Do you need a Business License for an online business selling virtual goods?

Hi there,

Just a question that I cannot seem to find anywhere, maybe some of you more experienced DP'ers can help me out

Do you need to have a business license to start an online business selling virtual goods such as a script, etc? What types of reprecussions could occur if one did not have one? Is this absolutely necessary?
How would I go about getting one? Is it expensive? What type of information do you need?


Any help would be great! Thanks a lot!

 

not necessarily. a lot of dp members sale there goods tax free as of right now because laws aren't really inforced on tax goods and services on the internet. If this ever goes through you would probably want to register as an llc which is 150 dollars if your in the state of Florida. I would just go to your state website and type in limited liability company and look at the cost but I wouldn't be to worry about it at this point online!

 

It's different in each country / state (and I'd have to assume Province too). Check with your local government. For example, I live in Pennsylvania. I need to register my business (free, b/c I operate under a variation of my actual name), no matter what I'm selling (because I'm operating as a business and not as a freelancer). As for tax, my state doesn't make you charge sales tax on intangible goods (like e-books for example), but I would have to charge if I were to sell something like a physical CD with e-books on it... or retailing any kind of product that would have to be shipped. Getting a sales tax license here is free, so it's best just to have it. So here, it's not expensive at all. But that can vary depending on where you live (some might charge for registration for example even if you operate under your own name).

 

Thanks for your advice to both of you, I am in Ontario, Canada. So I am going to have to check into this more. I have greened you both Thanks alot!