Thread: Don't forget to get your business license!

I just got a fat and very official envelope from Durham County today. It was addressed to Andalee Belly Dance. It told me I had 30 days to get a business license or else I would get a big fat fine. I have to contact 3 different county offices and fill out some confusing forms, in addition to paying a $50 fee. I know I need to do right and do it...but it's annoying. I feel like they are hunting me down. How did they know? My tax return? Or are they so strapped for cash they have someone do a google search of all businesses? Or was it my new domain registration? I vote for the first one, but it's all very strange! .w.:

Know that it differs from state to state and even county to county however. Look up what you local business requirements are.
Sorry you are going through this Andalee!

I think it sucks that here we have to pay $100 state and $100 local business license fees, while the tupperware lady (who probably makes 2x as much as I do) doesn't. So much for the benefits of advertising... I'm pretty sure that's the only reason they know who I am.

Originally Posted by SamiraShuruk

Know that it differs from state to state and even county to county however. Look up what you local business requirements are.
Sorry you are going through this Andalee!

Yeah, I think in NC, as long as you have needed county/city business licenses, you don't need to do anything for the state, except pay taxes. Off to do more research for sure!

wow, bummer.i live in the county, not city ....nothing required here!

Where I live, the city and county are pretty much one in the same. :)

Originally Posted by Lara L

I think it sucks that here we have to pay $100 state and $100 local business license fees, while the tupperware lady (who probably makes 2x as much as I do) doesn't. So much for the benefits of advertising... I'm pretty sure that's the only reason they know who I am.

Why doesn't tupperware lady have to pay? Because she's not a sole proprietorship?

I had this too - it's because I reported outside income this year after a few city institutions, like libraries, sent me w-2's.

Being Philadelphia, where we are taxed within an inch of our lives, I have to pay $250 for the license, and then pay the city wage tax, a business tax, state tax, and additional city taxes on top of that. And did I mention our sales tax is going up? I am drowning in tax over here.

Originally Posted by andalee-oriental

Why doesn't tupperware lady have to pay? Because she's not a sole proprietorship?

basically because she hasn't been tracked down yet- used to think it was because she was considered an associate or a private contractor or something (who knows what they actually call themselves.) but the city informed me that that wasn't the case- basically it's too much hassle for them to track down folks in such a transient field, while I have a google map pointing to my studio & hours listed on the web & on my phone...

here in CA, as far as I got mine you need to get from the city you work regulary.

Originally Posted by phillyraqs

I had this too - it's because I reported outside income this year after a few city institutions, like libraries, sent me w-2's.

Being Philadelphia, where we are taxed within an inch of our lives, I have to pay $250 for the license, and then pay the city wage tax, a business tax, state tax, and additional city taxes on top of that. And did I mention our sales tax is going up? I am drowning in tax over here.

Ouches!!! I'll stop whinging now- at least we don't have to deal with all the city/state tax issues (yet!)

Is this for incorporations or sole proprietorship/assumed names (DBA's)? Or both?

...also- look into business license AND performers license. These regulations vary from state to state, city to city etc.

probably depends on where you are- locally, non profits get a discounted rate- but it's basically any business entity.

Originally Posted by turkishdancer

here in CA, as far as I got mine you need to get from the city you work regulary.

Tried to send you a PM on this but it was refused as your in-box was marked as overfilled. Probably want to do some maintenance on it. .p::

I just got mine this year, Andalee. Here, it's after you earn $3000 in a year that you are required to have one.

Sorry to hear that Andalee! I actually had the flip side to your situation. I live in SC and when I went to go get a BL when I decided I wanted to teach they wouldn't let me fill out the paperwork. Here, if you do business (ie teach) outside of city limits, you don't need to get one. If you notice, big corporations like Wal-Mart almost exclusively build just outside of city limits for this very reason.

Originally Posted by andalee-oriental

Why doesn't tupperware lady have to pay? Because she's not a sole proprietorship?

Is she using her own name? If so, she may not have to register.

The law is different from state to state and even town to town. In my town, you have to register only if you're not doing business under your own name.

I had to register only because I was using "Nadira Jamal". If I were doing business under my own name, I wouldn't have to register anything.

The idea is that if you buy something from "John Smith" or "John Smith Flowers", and they don't deliver, you know that John Smith is the owner. But if you buy from "Awesome Flowers", who would you sue? The idea of the registration is that you can go to city hall and track down the owner of the business.

Again, this all varies from place to place, so the best bet is usually to go to city hall. (The staff at ours is remarkably helpful and friendly.)

Update! I finally got all this taken care of, on a rainy afternoon in downtown Durham. So it was a fairly streamlined process, but I had to jump through some hoops.

Overall I was very impressed with the city and county employees. See Durham is both a city and a county and they work together which makes things a little easier.

So first I had to register a business name with the county for $14.25.
The I walked a block to city hall to apply for a home occupation permit ($26) and a business license ($50).

I had to go to three different offices and I made it all happen in two hours! Everyone was so friendly! I even talked to some of the ladies about taking my classes. Apparently, belly dancers in my area don't bother with these steps so I was quite the novelty and a nice break from the usual for them.

Anyway, short story long, it was a lot easier than I expected!

Originally Posted by andalee-oriental

So first I had to register a business name with the county for $14.25.
The I walked a block to city hall to apply for a home occupation permit ($26) and a business license ($50).

What is a home occupation permit and why did you need it?

It basically allows me to operate a business from my home.

if i ever get paying gigs i would have to be payed in cash or wooosh there goes disability and medicaide. yes i actually am on disability and not fraudulently.

Yay, happy ending!

See, it's not so bad. There are different requirements in every state, city, county and town. Just set aside an afternoon, visit your City Hall, and ask them what you need to do. In my case, they had all the info at their fingertips, right up to the state level and were able to tell me exactly who to contact and what to do.

I was discussing this exact subject with someone on the phone who said 'Well, if we expect to be treated like pros we ought to act like pros.' It's true.