{"data":{"id":"us-ky/krs-68.197","jurisdiction":"us-ky","citation":"KRS 68.197","heading":"License fees in counties of 30,000 or more -- Exemptions from local fees and","body":"taxes -- Regulation of ministers.\n(1) The fiscal court of each county having a population of thirty thousand (30,000) or\nmore may by ordinance impose license fees on franchises, provide for licensing any\nbusiness, trade, occupation, or profession, and the using, holding, or exhibiting of\nany animal, article, or other thing.\n(2) License fees on business, trade, occupation, or profession for revenue purposes,\nexcept those of the common schools, may be imposed at a percentage rate not to\nexceed one percent (1%) of:\n(a) Salaries, wages, commissions, and other compensation earned by persons\nwithin the county for work done and services performed or rendered in the\ncounty;\n(b) The net profits of self -employed individuals, partnerships, professional\nassociations, or joint ventures resulting from trades, professions, occupations,\nbusinesses, or activities conducted in the county; and\n(c) The net profits of corporations resulting from trades, professions, occupations,\nbusinesses, or activities conducted in the county.\n(3) In order to reduce administrative costs and minimize paperwork for employers,\nemployees, and businesses, the fiscal court may provide:\n(a) For an annual fixed  amount license fee which a person may elect to pay in\nlieu of reporting and paying the percentage rate as provided in this subsection\non salaries, wages, commissions, and other compensation earned within the\ncounty for work done and services performed or rendered in the county; and\n(b) For an annual fixed amount license fee which an individual, partnership,\nprofessional association, joint venture, or corporation may elect to pay in lieu\nof reporting and paying the percentage rate as provided in this subsec tion on\nnet profits of businesses, trades, professions, or occupations from activities\nconducted in the county.\n(4) (a) Licenses imposed for regulatory purposes are not subject to limitations as to\nform and amount.\n(b) No public service company that pays an ad valorem tax is required to pay a\nlicense tax.\n(c) 1. It is the intent of the General Assembly to continue the exemption from\nlocal license fees and occupational taxes that existed on January 1, 2006,\nfor providers of multichannel video programming services or\ncommunications services as defined in KRS 136.602 that were taxed\nunder KRS 136.120 prior to the effective date of this section.\n2. To further this intent, no company providing multichannel video\nprogramming se rvices or communications services as defined in KRS\n136.602 shall be required to pay a license tax. If only a portion of an\nentity's business is providing multichannel video programming services\nincluding products or services that are related to and provided in support\nof the multichannel video programming services or communications\nservices, this exclusion applies only to that portion of the business that\nprovides multichannel video programming services or communications\nservices, including products or ser vices that are related to and provided\nin support of the multichannel video programming services or\ncommunications services.\n(d) No license tax shall be imposed upon or collected from any insurance\ncompany except as provided in KRS 91A.080, bank, trust company, combined\nbank and trust company, combined trust, banking, and title business in this\nstate, or any savings and loan association whether state or federally chartered,\nor in other cases where the county is prohibited by law from imposing a\nlicense fee.\n(5) No license fee shall be imposed or collected on:\n(a) Income received by members of the Kentucky National Guard for active duty\ntraining, unit training assemblies, and annual field training;\n(b) Income received by precinct workers for election training  or work at election\nbooths in state, county, and local primary, regular, or special elections;\n(c) Any profits, earnings, or distributions of an investment fund which would\nqualify under KRS 154.20 -250 to 154.20 -284 to the extent any profits,\nearnings, or distributions would not be taxable to an individual investor; or\n(d) 1. a. The profits earned; or\nb. Income received for work performed;\nduring a disaster response period by a disaster response business or a\ndisaster response employee.\n2. As used in this  paragraph, \"disaster response business,\" \"disaster\nresponse employee,\" and \"disaster response period\" have the same\nmeaning as in KRS 141.010.\n(6) Persons who pay a county license fee pursuant to this section and who also pay a\nlicense fee to a city conta ined in the county may, upon agreement between the\ncounty and the city, credit their city license fee against their county license fee. As\nused in this subsection, \"city contained in the county\" shall include a city that is in\nmore than one (1) county.\n(7) The provisions of subsection (6) of this section notwithstanding, effective with\nlicense fees imposed under the provisions of subsection (1) of this section on or\nafter July 15, 1986, persons who pay a county license fee and a license fee to a city\ncontained in the county shall be allowed to credit their city license fee against their\ncounty license fee. As used in this subsection, \"city contained in the county\" shall\ninclude a city that is in more than one (1) county.\n(8) Notwithstanding subsection (7) of this section, if a city annexes territory pursuant to\nKRS 81A.415, and both the city and the county in which the territory annexed is\ncontained levy a license fee at the time of annexation:\n(a) The county license fee shall no longer apply in the area anne xed by the city if\nthe city license fee is equal to or greater than the license fee rate imposed by\nthe county at the time of the annexation;\n(b) If the city license fee is less than the license fee imposed by the county at the\ntime of the annexation, only the portion of the county license fee that exceeds\nthe city license fee rate shall remain in effect in the annexed area;\n(c) The city shall annually pay an amount to the county that guarantees that the\ncounty shall receive at least the same dollar amount of revenue that was\ngenerated by the county license fee in the territory in the tax year immediately\npreceding the annexation; and\n(d) After the tax year in which the annexation occurs, if the revenues generated\nby the city license fee for the territory de crease below the amount of revenue\ngenerated by the county license fee at the time of the annexation, then the\nrevenue received by the county from the city shall be reduced proportionately.\n(9) A county that enacted an occupational license fee under the au thority of KRS\n67.083 shall not be required to reduce its occupational tax rate when it is\ndetermined that the population of the county exceeds thirty thousand (30,000).\n(10) Notwithstanding any statute to the contrary:\n(a) In those counties where a license fee has been authorized by a public question\napproved by the voters, there shall be no credit of a city license fee against a\ncounty license fee except by agreement between the county and the city in\naccordance with subsection (6) of this section;\n(b) Notwithstanding any provision of the KRS to the contrary, no taxpayer shall\nbe refunded or credited for any overpayment of a license tax paid to any\ncounty to the extent the overpayment is attributable to or derives from this\nsection as it existed at any tim e subsequent to July 15, 1986, and the taxpayer\nseeks a credit for a license tax paid to a city located within such county, if\nsuch refund claim or amended tax return claim was filed or perfected after\nNovember 18, 2004, except by agreement between the cit y and county in\naccordance with subsection (6) of this section;\n(c) In those counties where a license fee has been authorized by a public question\napproved by the voters, the percentage rate of the license fee in effect on or\nafter January 1, 2005, and any maximum salary limit upon which the license\nfee is calculated may be increased or decreased in subsequent fiscal years with\nthe approval of the fiscal court through the passage of an ordinance. The\npercentage rate of a license fee in such counties shall at no time exceed one\npercent (1%) and the maximum salary limit shall at no time exceed an amount\nequal to the maximum Social Security contribution and benefit base\nestablished under subsection (b) of 42 U.S.C. sec. 430. Notwithstanding\nsubsection (7) of this section, there shall be no credit of any license fee\nincreased or decreased under this paragraph except by agreement between the\ncounty and the city in accordance with subsection (6) of this section.\n(d) This subsection shall have retroactive application; and\n(e) If any provision of this subsection or the application th ereof to any person or\ncircumstance is held invalid, the invalidity shall not affect other provisions or\napplication of this section that can be given effect without the invalid\nprovision or application, and to this end the provisions of this subsection ar e\nseverable.\n(11) Pursuant to this section, no fiscal court shall regulate any aspect of the manner in\nwhich any duly ordained, commissioned, or denominationally licensed minister of\nreligion may perform his or her duties and activities as a minister of re ligion. Duly\nordained, commissioned, or denominationally licensed ministers of religion shall be\nsubject to the same license fees imposed on others in the county on salaries, wages,\ncommissions, and other compensation earned for work done and services performed\nor rendered.","path":["KRS Chapter 68"],"source_url":"https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=54832","current_through":"Includes enactments through the 2026 Regular Session","vintage":"09/05/2026","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T20:49:30Z","sha256":"8e0b90b7fcee2a2d2079961342557dd91a7a2e12ac0f822b5bfd7f014a71b827","source_id":"us-ky","stale":false,"prev":"us-ky/krs-68.195","next":"us-ky/krs-68.198"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}