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How to Start a Nail Salon in Illinois: Licenses, Costs & Requirements

Nail technology is the fastest license in Illinois beauty: 350 hours of school, the shortest program under the Act. The salon around it follows the standard Illinois pattern, a $40 registration and a November renewal, while the technician license runs on an October date in even years that catches owners who assume everything renews together.

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 nail salon 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. Nail technology is Article IIIC of the Act, its own article with its own definitions and qualifications, administered by the same department that runs cosmetology, barbering, esthetics and hair braiding. The Department licenses the technicians and registers the premises: a nail salon holds the same certificate of registration as a hair salon or barbershop, because Illinois has one establishment credential for the whole Act.

Two features of the nail article shape this guide. First, the definition of nail technology in Section 3C-1 draws the scope line in the statute itself: manicuring, pedicuring, decorating nails and applying artificial applications, with massage of the hands, arms, elbows, feet, lower legs and knees allowed as part of the service, and an express prohibition on techniques, products and practices intended to affect the living layers of the skin. Second, the license clock is an even year clock. Nail technician licenses expire October 31 of even numbered years, the salon registration expires a month later on November 30 of the same even years, and the two renewals land back to back in the salon's busiest filing season.

Illinois nail salon requirements at a glance

Practitioner licenses: the nail technician license

The nail technician license is the shortest road into Illinois beauty work. Section 3C-2 of the Act qualifies an applicant who is at least 16 years old, has finished the required schooling, and has graduated from a licensed school of cosmetology or school of nail technology after completing a program of 350 hours in the study of nail technology extending over not less than 8 weeks. The applicant then passes the state examination. The fee pattern matches the rest of the Act: the license fee itself is $30, while the examination fee is $190, the second highest exam fee in Illinois beauty licensing after cosmetology's $200. An applicant who has completed 280 hours may sit the examination early under the Act's examination rules, which lets a salon hire against a graduation date with care. Technicians licensed elsewhere apply by endorsement for $45.

Staffing flexibility comes from the license above, not the license beside. A cosmetologist's scope includes nail services, so a cosmetologist can cover a nail station lawfully; an esthetician cannot, because the esthetics scope stops at skin and lashes. The reverse boundary is the one owners get wrong: a nail technician may massage hands, arms, feet and lower legs as part of a nail service, but the Section 3C-1 prohibition on affecting the living layers of the skin means no skin treatments, no peels, and no advanced foot or hand therapies marketed as skin services. 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. Licenses expire October 31 of even numbered years regardless of issue date, and 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, the same credential hair salons and barber shops hold. Illinois makes it unlawful to own or operate a nail technology salon without one. The fee is $40 for a single location, whether the salon runs two pedicure chairs or twenty, and one registration covers the address: a nail salon inside a larger beauty business still sits under the registration for that location, while a second storefront takes its own registration.

The renewal rhythm is the detail to plan around. All certificates of registration expire November 30 of even numbered years, renewal is $40 for the cycle, calculated at $20 a year, and the renewal window opens in the two months before the date. Technician licenses expire a month earlier, October 31 of the same even years, so an Illinois nail 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, product storage and the licenses of every technician working under the roof.

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

Most Illinois nail salon owners 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.

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, a serious problem for an entity holding a lease, a salon registration and a card processing account. Adopt a written operating agreement even though it is never filed; pedicure heavy salons often grow by adding a partner's second location, and the agreement is what governs that expansion before it happens.

Trading under a name: the assumed name split

A nail salon 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 salon 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.

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. 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 after the entity exists and 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 station. The Retailers' Occupation Tax falls on retail sales of tangible personal property, and a manicure or pedicure service is not a retail sale of property, so the service ticket carries no sales tax anywhere in the state. Nail salons sell more retail than they think: polish, home care kits and gift sets rung as products are taxable, and inventory bought for resale is purchased without tax so the tax lands once, on the sale to the client. Polish and product consumed in the service itself sits in the Service Occupation Tax zone, where tax can apply to the cost of goods transferred as part of a service; the Department of Revenue's ST-1 instructions work through the line, and the safe habit is to cost service consumables separately from retail stock.

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.

Station rent in Illinois: the classification test decides

Illinois has no station rental license and no registration category for a rented nail table. 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 technician renting a station inside your salon does your salon's usual work on your salon's premises, which fails the second condition however the agreement is drafted, and the Department of Employment Security applies the test in unemployment audits.

The registration layer points the same way: services happen under your salon's certificate of registration, and the registration holder answers for the premises. A technician who wants a genuinely independent business needs premises registered in their own right, the structure in the Illinois salon suite guide. Inside a conventional nail salon, the defensible model is employment, with commission or hourly pay structures doing the work a rent check does elsewhere.

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. Nail salons run on tips more than most beauty businesses, so the tipped wage record keeping matters: the $9.00 cash wage is lawful only when tips actually carry each technician to $15.00. 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 the wage and leave bars further, 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 nail salons are named among the premises businesses that operate under a Limited Business License even though their technicians hold state licenses. The Limited Business License currently costs $500 for a two year term. Check zoning before the lease: the Department's licensing materials flag some beauty, nail and barber shops as special uses in some zoning districts, and a nail salon's plumbing and ventilation work makes an early zoning answer worth more than usual.

Chicago labor law is the bigger local cost. 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 the work itself: landlords require general liability coverage with the landlord named as an additional insured, and a nail salon carries professional liability for services, where chemical exposure and infection control claims are the realistic exposures, plus property coverage for pedicure equipment, buildout and retail inventory. Employers must carry workers' compensation coverage as a legal duty, and in a salon where technicians sit and stand in repetitive postures all day, that coverage is used more often than owners expect.

Recurring state costs are biennial and light: technician 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: technician licenses on October 31 and the salon registration on November 30 of the same year.

Your Illinois renewal calendar

• Every 2 years, expiring October 31 of even numbered years: nail technician licenses renew at $50 each, with 10 hours of continuing education per technician
• 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: nail technician licensing, the $190 examination fee, exam languages, and salon registration
• 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 I need a nail technician license to own a nail salon in Illinois?

No. The premises hold a salon registration from the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, $40 to open and $40 to renew every two years, and every technician who works on clients holds a personal nail technician license, or a cosmetology license, which also covers nail services. You need a personal license only if you will work on clients yourself.

How many hours of school does an Illinois nail technician need?

A nail technician completes a program of 350 hours in the study of nail technology over not less than 8 weeks, starting at age 16 or older, passes the state examination at $190, and pays a $30 license fee. It is the shortest practitioner program under the Illinois cosmetology act.

When does an Illinois nail technician license renew?

Nail technician licenses expire October 31 of even numbered years, regardless of when they were issued. 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.

What services are outside the Illinois nail technician scope?

The Act prohibits nail technicians from using techniques, products and practices intended to affect the living layers of the skin. Nail technology covers manicures, pedicures, nail decoration and artificial applications, with massage of the hands, arms, feet and lower legs. Skin treatments beyond that line belong to estheticians and cosmetologists.

Can nail technicians rent stations in my Illinois salon?

Illinois has no station rental license, and Section 212 of the Unemployment Insurance Act treats a technician who works on your salon floor as an employee, because the work is your usual business at your place of business. Renters also practice under your salon registration. Employment is the defensible default; genuine independence needs premises registered to the technician.

Does a Chicago nail salon need a city license too?

Yes. Chicago nail salons 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 technician licenses. Chicago also sets a $17.05 minimum wage and its own paid leave rules.