Cleaning services in Dallas

Texas lists building and grounds cleaning as a taxable real property service, and anyone cleaning residential or nonresidential property for hire must hold a sales tax permit and collect tax. The state rate is 6.25%, and local governments can add up to 2%, for a combined maximum of 8.25%. The company should charge state tax plus any local city, county, special district or transit tax on the amount billed.

Taxable cleaning is defined broadly: window washing, floors, walls and ceilings, duct and chimney cleaning, and trash collection on the premises all count. A quote that leaves tax out may simply be an estimate before tax, so ask whether the total is pre-tax or final.

Dallas cleaning jobs taxed the same way

Pressure washing a house, sidewalk or driveway is taxed as building or grounds cleaning too, so a combined interior and exterior package carries tax on both parts. Cleaning that a home builder buys as part of constructing a new home isn't taxable. Cleaning companies pay tax on the soap, chemicals and equipment they use, but can buy items left with you, such as paper towels, tax-free for resale. None of that changes what you owe on the service itself.

HomeGuide's national figures from April 2024 give a baseline for Dallas quotes. A visit averages about $200, with most people paying $120 to $280. Cleaners charge about $25 to $75 an hour per worker, and a two-person, two-hour visit runs $100 to $300.

Add sales tax to any of these if you hire a company. Ask whether a quote is per visit, per hour or per square foot, so you can compare Dallas companies on the same basis. The Texas cleaning guide covers how quotes are usually built.

If you rent, a move-out clean is mostly about your deposit. A Texas landlord must refund it on or before the 30th day after you surrender the home, though not until you give a written forwarding address. Deductions for damage must be itemized in writing, and none of the deposit can be kept for normal wear and tear. A landlord who keeps a deposit in bad faith can owe $100 plus three times the amount wrongfully withheld and your attorney's fees.

Take dated photos after the cleaners finish. Furniture you're leaving behind can go out with Dallas's monthly brush and bulky pickup, up to 10 cubic yards, set out between Thursday and Sunday before your collection week. If you're also booking a truck, see Dallas movers.

Four practical checks cover most of the risk when you hire a cleaner:

• Sales tax permit. A company collecting tax should have one; ask for the number.
• Background. The Texas Department of Public Safety runs a public conviction database searchable by name. It covers Class B misdemeanors and above reported to DPS, while Class C convictions appear only if reported.
• Door-to-door offers. If someone sells you services over $25 at your home, Texas law generally lets you cancel by midnight of the third business day after signing.
• Problems. The Attorney General's Consumer Protection Division takes complaints online, and they're public under Texas law.

The Dallas guide has the city's other services, and Garland cleaning services are a nearby comparison.