The rules where you work $17
A first 30 days checklist, everyday forms, licenses, workers’ comp and taxes for Wyoming, with a yearly calendar. Instant PDF download.
Buy the packet: $17Digital product, all sales final. Informational only, not legal, financial, tax or business advice.
What Wyoming expects from a new trade business
Wyoming leaves contractor licensing to cities and counties, except for electrical. Workers' comp runs through the state, and construction workers are covered by law. The big catch is liens: a sub has 30 days and a contractor has to send notice before taking the first payment, or the lien right is gone.
Licensing is local, except for electrical
Wyoming doesn't license contractors at the state level, with electrical as the one exception. The Wyoming Business Council says the choice to license is left to the local jurisdiction where the work happens. So your license depends on the town or county, and you may need more than one if you work across lines.
The State Fire Marshal's Department of Fire Prevention and Electrical Safety licenses electrical contractors and master and journeyman electricians. An electrical contractor has to be, or employ full-time, a Wyoming licensed master electrician as master of record, and renews each year by July 1. Low voltage and limited electrical contractors have separate licenses, each with its own technician of record.
There's an exception for an owner, partner or major stockholder of a family corporation installing on property they own or lease that isn't for immediate resale. Read it before you rely on it. Breaking the electrical licensing act is a misdemeanor, for an individual up to $500, up to 6 months in jail, license revocation, or a combination.
Call the city or county building office before you bid in a new area, and ask what it requires for your trade.
Source: Wyoming Business Council, Startup Resources · Wyoming State Fire Marshal, Electrical Licensing · Wyoming Statutes Title 35 (35-9-123, -125, -130)
Who to call: an attorney near you
State-run comp, and construction is covered by law
Comp in Wyoming runs through the state's Workers' Compensation Division, where employers register and report payroll. The act lists construction as extrahazardous employment, which means your workers are covered regardless of their individual job.
Owners start out off the policy. Sole proprietors, partners, corporate officers and LLC members aren't employees under the act unless coverage is elected. An owner elects in writing at registration or 30 days before a calendar quarter, and can't withdraw for 8 calendar quarters.
Hiring subs: on public work, the prime or general contractor has to get certification before a sub starts that the sub has an account in good standing. On private work, a contractor who subcontracts is liable for the sub's premiums unless the sub paid them, so get proof anyway. If you skip coverage and a worker is awarded benefits, you can be liable to the state for all of those awards. The Division can tell you what to register.
Source: Wyoming Statutes Title 27 (27-14-102, -108, -203, -206)
Who to call: an insurance agent near you
Getting paid: the notice comes before the first dollar
Wyoming's preliminary notice is one of the tightest around:
- Contractor: send the owner the state's notice of lien rights before receiving any payment, including a deposit.
- Subs and suppliers: send it within 30 days of first providing services or materials, with a copy to your contractor. Missing this time limit bars your lien.
- Before filing: send the owner a notice of intention at least 20 days before you file. Forms are at the county clerk's office.
- File the lien: contractors within 150 days, everyone else within 120 days. Contractors and suppliers count from the earlier of last work or delivery, or the project's substantial completion. Subs count from their last day working at the contractor's direction.
- After filing: send the owner notice within 30 days. Missing that doesn't void the lien.
- Sue: within 180 days of filing.
An owner can record a notice of substantial completion, which sets a presumed date and doesn't extend your deadline. The parties can sign and record an agreement extending the filing time, up to double. A gap of more than 180 days between stretches of work breaks them into separate contracts. An owner, contractor or sub can bond off your lien at one and one-half times the amount, and then you sue on the security.
A construction attorney can set up your notices so the first one goes out with your contract.
Source: Wyoming Statutes Title 29 (29-2-106, -107, -109, -112; 29-10-101)
Who to call: an attorney near you
You pay on materials. Labor on real property isn't taxed.
By statute, a Wyoming contractor who furnishes materials under contract is the consumer or user of them. You pay tax when you buy, and it goes in your price. If you didn't pay at purchase, you send in a use tax return.
The Department of Revenue's training says labor to real property isn't taxable. That's a training point, not a statute section. Services to personal property, like repair or alteration, are taxable. The line it draws for real property: buried or embedded, physically annexed, adapted to use of the land, and intended to be permanent.
Rates depend on the county, generally 4 to 8%, based on where you take possession. Out-of-state contractors carry extra registration and bond or retainage rules, and a sub is treated the same as a prime. Hire an out-of-state sub and you must register the project within 15 days and withhold from the sub's payments, unless the sub is labor-only or bonded. A CPA who works with contractors can help with items that don't become part of the property.
Source: Wyoming Statutes Title 39 (39-15-303) · WY Dept. of Revenue, Sales Tax 101 (June 2023) · WY Excise Tax Division FAQs
Who to call: a CPA or tax pro near you
LLC, sole proprietor, or S-corp?
Most Wyoming LLC formations cost $100 with the Secretary of State, and filing online adds a convenience fee. Each year you owe an annual license tax of $60, or two-tenths of a mill on the dollar ($.0002) of Wyoming assets, whichever is greater. It's due the first day of your anniversary month, and the state can dissolve the LLC 60 days after that if you don't pay.
An entity with $300,000 or less in Wyoming assets pays the $60.
The income tax chapter in Wyoming's Title 39 is repealed, and cities and counties are barred from taxing income or wages. Your federal return still applies.
When an S-corp election pays off is a numbers question. Bring what the business clears after your floor rate to a CPA and ask them to run it.
Source: Wyoming Secretary of State, Business FAQs · Wyoming Secretary of State, How to Create a Wyoming Company · Wyoming Statutes Title 39 (39-12-101)
Who to call: a CPA or tax pro near you
Education, not legal or tax advice. Rules change. Confirm anything here with a licensed pro in Wyoming before you rely on it. Last updated November 2026.