Many city, county and state governments require business owners to register their small business and get a business license. Some cities require that a home business pay a surcharge or charge certain taxes. In order to find out what your city requires contact your city hall and ask about the laws that apply to local home based businesses.
It depends on what Sate you live in. If you are just starting your business you may want to go with LLC if you plan to do it for a good while. www.LegalZoom.com you can do it all on line and they do it all for you. But if it s more of a hobby that you want to make money off of, then go sole proprieter so that it s less paperwork. Remember you can always change later to an LLC. You will need a business license. You just go to your local Government office. Look in the phone book and they will direct you to how to license a home business. Usually it s some papers to fill out and a fee. Then you pay a fee and taxes every year to renew it.I recommend going to the bookstore and buying a book on home businesses. You don t need an accountant at this point. Just keep track of your receipts in an excel spreadsheet. At the end of the year you will submit this to your tax preparer and they will do the rest.Not real complicated. Iv e run a home business for the past 3 years now and I am incorporated.
