Online Incorporation MaxBlog

Navigating the financial aspects of starting a small business can be perplexing at times. Taxes, in particular, require proper management. Otherwise, you could find yourself having not-so-pleasant conversations with the IRS. The best way to avoid these conversations and safeguard your small or online business is to make sure you have a proper understanding of the laws and processes involved in administering sales tax.

How Sales Tax Works

Unlike some taxes, sales tax is not federally mandated, but rather is handled on the state level. All but six U.S. states currently require vendors to charge sales tax, and even in states without such laws, there may be local requirements that vary between municipalities. For this reason, researching tax-related laws in your area is an important first step in starting your small business. If your plans include an online business, you will need to be prepared to account for all variations of sales tax.

A few types of small businesses are exempt from charging these taxes, although again, some areas may have their own specific ordinances. Unless you produce raw materials, sell on the wholesale level or do business specifically with nonprofits, it is likely you will have to deal with sales tax in some fashion.

Permits and How They apply to an Online Business

Most states require that you obtain a permit before collecting sales tax. If you are starting an online business, though, don’t worry. You are only required to obtain permits for taxes charged to customers in the state where you are physically located.

For example, if you sell nationwide but only have one office located in Oklahoma, you only need to collect sales tax on purchases made by Oklahoma residents. If, however, you were to open a second physical location in Texas, sales tax would then extend to Texas residents, even if the specific item they order ships from your Oklahoma location.

Note that the rate of sales tax is determined by the state from which the order originated, so Oklahoma customers of your online business will pay the going rate in their state, while customers from Texas will be taxed according to Texas laws.

Protect Your Small Business with Proper Filing Procedures

Once you’ve determined applicable tax rates and obtained the necessary permits for your small or online business, your remaining concern is how to file and pay those taxes. Whereas tax filings for individuals generally take place once a year, most small businesses are required to file and pay sales taxes each quarter, although some states will require your small business to pay its sales tax monthly.

Be prepared not only to report sales for which you collected taxes, but also any other sale you have made, including those made to nonprofits or other exempt entities.

Taxes for small businesses really aren’t as complicated as they seem at first glance, especially if you are operating a storefront from a single location. If yours is an online business, circumstances may be a bit more complex, but as long as you are aware of the laws in the states in which you operate, obtain the proper permits, and file at the correct intervals, your business will be on the road to success — and the right side of the IRS.

Naming your new business is probably the biggest decision you will make about your budding enterprise…it’s what the world will know and remember you as so you want it to be practical and memorable too.

And you will want to spend some time thinking about this too – don’t simply go with the first thing that pops into your head or your gut instinct. Chat it over with friends, do some research and come up with several ideas before making a decision.

Before doing any of this though you may want to do a trademark/name search to find if there are any other businesses out there using that name. You would hate to go through this arduous process just to find out that someone already has that name and has trademarked it.

Incorporating a business with a trademarked can be a costly mistake – at minimum you will be forced to change names and incur all expenses with doing that.  Next, you could be sued by the trademark owner and if you use a federally registered trademark improperly, you could really be in trouble. In this instance, a court will assume you knew the name was federally registered and consider you a “willful infringer,” meaning you could be put on the hook for large damages and the owner’s attorney fees.

If you choose to incorporate a business online with MaxFilings, we do a preliminary name check as part of our online incorporation process.

However, save yourself the trouble before hand when you’re deciding on what to call your new venture and do a quick trademark/name search (U.S. Patent and Trade Office) for your new business or products and also do some general searches on the Internet to see how the name is being used. You can also use a fee-based service like Thomson’s SAEGIS database.

Whatever you do, look into it…it will save you in the long run.

Once you easily form a LLC online with MaxFilings.com, you need to develop a formal written operating agreement between each of the partners in the company. Even if you’re a one man show, an operating agreement helps codify your limited liability.

But especially in multi-partner firms, the operating agreement can help reduce or eliminate future misunderstandings and disputes by pre-addressing management and money issues.

Corporations have specific rules from the state of incorporation – limited liability companies on the other hand have much more flexibility in their management, etc. This is why an operating agreement is important, even if your state doesn’t require you have one.

So what should I include in my LLC operating agreement? Some of the issues an operating agreement should address include:

• Ownership percentages
• Management
• Voting
• Allocation of profits and losses
• Distributions
• Rights and responsibilities of LLC members
• Ownership changes
• Amendments and dissolution

These are just a few of the general things your LLC operating agreement needs to address. We invite you to read the article LLC Operating Agreement – What Should Be Included in MaxFilings’ online incorporation knowledge center to learn more.

Looking for some simple explanation of federal small business taxes? Click over to the online incorporation knowledge center at MaxFilings.com for an overview of the next most certain thing in life next to death.

Federal taxes a small business may be subject to depend a lot on its structure (i.e. C corporation, S corporation, LLC, etc.) along with many other factors.

Four different types of taxes a small business could be exposed to include

1. Income taxes – required for all individuals and businesses (except partnerships, who file an informational return).
2. Self-Employment taxes – primarily affects the self-employed
3. Employment taxes – small businesses with employees
4. Excise taxes – required depending on various conditions, usually for businesses who manufacture certain things or are in a certain industry.

Read Four Types of Federal Taxes Small Businesses Should Know About – And Where to Find Information from the IRS today in the business incorporation knowledge center at MaxFilings.com for more insight and links to further information about this complex subject.

When forming a corporation, you want to have all the knowledge you can to make the right decisions…but finding the right ones that will be helpful can be very time consuming.

An article in Entrepreneur Magazine’s April, 2009 issues – Best Resources for Startups – lists 4 resources every aspiring entrepreneur, and even those who are well established, should be familiar with.

1. SCORE – A nonprofit organization with over 400 chapters that provides free mentoring online and in-person. Consists of nearly 12,000 working and retired entrepreneurs and business people.

2. Small Business Development Centers – Located across the country and usually connected to a university, these organizations provide consulting for just about any facet of managing a small business.

3. Small Business Administration – Federal government agency that provides an array tools to help new and aspiring entrepreneurs succeed. It’s recommended you start with their Start-up Assessment Tool to help find the right resources.

4. U.S. Chamber of Commerce Small Business Center – An arm of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce that provides comprehensive assistance for startups through web-based tools and resources.

These are just a few of the many resources out there…but, they’re most likely the most reliable for accuracy and impartiality.

In addition to these, online incorporation service MaxFilings.com has an expansive online incorporation knowledge center that has many helpful articles that make sense of incorporating a business– check it out and then use MaxFilings’ online system and form your corporation in just minutes.