I'm going to be doing the reseller plan for my hosting and I just was wondering if I needed a bussiness licence to do this. I live in WI, USA. So if anyone can help me It would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

You don't need one, many resellers just work as individuals, but it's highly recommended. An LLC corporation would be an even better idea, so people can't sue you (since you're a minor, your parents) and take your house away. Check the state legal records to find out specifics. The Secretary of State's office should have these, and they're usually online as well.

Originally posted by ShellBounder
You don't need one, many resellers just work as individuals, but it's highly recommended. An LLC corporation would be an even better idea, so people can't sue you (since you're a minor, your parents) and take your house away. Check the state legal records to find out specifics. The Secretary of State's office should have these, and they're usually online as well.
So If I don't have a licence I can get sued o_o...what the hell am I going to get sued for if I ever would o_o. I never even thought that I could get sued for doing reselling hosting o_o;;.

The difference is that you can either work as an individual and keep yourself and your parents etc., open for any lawsuits or operate as a business in which case if someone wants to go after you for any reason whatsoever (no one knows why and when someone will sue someone else) then they can go after your business and not personal property. You can resell but still it will be your business as you will be doing billing, admin etc., and selling services under your own business name.

What's the requirement for a reseller to be LLC corporation? Do we have to pay an annual fee and what about taxes?

You guys should really buy a book on starting your own small business. Or better yet , just surf the web for:

+"starting a small business" +help

If you will be doing business under your own name, you won't need a DBA. So if you don't require a business license you would be all set. You should call the county clerk's office to find out. Most laws will be county level. One county might require a license, and another might not. It might even be city level. Just saying that you're in wisconsin is not going to do.

Even if you are only reselling, you are going to need to follow all the rules of being a business, because you will be in business. You make money, you pay taxes. The only way to determine if you need to pay taxes on it is to determine profit. To do that, you have to manage your business accordingly.

There are many ways to structure a business, and LLC is just one of them.

Basically unless your business is incorporated (which makes your business an entity like a person), if someone was to sue your business, they would actually be suing YOU and have access to all of your assets.

If your business is its own entity, then they would be suing the business, and not you. And they could only get the assets that the business has.

There is a monthly fee for being incorporated, and you'll need to send those checks to me. You have to file your articles of corporation at the state level which costs licensing/clerk fees. You will probaly want to hire a lawyer and pay attorneys fees too, and have to pay for an accountant.

If you are incorporated, you pay your taxes like you always did. And your business pays taxes on money that it earns as if it was a person, only without the social security taxes. So you can actually save 15% on taxes for profit that is not used for wages by becoming incorporated instead of being a partnership or sole proprietorship.

If someone sued me for my assets, I would come out ahead. :eek:

Thanks for the info, I am looking into an LLC myself. There are companies online that do this stuff, write up basic articles of incorporation, etc, and file them for you for one fee - anybody done this?

Example - http://www.mycorporation.com

I'm thinking about trying that out. Well, you don't really "try out" an LLC I suppose.... ;-) Anybody have any recommendations for online filing companies like this?

LLC is easy and the best way to do it (if your state allows it). You don't even need a lawyer if you can complete a couple of applications and the fees are one-time and very reasonable. It is also better that you apply for a tax-id with IRS, this is free. After that you just have to renew your business once-a-year in most counties/states.

To get some basic information about all of this all you need to do is to call the office of 'secretary of state' in your state. Better yet find the nearest SBA or SBDC and an adviser will give you a packet and walk you through everything "for free".

You can find the SBA or SBDC by going to http://www.businessnation.com/localinfo/ and there is also some other small business information available.

Most SBA's also offer classes for about $10-$15 per session about basice business formation and tax related classes.

Good Luck!

If I live in Canada and don't have a US address, can I still get a LLC business license?

Do you even need an LLC? I think the primary reasons for incorporating in the US is for tax purposes and maybe liability. If you're based in Canada you don't need to worry about US taxes at least. I'm not sure how it works with liability - there's most likely a Canadian equilavent, like "Your Company, Ltd." or whatever.

Originally posted by getweb
Thanks for the info, I am looking into an LLC myself. There are companies online that do this stuff, write up basic articles of incorporation, etc, and file them for you for one fee - anybody done this?
Example - http://www.mycorporation.com


I went to that site to check it out. I just selected a state "per random", and up came a total of what it would cost to incorporate there.

The total was $208.

I'm utterly amazed!

Is that really the only demand there is for an american to start up his own corporation? - Just having $208 in your pocket is enough? (I want to live in the USA...) :-)

Are there not any requirements for a minimum value of the company? (i.e. for example the company must at all times have a value of atleast $10000 USD or similar?)

Do you even need an LLC? I think the primary reasons for incorporating in the US is for tax purposes and maybe liability. If you're based in Canada you don't need to worry about US taxes at least. I'm not sure how it works with liability - there's most likely a Canadian equilavent, like "Your Company, Ltd." or whatever.

Yes I would like to have the limited liability. If I did get the Canadian equivilant, which is Ltd., how would that work? Could I still charge US dollars or would I have to charge Canadian?