hello everyone, I'm new in here I have few question about creating an online business. 1. Do I need to registered DBA or LLC in Texas in order for me to run a shopping cart online? more like i'm selling and have a company doing drop shipping for me to my customers, further more I also wants to open a penny auction site. But I don't know what paper works that I needed in order for me to start selling stuff online? Do I need to registered as LLC? If so then what If I don't make any sells or less in a year do i have to file and pay Tax no matter what? Or I have to reach a amount in order to file and pay tax? Any one know about these stuff please help me out. thanks
Have you considered talking to an accountant? They often provide exploratory chats free on the basis that you become a client.
hmmm i'm low of money at the beginning so I'm not thinking of getting a accountant at the moment... but i'll look for an accountant to see what is their recommendation for me at this point.
You don't need an LLC to sell as you can be a sole proprietor. However, creating an LLC can help you avoid liability. You don't need any paperwork to open an e-commerce site. However, I strongly recommend creating a good Privacy Policy and Terms of Service. The TOS is the contract with your visitor - spending some money with an attorney on this contract will save you much money and heartache down the road. Taxes in the U.S. are based on income. If you don't have any income you don't owe any income tax.
thank you very much sir. So I don't need an LLC or DBA at all. Let's say in the long run if my business is growing then I should registered as an LLC or so. For right now is fine with that as long as I have a good Privacy Policy and Terms of Service right? With your experiences how much would this cost sir? THank you very much for all this useful sources.
You're not required to have an LLC or DBA. If you don't have either, your business name will have to include your first and last name (this is generally refering to payments). You can still cal your website randomwebsite.com, just on your merchant account you will have to include your name in the business name. So you could call your business John doe's ecom ventures. I do recommend getting an EIN number so that you you don't have you're ss# floating around whenever you're applying for merchant accounts or w.e. may require it. As far as taxes, single member LLC's are by default are a disregarded entity, so they don't have to file. You just have to file your income and expense on form c of your personal taxes. I would model your privacy policy and terms of service after others selling the same product. If you send me a PM I would review anything you have drafted. Goodluck. *I am not attorney. I'm just giving personal advice which may or not be correct.
I think once you start making money then it you should look into it further. Its the beginning of the tax year, save all your paperwork and then worry bout it. I am from canada though so things could be different for you - so take the advice with a grain of salt.
You don't need an LLC but as a sole proprietor you probably need to register your business name if it is anything other than your real name (or, as anonymous479 pointed out, possibly you real name plus other words - like "John Smith Plumbing" if your real name is John Smith.) Some people prefer to use an entity or even just a DBA to provide added personal privacy. While a sole proprietorship may be adequate for you at this point, there are a few other reasons why an entity may be better in some cases. See Sole Proprietorship vs LLC?
Hello Attorney Jaffe, Currently I have a 1/2 dozen websites that promote affiliate products, and I am located in NY (US). So am I understanding you correctly, that I do not need to file a DBA for my websites? And come tax time I can just report my earnings as earned income? I'm also planning on creating a website to provide Internet services to offline businesses. Would the above still apply in this scenario as long as I used my real name on my PayPal account as the "merchant name?" Also I have read that I would only need to collect & pay state sales tax if I was to sell my own products (digital and/or physical) to a NY resident. Is this true, and would the same apply for any Internet services (i.e. webdesign, hosting, seo, sms, email, facebook pages etc.) that I may provide to NY businesses? Thanks, Billy
Sometimes, when a question on the board becomes specific, I need to contact the poster instead of answering in the forum: Otherwise, I am crossing the line from offering general legal advice to giving specific legal advice which equals practicing law. As you can imagine, a forum is not a good place to practice law.