Setting up a party rental business in Mississippi

Choose the structure before the first booking

Decide the structure before anything else, because the business name goes on the permit, the bank account and every booking form.

A sole proprietorship needs no filing. You buy the first bounce house and start renting. The catch is that there is no wall at all. A damaged unit, a disputed deposit or an injury claim at a birthday party lands on you personally.

An LLC is a filing that creates a separate company. The Mississippi LLC Act states the wall plainly: the debts, obligations and liabilities of the company are solely the company's, and no member is obligated personally for them solely by reason of being a member. For a business whose inventory draws children like a magnet, that wall is what you are buying.

The filing is either done directly with the Secretary of State's online portal or through a formation platform that prepares and submits it for you. The state fee is the same $50 either way. The structure comparison walks the trade-offs at length, and the formation services page prices each service against the do-it-yourself route.

The Mississippi LLC Act states that an LLC's debts, obligations and liabilities are solely the company's, and no member or manager is personally liable for them solely by reason of the role. — Mississippi Secretary of State, Mississippi Limited Liability Company Act, retrieved 2026-09-29

Filing the Certificate of Formation

Form the LLC by filing the Certificate of Formation, form F0100, with the Secretary of State. The filing fee is $50, and the state's fee schedule is the source for that number.

The certificate is short. The LLC Act says it must set out the company's name, the street and mailing address of the registered office, and the name and street and mailing address of the registered agent for service of process. An optional dissolution date is all the rest it can carry.

You can file online. The Secretary of State's business FAQ says filings needing staff review are handled within 24 hours of submission, and confirmation emails often arrive the same day.

Search the name before you pay. Fees are charged per filing, and the fee schedule shows a $25 application to reserve a name if you want to hold one while you decide.

$50Mississippi charges a $50 filing fee for the MS LLC Certificate of Formation, form F0100. — Mississippi Secretary of State fee schedule, retrieved 2026-09-29

The Mississippi LLC Act requires the certificate of formation to set forth the LLC's name and the street and mailing addresses of its registered office and registered agent. — Mississippi Secretary of State, Mississippi Limited Liability Company Act, retrieved 2026-09-29

24 hoursThe Secretary of State's business FAQ says online filings that need staff review are processed within 24 hours of submission. — Mississippi Secretary of State, retrieved 2026-09-29

$25Mississippi charges $25 for an LLC Application for Name Reservation, form F0110. — Mississippi Secretary of State fee schedule, retrieved 2026-09-29

The registered agent rule

Every Mississippi LLC must keep a registered agent and a registered office in the state, without interruption.

The LLC Act puts the requirement on the company: each LLC must continuously maintain in this state a registered office, which can be any of its places of business, and a registered agent for service of process. The agent must be an individual resident of Mississippi, or a corporation or LLC whose business office is the registered office.

You can be your own agent. The Secretary of State's own page on agents says any individual, corporation or LLC may act as registered agent for any Mississippi company, provided the agent has a physical address in the state. If you name yourself, your address is the one the public record shows. A commercial agent keeps your home off that record, and the formation services page notes which services bundle one.

One mechanic from the same page: a company that names a noncommercial agent must have that agent's permission before listing them. Nobody is your agent because you typed their name.

The Mississippi LLC Act requires each LLC to continuously maintain in this state a registered office and a registered agent for service of process. — Mississippi Secretary of State, Mississippi Limited Liability Company Act, retrieved 2026-09-29

The Mississippi Secretary of State states any individual, corporation or LLC may act as registered agent for any Mississippi company with a physical address in the state. — Mississippi Secretary of State, retrieved 2026-09-29

Get the EIN and open the business account

Get an Employer Identification Number from the IRS once the LLC exists. It is free, and the online application issues the number immediately.

The IRS says it plainly: beware of websites that charge for an EIN, and you never have to pay a fee for one. Ignore any checkout that sells one.

Then open a business bank account in the LLC's name and route every booking payment into it. Sales tax you collect is not your money, and a separate account is the cleanest way to keep it separate. Party rentals also take odd payment shapes: deposits by card, balances in cash at the event, venue checks that arrive weeks later. All of them belong in the business account.

Keep personal spending out of that account. The liability wall the LLC buys is only as strong as the separation you keep, and a shared account is the first thing a claimant points at.

$0The IRS states that you never have to pay a fee for an EIN and that an approved online application issues the number immediately. — Internal Revenue Service, retrieved 2026-09-29

The sales tax permit comes before the first rental

Register with the Department of Revenue before the first booking, because the law requires a sales tax permit before you operate a business that collects it.

In this trade the question is settled, not open. The Department's business FAQ answers whether leases and rentals of tangible personal property are taxable: yes, the total gross proceeds of rental agreements are taxable. A bounce house, a tent, a table-and-chair package, all of it is rental of equipment, and the regular retail rate is 7%.

The permit itself is free, the application goes through the Department's TAP online system, and it is issued to a specific person or entity at a specific location. The Department of Revenue runs the amusement decal program from the same TAP login, which matters later.

The sales tax guide covers filing months, the 20th-day deadline and what goes in the taxable total, including delivery charges.

The Mississippi Department of Revenue states that the total gross proceeds of rental agreements for leases and rentals of tangible personal property are taxable. — Mississippi Department of Revenue, retrieved 2026-09-29

7%All sales of tangible personal property in Mississippi are subject to the regular retail rate of sales tax, 7 percent, unless the law exempts or reduces the rate. — Mississippi Department of Revenue, retrieved 2026-09-29

$0The Department of Revenue requires a sales tax permit before a person begins or operates a business subject to collecting sales tax, and there is no fee to obtain one. — Mississippi Department of Revenue, retrieved 2026-09-29

Insurance before the first delivery

Buy general liability cover before the first delivery, because every venue, church and school that books you will ask for a certificate of insurance, and the ones that do not ask are the ones that should.

If any unit crosses into the amusement decal program, the number is written down. The Department of Revenue's amusement ride page requires a certificate of insurance of not less than $1,000,000 per occurrence, insuring the owner or operator against liability for injury to persons and property arising out of the use or operation of the ride.

Most inflatable inventories do not cross that line, as the compliance guide explains. But the $1,000,000 figure is the anchor the market uses anyway. Venues ask for a million-dollar certificate because that is what the ride industry carries.

What cover costs is between you and an insurer, and quotes vary. The insurance page covers what insurers ask about your operation before they will write the policy at all.

$1,000,000The Department of Revenue's amusement ride program requires a certificate of insurance of not less than $1,000,000 per occurrence for injury to persons and property from the ride's use. — Mississippi Department of Revenue, retrieved 2026-09-29

Does your inventory need the amusement decal?

Mississippi's amusement ride law took effect January 1, 2021, and it reaches rides its own definition describes as mechanical devices.

The enrolled act defines an amusement ride as a mechanical device that carries or conveys passengers along, around or over a fixed or restricted route or course. A bounce house is fabric kept inflated by a blower, and it carries no one along a course. On the plain reading, an inflatable inventory sits outside the decal program, and the Department's own page addresses the program in mechanical terms.

Two honest caveats. A party rental inventory can cross the line: a trackless train or a kiddie spinner is a mechanical device carrying passengers. And the Department administers the program, so it answers classification questions. Its page gives the contact, amusementdecals@dor.ms.gov, and lists certified inspectors.

If a unit does need a decal, the application carries a $100 fee, proof of inspection by a certified inspector, and the million-dollar certificate of insurance. The compliance guide walks that process step by step.

Mississippi's amusement ride act defines an amusement ride as a mechanical device that carries or conveys passengers along, around or over a fixed or restricted route or course. — Mississippi Department of Archives and History, enrolled House Bill 999 of 2020, retrieved 2026-09-29

$100The Department of Revenue's amusement ride page sets a non-refundable $100 application fee for the operating permit and lists the program contact address amusementdecals@dor.ms.gov. — Mississippi Department of Revenue, retrieved 2026-09-29

Put the rental agreement in writing

Use a written agreement for every booking, and make the safety handover part of it rather than an attachment to it.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission's bulletin for commercial inflatables asks rental companies to hand the renter a training program, a copy of the operation manual, a brief on estimating wind speed, a copy of the safety bulletin, and a signed statement that the renter received and understands all of it. That list is the skeleton of a defensible rental agreement in this trade.

Price the whole invoice inside the agreement, delivery and setup included, because Mississippi taxes the gross proceeds of the rental agreement, and the Department states delivery and handling charges belong in the taxable total.

The rental agreements page covers deposits, damage terms and who may operate the unit.

The CPSC bulletin recommends rental companies give renters a training program, the operation manual, wind speed training, a copy of the bulletin, and a signed statement of receipt. — U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, retrieved 2026-09-29

The Department of Revenue states gross proceeds of sales include installation and delivery charges, which are subject to tax on sales of tangible personal property. — Mississippi Department of Revenue, retrieved 2026-09-29

First inventory, first records

Buy two or three versatile commercial-grade units before you buy a catalog. A 15-by-15 castle and one combo unit rent to more events than six novelty pieces.

Real prices from a manufacturer's own catalog: Magic Jump lists a 15-by-15 castle at $1,649 cash price, a 6-by-6 mini bouncer at $795, and a 20-by-20 unit at $3,800. That is the honest floor for commercial-grade equipment, and the equipment guide covers what to check before you pay it.

Keep every invoice. The IRS allows Section 179 expensing of qualifying equipment purchases, and Publication 946 sets the maximum Section 179 deduction at $2,500,000 for tax year 2025, with tangible personal property among the eligible categories. A first-season fleet of inflatables is tangible personal property, and most new operators can expense it rather than depreciate it over years.

Log every serial number the day each unit arrives. The event-day checklist explains why that number follows the unit through every event you work.

$1,649Manufacturer Magic Jump publishes a 15-by-15 castle bounce house at a $1,649 cash price, a mini bouncer at $795, and a 20-by-20 bounce unit at $3,800. — Magic Jump manufacturer catalog, retrieved 2026-09-29

$2,500,000IRS Publication 946 sets the maximum Section 179 deduction at $2,500,000 for tax year 2025, reduced for costs over $4,000,000, with tangible personal property among eligible property. — Internal Revenue Service, retrieved 2026-09-29

What comes due every year

Two calendars matter once the business exists: the Secretary of State's and the tax year's.

Mississippi LLCs file an annual report by April 15 each year, on form F0108, and the state's fee schedule prices it at $0. The report asks for the registered agent's name and address, a member or manager's name and address, and whether the company has a written operating agreement.

On the money side, rental profit carries self-employment tax at 15.3% once net earnings pass $400, and Mississippi taxes pass-through profit on your personal return. The Department's Form 80-100 instructions put the 2026 rate at 4% of taxable income above the first $10,000, which is exempt. Taxes and annual filings puts both calendars in one place, with the filing thresholds and the phase-down the legislature has enacted.

Write both dates down before the first booking, not after the first penalty. The paperwork in this state is cheap, and it only ever costs money when it is late.

April 15Mississippi LLCs file an annual report due by April 15 each year, and the Secretary of State's fee schedule lists the MS LLC Annual Report, form F0108, at a $0 filing fee. — Mississippi Secretary of State fee schedule, retrieved 2026-09-29

4%The Department of Revenue's Form 80-100 instructions show individual taxable income in excess of $10,000 taxed at 4% for tax year 2026, with the first $10,000 exempt. — Mississippi Department of Revenue, Form 80-100 instructions, retrieved 2026-09-29

Questions