This section of the forum is for discussing the business and finance issues of the t-shirt industry. Which business structure to use (sole proprietor, LLC, S Corp, etc), how to handle billing, where to register your business and get the proper licensing, etc.
Hey, we're about to make our first sale out of state to a store, and I"m wondering if I need to get their State or Federal tax ID. We're selling to them as 'wholesale' so will I need it for my tax purposes because I won't be charging them sales tax? Currently on consignment in local stores and only made internet retail sales so never thought about it...
If you were to be charging them sales tax, but they're exempt because of a TaxID, you'd need to record their info. But since this is an interstate sale you wouldn't be charging them sales tax anyway would you?
Here is the rundown from a California Perspective:
A Sellers Permit is used for making tax exempt purchases for merchandise that will be resold. This permit registers you with your sales tax authority so you can pay sales tax that you collect. You will need this even if you don't ever collect a penny in sales tax.
State and Federal Tax ID's are for income taxes. If you are a sole proprietor then you can use your SSN. Otherwise you will register with BOTH the State and Federal government in the case of an LLC or Corp.
When in do doubt keep a reseller's certificate on file with your customer's information. I have heard that a wholesale audit is worse then any IRS audit. The forms in our state for each reseller customer is good for 8 years. With laws changing on interstate sales, I would keep one on file regardless of what state they are in.
Here's another scenario, we do sales to a local Indian Tribe. If we deliver the items to the tribe on tribal land, there is no sales tax. If they come pick it up, they have to pay tax. Fortunately, owned land is just 3 minutes up the road. Works for both of us, we do alot of work for them. However, I was contacted by the state to ensure we were doing the work for the Tribe, not their contractors building their casino and that we were in deed delivering to their land. There are checks by the state so be safe rather then sorry.
most businesses need to have an EIN (federal tax id), if you are a sole P and dont have employees you dont need one, but you would have to use ur ss# if you ever try to buy on credit terms etc.
U usually need a state resale # if you are selling anything in ur state.
google ur state name and state resale license or state business tax or use tax license
Do I need to get buyers Tax IDs? 
