Legal Advice on online store

Hello guys,

Im on the planning stages on making a small online shop for a certain niche of product (i.e. computer products, clothes, etc..) I dont or wont be having an actual commercial location. Im planning to just buy and sell products online. All of my products will be stored at home. And shipped to the buyer via USPS, Fedex, etc..

Anyway, I still dont have a date on when im going to start working on the website. right now, im still trying to gather information on how to do it properly.

My questions are:

Im in USA, are there any legal requirements for this? like maybe taxes and stuff?

Is there a requirement to register in to the government? if so, where?

What are the other legal issues i have to worry about?

Any advices on how to do this properly and legally?


TIA

 

maybe the following checklist will help your project (especially point 5 to 9):
ht tp://www.sba.gov/content/follow-these-steps-starting-business

 

posted by John LaO:

Yes, you will need to file a tax return for your business. You can separate it from your personal tax returns if you want to by obtaining a TIN from the IRS. Their form is online here.

For the most part, that depends on where you live and what you're selling. If you're not selling anything hazardous, comestibleor otherwise regulated, you will probably need only a resale certificate from your state (required in every state but Alaska, Delaware, New Hampshire, Oregon, and Vermont) and possibly a local business or occupational licence.

These are pretty vague questions, and next to impossible to answer -- and honestly, notwithstanding the little bits here and there, legal advice on an Internet forum should only get you so far. The SBA and a local attorney, and possibly local small business associations and your area CoC can be of much more use than most advice you're likely to get here.


Frank