Updated October 30, 2026. Quick answer: The 2025 chart lists 812910 for pet care (except veterinary) services, the closest wording on the chart to grooming or sitting for animals. The code goes on line B beside your line A description. A neighbor such as 812990 or 812190 may read closer, depending on the principal source of your receipts.
The pet care row on the chart
Looking for dog walking, grooming or pet sitting by name turns up nothing, but one row covers the general territory.
| Code | Wording on the IRS chart |
|---|---|
| 812910 | Pet care (except veterinary) services |
The chart’s wording is “Pet care (except veterinary) services”. The parenthetical sets veterinary work apart, and the chart gives that work a row of its own, “Veterinary services”.
Writing line A and filling in line B
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: bathing and trimming dogs at clients’ homes, plus walking dogs while owners are at work. Line A can be as specific as the day-to-day work, while line B holds just one chart code.
Rows that sit close to pet care
Three personal service rows and two rows about animals are worth reading beside the pet care row.
| Code | Wording on the IRS chart |
|---|---|
| 812990 | All other personal services |
| 812190 | Other personal care services (including diet & weight reducing centers) |
| 459910 | Pet & pet supplies retailers |
| 112900 | Animal production (including breeding of cats and dogs) |
| 541940 | Veterinary services |
The two personal service rows, “All other personal services” and “Other personal care services (including diet & weight reducing centers)”, are broader than pet care and name no animals at all. A shop that sells food and supplies rather than services would compare itself with “Pet & pet supplies retailers”. The animal production row, “Animal production (including breeding of cats and dogs)”, is about breeding, which is a different activity from caring for someone else’s animal.
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”.
Grooming and sitting under one name
The chart has no row that uses the words groom or sitter. Whatever the business is called in everyday speech, the chart reads it through the wording of the pet care row, so a person who grooms in the morning and boards animals at night is reading one line, not two.
When the money comes from more than one activity, the second step of the rule is what applies: “Then select the activity that best identifies the principal source of your sales or receipts”. A pet business that sits alongside a truly separate venture falls under this sentence: “If you owned more than one business, complete a separate Schedule C for each business.”
Where this code goes next
The code sits on line B next to the line A description on Schedule C (Form 1040). Pet professionals who also sell products online may want the online sellers code page, and the full list of Schedule C business codes lays out every row in one place. Payments received through a payment app may be reported on a Form 1099-K, which has its own guide.
Edition and chart year
This page reads the 2025 Schedule C (Form 1040) and its 2025 instructions, 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
- Hunting for a groomer or sitter row. The chart has no such row; the nearest wording is “Pet care (except veterinary) services”.
- Picking the retail row because pets are involved. That row reads “Pet & pet supplies retailers” and describes a store.
- Treating one animal business as two lines. The chart says “Then select the activity that best identifies the principal source of your sales or receipts” so one activity leads on line B.
Related: Schedule C (Form 1040), Schedule C business codes: the full IRS list, online sellers code page, and Form 1099-K.
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Answer againSources
- Instructions for Schedule C (Form 1040), Profit or Loss From Business (2025): IRS archived PDF (irs.gov)
- Schedule C (Form 1040), Profit or Loss From Business (2025): IRS archived PDF (irs.gov)
Read from the IRS documents linked above on October 30, 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.