Hi,

I plan to start web hosting biz and don't know anything about tax id. Do I have to register company, do I have to pay taxes?

Thanks

Do I have to register company
Not necessarily, but you'll almost definitely need a business license. Check your local laws.

do I have to pay taxes?

Yep. Check with an accountant for details. In most cases, if you are a sole propietor or a partner of an LLC you'll attach a form onto your taxes.

Remember: Taking legal advice from a public forum may not be the best idea. Always consult a lawyer.

Originally posted by null
Hi,

I plan to start web hosting biz and don't know anything about tax id. Do I have to register company, do I have to pay taxes?

Thanks

Your tax id depends on what type of business you have.

For sole-proprietorships -- you use your SSN# as your tax id if you run a sole-proprietorship. You will need at the very least an Assumed Name (a.k.a DBA) and yes, you have to pay taxes and you claim that on your personal income form.

If you have a corporation or LLC you apply with the IRS for a EIN# use that as your company's tax id. Yes, you have to register and yes you have to pay taxes with a corp or LLC.

i start my business with my friend, can I just use my SSN#?

If you are really serious about starting the business, I'd suggest forming an LLC and getting an EIN and using that for everything.

Can you explain me what is LLC and EIN. I'm not an american and it's hard to understand this. (I live in US)

Thank you

LLC stands for limited liability company (or is it corporation?) basically it limites the liability (that's where they get the name ;)) so that if something goes wrong, John Doe can only sue for your company's assets and not your personal assets. EIN is Employer Identification Number. This is basically your company's SSN#. You'll use it on bank accounts, IRS paperwork (IRS is where you get the EIN from) and other misc forms.

There was a website that had a good deal of information, I think it was nolo.com but it gives me a 403 error for some reason..

So, do you recommend me to register a corporation?
What if i will not do that?
Can i just use my current bank accout to receiving money?

Originally posted by akash
LLC stands for limited liability company (or is it corporation?) basically it limites the liability (that's where they get the name ;)) so that if something goes wrong, John Doe can only sue for your company's assets and not your personal assets.

Well, LLC is sort of an 'upgraded' version of a Partnership but still not in the class of a corporation. Basically, it can be thought of as a partnership with limited liability.

The test of who they can sue depends on the circumstances. As partners/officers of the company, if you do everything in your power to do everything right, you can be protected from diasters such as act of God, business failures due to economic downturn or just bad business. But however, you cannot hide from the veil of the limited liability if you knowingly commit fraud or break any laws.

I got my Corporation incorporated at BizFilings, but you do not need to do it there or anything. They however have a good resource on what Incorporation, LLC and the likes are which you might be interested to look.

http://www.bizfilings.com/learning/index.html

Hope that helps.

Originally posted by null
So, do you recommend me to register a corporation?
What if i will not do that?
Can i just use my current bank accout to receiving money?

You do not have to register a corporation if you do not want to. If you run as a partnership or sole proprietor, you could always get a business license and get a Doing Business As (DBA) name. You should be able to use that to open a bank account.

Of course, if you are using a 3rd party card processors and have them send you a check each month, you probably can go by without opening up a separate bank account for the business.

ok, thank you guys! Where can I get that license?

You would have to get it from the State you are in.

Not the best resource with limited information but hope this helps.

http://www.score.org/cgi-common/framer.cgi?rightframe=http://www.score.org/workshops/business_license.html