Idaho Workers’ Comp Exemption
We file workers’ compensation exemptions for Idaho sole proprietors, LLC members, and corporate officers. Send us your details and we’ll confirm whether you qualify and handle the filing.
When coverage is required in Idaho
Idaho Code §72-212 sets out the categories of employment exempt from mandatory workers' compensation coverage; outside those exemptions, employers must carry coverage for their employees. The official Idaho Industrial Commission (IIC) and business.idaho.gov pages describe this as covering 'most employers' but I could not locate an official-source sentence stating a specific minimum employee count (e.g., '1 or more') — treat any numeric threshold claim as unverified.
Who can be excluded in Idaho
Sole proprietors
The owner of a sole proprietorship with no employees is not required to carry coverage on themselves (exempt as 'employment as the owner of a sole proprietorship' per Idaho Code §72-212). If the sole proprietorship hires any employees, those employees must be covered even though the owner remains exempt. The owner may elect coverage on themselves via Form IC52 (Election of Coverage).
Partners
Employment of a working member of a partnership is exempt under Idaho Code §72-212, mirroring the sole-proprietor treatment. May elect coverage via Form IC52.
LLC members
Employment of a working member of a limited liability company is exempt under Idaho Code §72-212 on the same basis as partners/sole proprietors. May elect coverage via Form IC52.
Corporate officers
A corporate officer who at all times owns not less than 10% of the issued and outstanding voting stock of the corporation, and — if the corporation has directors — is also a director, may be exempt. No cap on the number of qualifying officers was found in the sources reviewed. I was not able to independently pin this rule to an exact subsection citation via a primary Idaho Code fetch (the 403s blocked direct statute text); it is corroborated by two independent official-site summaries (business.idaho.gov and IIC) but should be verified against Idaho Code §72-212 text directly before publishing a hard cite.
How the exemption is filed
Idaho runs an 'automatic exclusion, elect-in if you want coverage' regime for sole proprietors/partners/LLC members/qualifying corporate officers — there is no fee-bearing 'exemption certificate' to obtain; the exemption is the default. Parties who want to be covered despite qualifying for exemption file Form IC52 (Election of Coverage) with the Idaho Industrial Commission; per Idaho Code §72-301, coverage becomes effective upon filing if the required security/insurance is simultaneously in place. Separately, non-resident family members of a sole-proprietor or single-member-LLC owner who want to claim the family-member exemption (rather than being an automatic employee) file Form IC53 (Election for Exemption) under Idaho Code §72-212(5); resident family members living with the owner are automatically exempt with no filing under §72-212(4). No fees were disclosed in the official sources reviewed.
- Form
- IC52 (Election of Coverage); IC53 (Election for Exemption — non-resident family members)
- Statute
- Idaho Code §72-212 (exemptions from coverage, including subsections (4) and (5) on family-member exemption/election); §72-301 (effective date of elected coverage)
- Market
- Competitive — coverage is bought from a private carrier.
Notes and open questions
The 10%-stock-plus-director corporate-officer exemption criterion and the lack of a numeric officer cap are corroborated across two official .idaho.gov pages but I could not fetch the raw Idaho Code §72-212 text (direct fetch attempts 403'd); a follow-up should pull the statute directly (e.g., via the Idaho Legislature's official codified-statutes site) before treating the exact subsection number as gospel. No fee amounts for IC52/IC53 were found in the sources reviewed — do not state a fee. No Idaho-specific construction-industry carve-out was found in the sources reviewed; if the client needs this, it requires further research.
Sources
- https://iic.idaho.gov/employer-compliance-division/employer-information/
- https://business.idaho.gov/insurance/workers-compensation-exemptions/
Source material dated undated (both pages are current live Idaho state-government pages, fetched 2026-08-30; no revision date shown on either page). Compiled from official Idaho sources as a starting point, not legal advice — rules change, and your situation may turn on facts this page cannot see. Confirm with Idaho Industrial Commission, Employer Compliance Division or ask us and we’ll check it for you.
Workers' comp exemption filing in Idaho
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