Is Personal Training Taxable? Sales Tax by US State

Is personal training taxable in the US?

It depends on the state, and often on where the session happens. In Texas, one-on-one personal training charged separately is not taxable, while gym memberships are. In Washington, personal training at an athletic or fitness facility has been subject to retail sales tax since 1 January 2016. In Connecticut, training at a health club is taxable but sessions at the client's home are not, and in New York the state does not tax personal training while New York City taxes it at fitness facilities.

So the same hour of coaching can be taxable in one state, untaxed in the next, and taxable or not inside one state depending on the room it happens in. This post lists the state rules that were checked against official sources, then shows how to check your own state and how to write invoices that hold up.

This is general information, not tax advice. Sales tax rules change and depend on facts; confirm your situation with your state's department of revenue or an accountant.

Sales tax on personal training: four state examples

The four states below show the main patterns: taxed as part of a facility, taxed only at a club, untaxed when separate, and taxed by a city but not the state.

The NYC rate is reported differently in different sources, so it is left out here. Look it up in the current Tax Department bulletin before you set a price.

Texas: why separately charged training is not taxable

Texas taxes gym memberships as an amusement service but treats personal training as a non-taxable service when it passes a simple test.

According to the Texas Comptroller's February 2022 policy note, gym initiation and membership fees are taxable. Personal training is not taxable when three things are true: it is charged separately, it is one-on-one, and the trainer directs the client. Virtual personal training that meets the same test is not taxable either.

In practice the risk is bundling. A package sold as "membership plus four PT sessions" for one price is harder to separate than a membership invoice and a separate training invoice. If you work in Texas, keep the two on separate lines.

Washington and Connecticut: the facility decides

In both states the question is less "what service is it" and more "where does it happen".

Washington made all charges for the use of an athletic or fitness facility retail sales from 1 January 2016, under HB 1550, and personal training at such a facility is subject to retail sales tax. A trainer who only works in clients' homes or outdoors may be in a different position from one renting floor time in a gym, so check the Department of Revenue guidance for your exact setup.

Connecticut taxes health and athletic club services, including personal training charged separately at a club. A trainer's sessions at the customer's home are not taxable under the Department of Revenue Services special notice SN 2007(1). The Connecticut rate is not covered in this post; use the DRS site for it.

New York: state versus New York City

New York State does not list personal training as a taxable service, but New York City adds its own local sales tax on health and fitness facility charges.

The city tax covers dues, initiation fees, classes and personal training at those facilities, as described in the state Tax Department bulletins TB-ST-615 and TB-ST-329. A trainer working outside NYC is therefore in a different position from one training clients in a Manhattan club. The exact NYC rate was not confirmed for this post, so do not price from a number you read secondhand.

Is online personal training taxable?

In Texas, virtual personal training that is separately charged, one-on-one and trainer-directed is not taxable; for other states you have to check, because online coaching is rarely addressed by name.

Online coaching raises three questions your state's guidance may or may not answer:

• Is a live video session treated like an in-person session?
• Is a program delivered through an app treated as a service or as a digital product?
• Which state's rules apply when you live in one state and your client in another?

None of these has one national answer. If a meaningful share of your income is online, ask an accountant to look at it once, in writing, before you scale up.

How to check whether personal training is taxable in your state

Your state's department of revenue is the only source that settles it, and a 20-minute search there usually gets you most of the way.

1. Find the official site. Search for "[your state] department of revenue sales tax services". People often search "is personal training taxable in Florida" or "in Ohio"; those two states were not checked for this post, so go to the state source.
2. Search the site for these terms: "personal training", "fitness facility", "health club", "athletic club", "amusement".
3. Check whether the facility matters. As Washington and Connecticut show, the same service can be taxed at a club and untaxed at a client's home.
4. Check whether bundling matters. Texas exempts training only when it is charged separately.
5. Check local taxes. New York City shows that a city can tax what the state does not.
6. Look for anything on virtual services. If there is nothing, note that and ask an accountant.
7. Write down what you found, with links and dates. If the rule changes, you will know when you last checked.

Invoicing tips that make sales tax easier

Clear invoices let you apply the right rule to each charge and show your reasoning later.

One mistake I see often: a trainer prices online coaching and in-person sessions in one monthly bundle, then cannot say which part was which when the question comes up. Separate offers are easier to tax correctly, and easier to sell. For how to package them, see how to structure an online coaching offer.

Where Trainera fits

Trainera handles coaching and payments; registering for, collecting and filing sales tax stays with you as the seller, whatever software you use.

• Trainers choose a payment model per offer: request only, monthly subscription by card (with Apple Pay and Google Pay on monthly coaching subscriptions), plan-based, or cash payments for in-person training. PayPal and bank transfer options are also available. Keeping online coaching and in-person sessions as separate offers makes the invoice lines above easier.
• Gyms create membership packages with their own price, currency and billing cycle and sell them online by card through their own Stripe account, with a 0% Trainera platform fee. Payments taken at the desk are recorded in Trainera.
• On trainera.fit/pricing for the US, trainer plans start from $0 (Free, 3 clients), with Starter at $19.99, Pro at $49.99 and Business at $99 a month.

More on gym payments is in gym payment software, your own Stripe account and cash at the desk.

A yearly sales tax check for your training business

Once a year, open your state's revenue site, search "personal training" and "fitness facility", confirm the rule for each place you train including online, and update your invoice templates. Keep training and facility charges on separate lines. Add the result to your launch notes in the sibling post on starting an online personal training business in the US, and see what your pricing has to cover in the US personal trainer salary guide.

Run separate in-person and online offers with clear payment models: see Trainera for personal trainers.