Do I need a business license and fictitious business name to sell on my own website?
Do I need a business license and fictitious business name to sell things on my own website? I will be operating out of my home. Or is a sale’s permit enough?
Tagged with: business license • fictitious business name • own website
Filed under: Website Business
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It depends…. are you doing business under another name other there your own? If so you usually need to register the trade name or the DBA (Doing Business As) name with your local government. You need a federal tax ID for filing taxes with the federal government if in the United States, and then you need a local TAX ID because if anyone buys your products or service in your local state you need to pay taxes there too. I hope this helps.
You may not NEED a license and such but I’ll tell you… you should WANT one. With proper paperwork in place, you can take tax credits on your expenses which includes portion of rent and utiliites, advertising expense, computer and website costs, accounting expense, etc. Why on earth wouldn’t you want this??? The licensing and Tax IDs will give you the tax credits, not pay sales taxes on purchases for resale, prove you are legitimate and tax paying/collecting, etc. The $50 you pay is also a tax deduction.
You should check with your State and County to see what is required. They all have their own rules.
You may want to consider insurance too, depending what you are selling.
A tax ID should help you with obtaining wholesale pricing.
Good luck with your site.