The gym business code for taxes is 713900, which you enter on Line B of Schedule C (Form 1040). The IRS lists it under “Other amusement and recreation services” in the Principal Business Activity code chart that accompanies the Schedule C instructions.1Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Schedule C (Form 1040) – Profit or Loss From Business The underlying NAICS classification is more specific: 713940, “Fitness and Recreational Sports Centers,” which covers health clubs, strength training centers, yoga studios, swimming facilities, and martial arts gyms.2NAICS Association. NAICS Code 713940 – Fitness and Recreational Sports Centers Most tax software will find the right code when you search “gym” or “fitness center,” and the IRS accepts either version electronically.
That said, not every fitness professional uses the same code. The right one depends on how your business actually operates, not the label you use on your website.
Which Code Matches Your Fitness Business
Gym and Fitness Center Owners
If you run a facility where members pay to use equipment, take classes, or access amenities like pools and courts, use 713900. The IRS groups fitness centers with golf courses, bowling alleys, skating rinks, and similar recreation businesses under this single code in the Schedule C instructions.1Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Schedule C (Form 1040) – Profit or Loss From Business The specialty of the gym doesn’t matter. CrossFit boxes, yoga studios, kickboxing gyms, and general weightlifting facilities all fit here. What matters is that you operate a facility and members pay for access.
Personal Trainers
If you don’t run a facility and instead train clients at their homes, in parks, or inside someone else’s gym, your code is 812990, “All Other Personal Services.” The NAICS index for that code specifically includes personal fitness training services.3NAICS Association. NAICS Code 812990 – All Other Personal Services This is the right code for a sole proprietor whose business is built around individualized client sessions rather than facility access.
Group Instructors and Sports Coaches
Trainers who primarily run group classes, sports camps, or structured instructional programs have another option: 611620, “Sports and Recreation Instruction.” It covers aerobic dance and exercise instruction, martial arts schools, swimming instruction, gymnastics programs, and professional sports instruction.4NAICS Association. NAICS Code 611620 – Sports and Recreation Instruction The line between 812990 and 611620 is whether your work looks more like personal services (training individuals) or teaching (instructing groups in a skill or sport).
Medical Fitness and Physical Therapy
Some gym-like businesses focus on rehabilitation or medically supervised exercise. If your revenue comes mainly from patients rather than general fitness members, code 621340 applies. That classification covers offices of physical therapists, occupational therapists, and exercise physiologists. A facility that has gym equipment but operates as a therapy practice should use 621340 instead of the general fitness center code.
How to Pick When Your Business Straddles Categories
The IRS instructions say to pick the code that “best identifies the principal source of your sales or receipts.”5Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Schedule C (Form 1040) – Line B In plain terms: follow the money. Whichever activity brings in the most revenue defines your principal business.
There is no percentage cutoff written into the instructions. You won’t find a rule saying 51% triggers one code over another. For a typical gym owner, the call is easy because memberships and class fees dwarf everything else. It gets harder for a business that genuinely operates in two industries, like a trainer who also runs a supplement e-commerce store with comparable revenue. In that situation, some tax professionals recommend filing a separate Schedule C for each distinct business activity, each with its own code.
Where the Code Goes on Schedule C
On Schedule C, the business activity code sits on Line B, near the top of the form. It’s just to the right of Line A, where you describe your principal business activity in words, and to the left of Line C, your business name.6Internal Revenue Service. 2025 Schedule C (Form 1040) Tax software typically prompts you to search for or select your business type during the initial setup of your Schedule C profile. Type “gym,” “fitness center,” or “personal trainer” and the matching code usually surfaces automatically. Paper filers should write the six digits clearly in the Line B field.
Why the Code Actually Matters
The code isn’t just a filing formality. The IRS uses statistical formulas and computer screening to compare returns against norms for similar businesses.7Internal Revenue Service. IRS Audits Those norms are built from data collected through the IRS’s National Research Program, which audits a random sample of returns to establish baseline expense ratios for each industry. Your business code decides which group you get measured against.
Pick the wrong code and your numbers get compared to the wrong benchmarks. A personal trainer who accidentally selects the fitness center code will look like a gym with no rent, no equipment depreciation, and unusually low overhead. That mismatch can make an otherwise normal return look like an outlier. The IRS does not penalize you for entering an incorrect code on its own, but the wrong code can indirectly raise the odds your return gets a closer look.
Fixing a Wrong Code After You File
If you catch the mistake after your return has been accepted, you can correct it by filing Form 1040-X, the amended return. It can be filed electronically through most tax software or on paper.8Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 1040-X Attach an updated Schedule C with the corrected code and explain the change in Part II of the 1040-X, which asks for a written explanation of what you changed.
A wrong code by itself doesn’t change your tax liability, so amending won’t cost you or refund you anything on that basis alone. What amending does is clear the mismatch from your record. Whether it’s worth the paperwork depends on how far off the original code was. Entering 713940 instead of 713900 for a gym is a rounding difference in the eyes of the IRS. Entering a retail code when you actually run a fitness center is the kind of error worth fixing.