Updated October 23, 2026. Quick answer: The 2025 IRS chart lists 561730 for landscaping services. It goes on line B beside the line A description of your work. Neighboring rows, such as 541320 for landscape architecture or 444200 for lawn and garden retailers, may read closer depending on the principal source of your receipts.
The landscaping row on the chart
The chart lists landscaping under the wording “Landscaping services”.
| Code | Wording on the IRS chart |
|---|---|
| 561730 | Landscaping services |
That is the closest wording for lawn, garden, and grounds work done for clients. The row sits among the services to buildings and dwellings, not among the farming rows.
Entering it on Schedule C
Line A asks for a description of the work: “Describe the business or professional activity that provided your principal source of income reported on line 1.” Line B asks for the code: “Enter on line B the six-digit code from the Principal Business or Professional Activity Codes chart” The code goes in the box on line B, beside the description.
An example of the kind of description, not IRS wording: line A might read lawn care and garden installation for residential clients. The line A entry explains the work; the code on line B comes from the chart.
Rows that sit close to landscaping
Several chart rows share vocabulary with landscaping, and each is worded around a different main activity.
| Code | Wording on the IRS chart |
|---|---|
| 561730 | Landscaping services |
| 541320 | Landscape architecture services |
| 561790 | Other services to buildings & dwellings |
| 444200 | Lawn & garden equipment & supplies retailers |
| 115110 | Support activities for crop production (including cotton ginning, soil preparation, planting, & cultivating) |
Row 541320 is worded “Landscape architecture services”, which is design work, not the labor of installing and maintaining. Row 561790 is worded “Other services to buildings & dwellings”. Row 444200 is worded “Lawn & garden equipment & supplies retailers”, so it describes a store that sells goods. Row 115110 is worded “Support activities for crop production (including cotton ginning, soil preparation, planting, & cultivating)”, which is a farming support row.
The chart’s rule has two steps: “Select the category that best describes your primary business activity”, and then “Then select the activity that best identifies the principal source of your sales or receipts”.
The chart carries one warning for anyone whose income is from the land: “If your principal source of income is from farming activities, you should file Schedule F.”
Design, maintenance, and selling plants
A landscaper may design a yard, build it, maintain it, and sell materials. The chart sorts those into different rows, so the wording gives three separate questions about a single business. The chart’s test is “Then select the activity that best identifies the principal source of your sales or receipts”. The stream with the largest share of receipts is the one to compare with each row.
A grass and shrub crew and a separate nursery stand are not necessarily one business. The instructions state: “If you owned more than one business, complete a separate Schedule C for each business.”
What to read after line B
With the code settled, the overview in the Schedule C guide shows the rest of the form. Equipment is a large part of landscaping work, and the depreciation lines are in Schedule C lines 12 and 13, depletion and depreciation. Crew pay is covered in Schedule C lines 25 and 26, utilities and wages. The wider list is at Schedule C business codes.
Edition and chart year
This page reads the 2025 Schedule C (Form 1040) and its 2025 instructions, the current files irs.gov served on 2026-10-23 (byte-identical to the archived copies). They are the files for the tax year 2025 return, filed in 2026. The schedule says “Attach to Form 1040, 1040-SR, 1040-SS, 1040-NR, or 1041”. Check the tax year printed on the schedule you are filling in and use the chart that comes with that year’s instructions, because a different year’s chart can list different codes or reword them.
Common mistakes
- Reading row 541320, “Landscape architecture services”, as a landscaping crew row; its wording is about architecture.
- Picking a farming row because the work happens outdoors: “If your principal source of income is from farming activities, you should file Schedule F.”
- Letting a retail side stream set the code, when the chart asks for “Then select the activity that best identifies the principal source of your sales or receipts”.
Related: Schedule C (Form 1040), Schedule C lines 12 and 13 depletion and depreciation, Schedule C lines 25 and 26 utilities and wages, and Schedule C business codes: the full IRS list.
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Answer againSources
- Instructions for Schedule C (Form 1040), Profit or Loss From Business (2025): https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i1040sc.pdf
- Schedule C (Form 1040), Profit or Loss From Business (2025): https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f1040sc.pdf
Read from the IRS documents linked above on October 23, 2026. General information, not tax advice. Your own facts decide the outcome, and a preparer, the account provider or the IRS is the right place to confirm anything consequential.