braiding means tool disinfection and the scalp care standards the curriculum itself teaches.

Forming your LLC: the $150 filing and the $75 annual report

Most Illinois braiding business owners who grow past a solo practice form a limited liability company, and Illinois makes formation cheap and the yearly upkeep unforgiving. Articles of Organization, Form LLC-5.5, are filed with the Secretary of State's Department of Business Services for $150, with standard processing running about ten business days; 24 hour expedited service brings the total to $250. The LLC needs a registered agent with an Illinois street address, and Illinois requires no newspaper publication to form, so the $150 is the whole state formation bill. Solo braiders sometimes stay sole proprietors, which is lawful; the LLC earns its keep when the salon adds braiders, a lease and retail shelves.

The follow-on duty is the annual report. Every LLC files one with the Secretary of State for $75, due before the first day of the anniversary month of formation. File more than 60 days late and a $100 penalty attaches; leave it unfiled long enough and the Secretary of State administratively dissolves the LLC. Adopt a written operating agreement even though it is never filed; braiding salons are frequently family and partner businesses built on one lead braider's book, and the agreement is what values that book if the partners separate.

Trading under a name: the assumed name split

A braiding business rarely trades under its legal entity name, and Illinois splits the assumed name filing by structure. Sole proprietors and general partnerships, and professional corporations, register an assumed business name with the county clerk in the county where the business operates, under the Assumed Business Name Act (805 ILCS 405). Corporations and LLCs skip the county and register with the Secretary of State, an LLC by adopting an assumed name on Form LLC-1.20. Filing at the wrong office leaves the name unregistered, and solo braiders, the group most likely to file at the county, are the group most often told incorrectly to file with the state.

The county route carries a step the state route does not: newspaper publication. In Cook County the registration fee is $50, the application is signed and notarized, and the owner must publish the legal notice in a local newspaper once a week for three consecutive weeks, starting within 15 calendar days of registration. Proof of publication, a notarized certificate with the original newspaper clipping, is due back to the Clerk within 50 days, and missing that deadline voids the registration. The Secretary of State route has no publication step, and its fee is prorated on a five year cycle, $150 in a year ending in 0 or 5 down to $30 in a year ending in 4 or 9, so an LLC adopting an assumed name in 2026 pays $120.

Getting your EIN

Your Employer Identification Number is the one free, fast step in an Illinois opening. Apply on the IRS website and the number issues immediately; every LLC and corporation needs one for banking and payroll, and a sole proprietor needs one once they have employees, and most braiders need one earlier than that because payment platforms and banks ask for it. Illinois paperwork keys off it: the MyTax Illinois business registration, the unemployment insurance account, and a salon registration restoration all run under the EIN. Get it before the first state application.

Sales tax: services are not taxed, retail is, and the entity has its own tax

Illinois taxes the shelf, not the chair. The Retailers' Occupation Tax falls on retail sales of tangible personal property, and a braiding service is not a retail sale of property, so the service ticket carries no sales tax anywhere in the state. Braiding businesses trip on the retail line more than most, because extension hair sits on both sides of it: hair sold to a client as a product is a taxable retail sale, while hair installed as part of the braiding service is transferred incident to the service and falls into the Service Occupation Tax analysis on the cost of the goods. The Department of Revenue's ST-1 instructions work through which side a transfer lands on, and the clean habit is to price and record product sales separately from service tickets.

The rate is built by address. The state base is 6.25 percent, and local taxes stack on top: county and municipal shares, home rule taxes, and transit taxes in the Chicago region, which together push the combined rate in Chicago above 10 percent. The Department's Tax Rate Finder in MyTax Illinois gives the rate for the salon's exact address. Register before the first retail sale on Form REG-1 through MyTax Illinois, which covers both the sales tax account and employer withholding, and report on Form ST-1. The entity layer adds the Personal Property Replacement Tax: an LLC taxed as a partnership pays 1.5 percent of net income under the Illinois Income Tax Act, on top of the members' flat 4.95 percent individual income tax.

Chair rent in Illinois: the classification test decides

Illinois has no chair rental license and no registration category for a rented braiding chair. What it has is a classification test most rental arrangements fail. Section 212 of the Unemployment Insurance Act (820 ILCS 405/212) treats a worker as an independent contractor only when the worker is free from the salon's control, the service is outside the usual course of the salon's business or outside all of its places of business, and the worker runs an independently established trade. A braider renting a chair inside your salon does your salon's usual work on your salon's premises, which fails the second condition however the agreement is written, and the Department of Employment Security applies the test in audits.

The registration layer points the same way: braiding in the building happens under your salon's certificate of registration, and the registration holder answers for the premises. A braider who wants a genuinely independent business needs premises registered in their own right, which is the structure the Illinois salon suite guide works through, and a well worn path for braiders precisely because a braiding setup needs so little fixed equipment. Inside a conventional salon, the defensible Illinois model is employment.

Hiring staff: withholding, unemployment, and wages

The first hire triggers the employer stack. Register with the Department of Employment Security within 30 days of starting business as an employer; liability for unemployment insurance generally begins once you pay $1,500 in wages in a calendar quarter or employ someone during 20 weeks of a year. For 2026, contributions apply to the first $14,250 of each employee's wages, and a new employer pays 3.35 percent until it earns its own experience rate, which for 2026 ranges from 0.75 percent to 7.05 percent including the fund building rate. Reports run quarterly on Form UI-3/40 through MyTax Illinois, due April 30, July 31, October 31 and January 31. Employers withhold Illinois income tax at a flat 4.95 percent and report on Form IL-941, report every new hire to the Illinois New Hire Directory within 20 days, and carry workers' compensation coverage.

The wage floor is $15.00 an hour statewide for workers 18 and older, with a tipped cash wage of $9.00 where tips bring the total to the full rate, and overtime at one and one half times the regular rate after 40 hours. Braiding appointments run long, and a braider's day can cross the overtime line on a single install day, which is worth planning into pricing for large styles. The Paid Leave for All Workers Act adds 40 hours of paid leave a year for any reason, earned at one hour per 40 hours worked. Chicago raises both bars, covered next.

The local layer: Chicago, Cook County, and everywhere else

The state registers the salon; Chicago licenses it again. Every Chicago business takes a city license from the Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection, and beauty premises like braiding salons operate under a Limited Business License even though braiders hold state licenses; the city's general exemption for state licensed professionals does not cover these premises businesses. The Limited Business License currently costs $500 for a two year term. Home based braiders meet the local layer twice over, because a home occupation has its own city and zoning treatment: confirm the address can lawfully host the business early.

Chicago labor law is the bigger local cost for salons with staff. The city minimum wage is $17.05 an hour for employers with four or more employees, with a tipped cash wage of $12.96, effective July 1, 2026 and adjusted every July 1 by inflation or 2.5 percent, whichever is lower. Chicago's leave ordinance adds up to five days of paid leave and five days of paid sick and safe leave, accruing at one hour per 35 hours worked, on top of the state act. Suburban Cook County sets $15.40 an hour and a $9.25 tipped wage in municipalities that have not opted out. The rest of Illinois runs on the state floor of $15.00, with zoning and any general municipal business license as the local layer.

Insurance and recurring costs

Neither the Act nor the Part 1175 rules conditions a salon registration on a bond or an insurance filing. Insurance enters through the lease and through prudence: landlords require general liability coverage with the landlord named as an additional insured, and a braiding salon carries professional liability for services, which in a business built on tension, traction and scalp health is a real exposure, plus property coverage for equipment and retail stock. Employers must carry workers' compensation coverage as a legal duty.

Recurring state costs are biennial and light: braider renewals at $50 each with 10 hours of continuing education, the salon registration at $40 every two years, the $75 LLC annual report, and quarterly filings. The rhythm to remember is the even year autumn: braider licenses on October 31 and the salon registration on November 30 of the same year, the tightest renewal pairing in Illinois beauty.

Your Illinois renewal calendar

• Every 2 years, expiring October 31 of even numbered years: hair braider licenses renew at $50 each, with 10 hours of continuing education per braider
• Every 2 years, expiring November 30 of even numbered years: the salon registration renews at $40; renewal opens in the two preceding months
• Every year, before the first day of the formation anniversary month: LLC annual report, $75
• Every quarter, due April 30, July 31, October 31, and January 31: unemployment contributions and wage reports on Form UI-3/40 through MyTax Illinois
• Every quarter: employer withholding reported on Form IL-941 at the flat 4.95 percent rate
• Within 20 days of each hire: new hire report to the Illinois New Hire Directory
• On the Department of Revenue's schedule in MyTax Illinois: sales tax returns on Form ST-1 covering retail product sales
• Every July 1: Chicago and Cook County minimum wage adjustments take effect; the state wage is reviewed each January
• On any move: update the salon registration for the new address, a $20 change fee, before operating there

Official Illinois sources for this guide

• Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, Cosmetology: hair braider licensing and salon registration under the Act
• Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, hair braider teacher qualifications (259): hair braiding expiration dates
• Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, license renewal information: restoration fees and steps for lapsed licenses
• Cook County Clerk, assumed business name registration: the $50 fee, publication, and the 50 day proof deadline
• Department of Revenue, ST-1 instructions: the 6.25 percent state rate, local tax layers, and the Tax Rate Finder
• Department of Employment Security, 2026 contribution rates: the $14,250 wage base and the 3.35 percent new employer rate
• Department of Labor, Minimum Wage Law: the $15.00 wage, the $9.00 tipped cash wage, and overtime
• City of Chicago, minimum wage: the $17.05 city wage and the $12.96 tipped wage
• Cook County, Minimum Wage Ordinance and regulations: the $15.40 county wage and the $9.25 tipped wage

This guide is general information researched from official Illinois 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 you need a license to braid hair for money in Illinois?

Yes. Illinois licenses hair braiding as its own profession under the Barber, Cosmetology, Esthetics, Hair Braiding, and Nail Technology Act. A Hair Braider license requires a 300 hour program at a licensed school and a $30 license fee, and braiding for compensation without the license, or a cosmetology license, is unlawful. Illinois has not deregulated braiding the way some neighboring states have.

What does the 300 hour Illinois hair braiding program cover?

The Act splits the 300 hours into four parts: 35 hours of basic training in theory, sanitation, bacteriology and scalp care; 35 hours of related concepts like braid removal, styling knowledge and client consultation; 200 hours of practices and procedures, including braids with and without extensions, cornrows, twists, locking and sewn in weaving; and 30 hours of business practices, including the Act itself and salon management.

Can an Illinois hair braider offer color, cuts or chemical services?

No. The hair braider license covers braiding, twisting, weaving, extending and locking hair by hand or with mechanical appliances. Cutting, coloring, bleaching and chemical services sit inside cosmetology. A braiding salon that wants to offer them staffs a licensed cosmetologist for that work or sends the client to one.

When does an Illinois hair braider license renew?

Hair braider licenses expire October 31 of even numbered years, regardless of when they were issued, the same date as nail technician licenses. Renewal costs $50 for the two year cycle and requires 10 hours of continuing education, one hour of sexual harassment prevention training plus nine subject hours.

Does a braiding salon need a registration in Illinois?

Yes. A hair braiding salon holds the certificate of registration from the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, $40 to open and $40 to renew every two years, expiring November 30 of even numbered years. A braider working inside a cosmetology salon practices under that salon's registration instead.

Does a Chicago braiding salon need a city license too?

Yes. Chicago beauty premises operate under a Limited Business License from the Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection, currently $500 for a two year term, on top of the state salon registration and braider licenses. Chicago also sets a $17.05 minimum wage and its own paid leave rules.