Hello,

I am wondering how some of you organized your company's name/branding? Here is what I am wondering.. Lets say you owned an official registerred corporation in your state that is EXAMPLE Internet Inc. and you had EXAMPLEDesigns.net and EXAMPLEhosts.net registerred to offer your Design serivce and Hosting services seperately but you bill as/bookkeep all as one under your official registered name. Would you have to file for DBA/Assumed names for the corporation for each XYZDesigns.net and XYZhosting.com names? Or do you think you could do without that for at least a little while?

What if your official registerred corporation name was EXAMPLE Enterprises Inc. and you also had EXAMPLEDesigns.net and wanted to sort of seperately brand your hosting service as OTHERNAMEhosting.net, but will keep all records/billing as your official EXAMPLE Enterprises Inc., would you have to file DBA for the OTHERNAMEhosting.com?

This is not personal DBA I am talking about, but actual corporation names/DBA's.

Thanks!

I think the answer is Yes.

A corporation (at least in the U.S.) is considered a legal entity unto itself. So if you're going to do business under a name other than the legal entity name that requires a DBA.

If you take a look at the licenses that routinely hang on the wall in a variety of businesses (sales tax license, liquor license, food processing license, lighting license etc) you'll often see the name entered as "Joe Smith Inc D/B/A Joe's Pizzia Resturante".

The laws of your specific state or city may be different however. So if you have real concerns ask a lawyer for confirmation.

(not a lawyer, not a legal opinion)

It really depends on *how* you're using your domain names in relation to your corporate names, whether you have to get a dba for them.

In most cases, I would suggest that you do *not* need to get a dba for your domain name. And I'll explain why.

A domain name is, simply, an address on the Internet. It's very much the same as a telephone number or a physical mailing address. It's used to identify your web site's location - not (directly) to identify your business.

If someone goes to (to use your example) EXAMPLEDesigns.net, what do they see? Do they see a huge "EXAMPLEDesigns.net" logo, with the name "EXAMPLEDesigns.net" plastered all over the site? Or do they see a logo for EXAMPLE Internet Inc. with the name EXAMPLE Internet Inc. used to describe your business?

If you're using EXAMPLE Internet Inc. when referring to your business, then you do not need to have a dba for the domain name regardless what the domain name is.

On the other hand, if you have a corporation named EXAMPLE Internet Inc., but whenever anyone goes to your web site all they see is logos and text referring to EXAMPLEDesigns.net, then yes, you'd have to get a dba in that case.

Let's take a couple of real-world examples. Take Hosting.com. Hosting.com is the web site for Allegiance Telecom, Inc. However, if you go to Hosting.com, you'll see them branding the site *as* Hosting.com. In this case, even though the company is Allegiance Telecom, Inc., they'd have to get a dba for Hosting.com.

On the other hand, if you take a look at pwebtech.com, you'll see that in every case they identify themselves as "Pegasus Web Technologies". In this case, they do *not* need a dba for pwebtech.com, because they're not doing business as pwebtech.com, that's just their web site address.

Now, that's not to say you *can't* get a dba for the domains. You can if you want to. You just don't need to. The test basically isn't what your URL is, it's what the customer sees when they go to that URL.

Good luck,

Jason

Is it possible to have 2 or 3 separte DBA's and file all 2 or 3 of them together when tax time comes? If not, that would be a pain.

Also, couldn't you just open a business named ABC Internet Services, which offers webhosting, web design, auctions, online malls, etc. (each of them with its own domain name), and just put something like the following in your copyright notice...


Auction Master is a servicemark of ABC Internet Services. Copyright ABC Internet Services. 2000 - 2001

So... even if you're putting the "Auction Master" logo on every page, it's ok... just as long as you have that copyright notice. Do you think this would be legal?

Technically, a DBA is to prevent someone from hiding behind the name of a business. For practicle purposes, in most cases a DBA is mainly for the banks, to get a business bank account. The IRS doesn't care about DBA's, only the person or business who's tax ID is registered to the account(s) where the money goes.

I agree about the domain names. DBA has nothing to do with domain names, unless the domain name is also the name of the business (XYZHosting.com is both the site URL and the name of the business).

BTW, you can always say something like "XYZWebDesigns.com, a subsidiary of XYZHosting.com"

Originally posted by archangel777
Is it possible to have 2 or 3 separte DBA's and file all 2 or 3 of them together when tax time comes? If not, that would be a pain.

It is very important to know that when we're talking about DBAs, these are *not* separate companies. The term "DBA" stands for "Doing Business As". Some locations identify the filing you have to make as a "Filing of Fictitious Name". Basically, all a DBA is, is a filing with the local regulatory authority (in some places that's the city you're located in, some places it's the county, some places the filing is with the state - all depends on where you're located) that says "Business A also operates under the name Business B".

For purposes of taxes, you're always going to file as one company - the primary company. There are no filings for the DBA because the DBA is merely a local filing - the IRS doesn't even know about it.

Also, couldn't you just open a business named ABC Internet Services, which offers webhosting, web design, auctions, online malls, etc. (each of them with its own domain name), and just put something like the following in your copyright notice...


Auction Master is a servicemark of ABC Internet Services. Copyright ABC Internet Services. 2000 - 2001

So... even if you're putting the "Auction Master" logo on every page, it's ok... just as long as you have that copyright notice. Do you think this would be legal?

That largely depends on the laws where you are located, and the type of business you are (company structure).

For example, here in Massachusetts, if you are an individual, and want to run a business as a sole proprietor, you must file a DBA for any name you operate under *except* business names that contain your own personal name (so, for example, if I, Jason Ellis, wanted to start a plumbing company, and I named my company "Jason Ellis Plumbing", I would not be required to file a DBA at all. If, however, I named my business "The Plumbing Guy", then I'd have to file a DBA).

On the other hand, if I decide I want to start a plumbing company, and organize it as a corporation, then I don't file a DBA at all - I have to file corporate forms with the state, but no DBA with the city. So I'd file the corporate forms for "The Plumbing Guy, Inc." with the Secretary of State's office, but no DBA is required from the city.

And, also in Massachusetts, if I create a corporation named "The Plumbing Guy, Inc." but decide that "The Plumbing Guy, Inc." would also do business as "The Sewer Guy", in Massachusetts I do not have to file a DBA (corporations don't have to file DBAs in Massachusetts). I could if I wanted to (and in fact it makes it easier to deal with the banks if I do), but I'm not required to.

If, however, I were setting up the exact same business in New Hampshire, I would be required to file a local DBA for both "The Plumbing Guy, Inc." and "The Sewer Guy" - because, for some reason, in New Hampshire you've got to file a DBA for any company even a corporation, but in Massachusetts you don't.

It's all very complex and confusing.

Good luck,

Jason