16 replies to this topic

[Digdug]

I need some info on starting up a new small business in Texas. I will not be able to actually have the building for 1 or 2 years from now but I do want to start working on the web site and start doing some online selling. I need a guide to starting a small business. Paying taxes, resaling merchandise, etc...

It will just be a small mom and pop discount store.

Any info would be appreciated.

Thanks

[Rumble]

secure your domain name quickly!!!! if its already taken think of a good one, nothing too long nothing too similar to someone elses

[Mr. Bagel]

I'm in Texas as well. Not sure where abouts you are but here are the steps apart from actually getting the domain (which you should do quickly) and finding your hosting provider.

If you are in Austin, it's easy. You go to the SOS (secretary of state, not save our springs) office across the street from the capitol and file for a business. You can easily get started with an LLC, which is what you will want to do, for $300. If you want to expidite it, that will be an extra $25 bucks. That buys you lots of time. Instead of waiting 3-5 weeks for processing, it's done within two days.

Once you are filed and secured there, you need to go to the Comptroller's office on 6th street next to Ruth Chris. You present your tax ID, and then they convert it to a state tax ID. The FEIN (federal employee ident. number) is changed from 9 digits to 11, by adding a '1' at the beginning of your Texas EIN and a check digit which will be anywhere between 0-9 at the end. So, disregard the technicalities. But they'll explain everything about paying taxes, and how to schedule them as well - quarterly/yearly/monthly, etc. They do have help, workshops and you can make payments online.

Any expense that you go through that you might think you can write off beforehand, well... that's tricky. Just play it careful there and don't think you can write off the world BEFORE you get the business going with the state. Otherwise, you'll end up with that out of your pocket and not as a write off at all.

Let me know if you have any questions.

[Xplod]

If you have the money to do it... not now but later on maybe in a year or so once your business is going smoothly register some other domains similar to your one i mean similar like spelling mistake kind of similar

make sence?

But not worth doing that straight away

[dchockenberry]

I'm not sure about in Texas, but in PA and MD if you are sole proprietor, you don't even need to do anything. Just make up a business name, set up a bank account with that name, and start selling. You don't have to charge taxes or anything until you either go in business with someone else or hire employees, etc. In a matter of 2 weeks and with about 10 bucks I had a bank account in my business name and a domain name.

[ScooterProShop.com]

You will need a State Tax Id in most states to do retail sales within that state.
You must charge a % of sales tax for all items sold in the state you live in.
You then submit that tax to the state every month. (if sales were made in your state.)

State Tax ID was like $25.00 for the processing fee.

We have had a State tax ID from the git-go and haven't made 1 sale in the state we live in. funny.

[dchockenberry]

when I talked to my bank about setting up a small business account, they said as long as you're sole proprietor you don't need to charge tax or set up a tax ID or anything.

must be a pennsylvania thing. not sure.

[guanche]

Digdug, on Aug 9 2003, 09:26 PM, said:

I need some info on starting up a new small business in Texas. I will not be able to actually have the building for 1 or 2 years from now but I do want to start working on the web site and start doing some online selling. I need a guide to starting a small business. Paying taxes, resaling merchandise, etc...

It will just be a small mom and pop discount store.

Any info would be appreciated.

Thanks

In Texas if you want to be set up as a sole proprietor you will need to go down to your county courthouse clerk's office and fill out a dba form and pay something like $9 and you will get a TAX ID# to be used to file your sales tax. If you are goign to set up as an LLC, S Corp, C Corp, etc you will need to make a trip to Austin to file papers of incorporation with the state after which they will issue a Federal TAX ID# . If incorporating your business name can be whatever you choose and you can also have other dba's and so on. Good luck getting your business going.

[Luc's Music]

Like Guanche said, a sole proprietorship is a simple and quick way to go. Cheap and easy. It will also make things a little simpler when tax time comes around - only one return to file. The big drawback to that is liability. As far as the state is concerned, if your business is a sole proprietorship then you are your business and your business is you. Meaning if someone sues you, they can take business assets. If someone sues your business, they can take personal assets. You can protect yourself from this quite a bit by incorporating or becoming an LLC. This costs money and requires a trip to Austin, like someone else said.

As far as sales tax, I believe the office you need is the State Comptroller. There should be one somewhere in your county. When I went to get my tax ID it cost me nothing - all I needed was my DBA form (the form you fill out to be a sole proprietorship) and some personal ID, then they got me started. A few weeks later my sales tax permit came in the mail. I believe the standard payment option is quarterly.

Some other suggestions that have nothing to do with Texas - get yourself some accounting software. I personally use QuickBooks and it does everything I need it to. I can accurately track my inventory and my money, see who bought what and when and run all kinds of reports that osCommerce can't do. osCommerce is a great website, but it's not much of an accounting suite. When tax time comes around, your life will be much easier if you hire an accountant to do your taxes. Most accountants have QuickBooks - you can just export onto a disk all of the necessary information from your computer and take it to your accountant.

[danix]

Quote

Some other suggestions that have nothing to do with Texas - get yourself some accounting software. I personally use QuickBooks and it does everything I need it to. I can accurately track my inventory and my money, see who bought what and when and run all kinds of reports that osCommerce can't do. osCommerce is a great website, but it's not much of an accounting suite. When tax time comes around, your life will be much easier if you hire an accountant to do your taxes. Most accountants have QuickBooks - you can just export onto a disk all of the necessary information from your computer and take it to your accountant.

Can you elaborate a bit on this statement? I did just buy quickbooks, but I was under the impression that OSC would handle a lot of what you mentioned, such as inventory. I haven't used it enough to know the limitations (hell, my eyes glaze over at just trying to balance a checkbook) so if you could provide additional detail, I'm sure it would save me and others some pain. Thanks!

[Mibble]

still dont know about not charging tax on product sold just because of being sole proprieter, never heard of that one. if out of state selling usually dont have to do that, but in state, where the state has tax, i would charge and give to the state anyway, else they could come after you

[Scott H.]

Also, check out the SBA website at www.sba.gov

They have all kinds of free information on starting a business.

[LeftTurnsAllDay]

Digdug, on Aug 10 2003, 01:26 AM, said:

I need some info on starting up a new small business in Texas. I will not be able to actually have the building for 1 or 2 years from now but I do want to start working on the web site and start doing some online selling. I need a guide to starting a small business. Paying taxes, resaling merchandise, etc...

Anyone reading this from Florida and have any information about starting a small business? I'm looking to do the same thing in florida with a friend of mine, selling webhosting and offering web design services.

[indafastln]

Mibble, on Jan 23 2004, 12:23 AM, said:

still dont know about not charging tax on product sold just because of being sole proprieter, never heard of that one. if out of state selling usually dont have to do that, but in state, where the state has tax, i would charge and give to the state anyway, else they could come after you

i think the reasoning is b/c as a sole proprietor in PA you don't have a the credentials to become a registered reseller (tax id is soc. sec. #, not a corp. id #). so everything you sell has already been taxed (you had to pay tax on it when you bought it).

[ecartz]

indafastln, on Apr 23 2004, 02:06 AM, said:

i think the reasoning is b/c as a sole proprietor in PA you don't have a the credentials to become a registered reseller (tax id is soc. sec. #, not a corp. id #). 

I was a sole proprietor in PA and had an EIN (Employer Identification Number, there is no corporate ID #), which I used to obtain a sales tax ID. Applying for an EIN is very simple (and required if you have employees, sole proprietor or not).

Also, it's not just things that you buy on which you are supposed to charge sales tax. You are also supposed to charge tax on things that you *make* and on certain services. Being a sole proprietor may effectively give you a little extra leeway somehow (i.e. the discrepancy may not automatically trigger an audit), but it does not allow you to escape paying tax in places where you would otherwise be expected to do so.

Cheers,
Matt

[mattwho]

In CA you need a resellers permit and a fictitious business name statement. SBA.gov is a great help. They have a checklist for each state.

[LeftTurnsAllDay]

score.org -- counselors to america's small business. They were a really great help for us as far as answering questions, also corporate.com can register LLC's for you.