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.
There are alot of posts listing different documents needed for starting a printing business in California but I have yet to come across one that list everything in order. Is there any specific order things need to happen in? I am assuming EIN# followed by re-sellers permit and so on. Anyone with experience in CA please share.
you don't need an EIN if you are sole proprietor...ssan will do...there is no order...you need
CA sellers permit
if you are DBA...you need to register with local county..then publish in paper
get business lic....if you are working out of home you will be permit for that they don't call customer coming in
and start up...
depending on where you live in california, you have to publish your dba for a certain amount of weeks. Where I live I believe it was four. hope this helps.
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Always do right; this will gratify some people and astonish the rest. ~~~Mark Twain BobbieLee
You usually contact a local newspaper and they have a preformatted paragraph saying that you are a new business in town doing business as "your name". I live in Santa Clara County and I had to run my ad for 4 weeks as BobbieLee mentioned. I'm not positive, but from what I read, this is to inform the public of the owner's intent to operate under an assumed name. The intention of the law is to protect the public from fraud, by compelling the business owner to record his name with the County Recorder, and making a further public record of it by publishing it in a newspaper.
I used to run an import/distribution company out in California, my two cents, start your company somewhere else, the licensing and all the bs requirements make is very cost prohibitive and less business friendly. Nonetheless, I'm not sure if you're set on doing the printing yourself or are going to outsource that to someone else. If you do outsource it will save a lot of time and capital, at least in the beginning, no point in shelling out a lot of money only to realize you don't want to operate out of there.
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Great, thanks for the information. I am filing as a LLC but I will be operating out of my garage. I will be DBA, having no customers coming to my place of business. Another thing I was curious about is when I registered for my EIN/Resellers permit I put the start date of my business for January 2009. With doing I was trying to make my take filing as easy as possible this year since I will be getting married in a month (which makes filing hard enough!). Rather than starting a business over 3/4 of the way through the year I was thinking that it would be best to start fresh at the very beginning of the year. Is this wise? And with the whole filing process is it easier to go through a tax program like Turbotax or go to somewhere like H&R BLOCK? From my understanding Turbotax is pretty straight foward but I just don't want to get stumped when in the middle of filing. For obvious reasons, I would want everything done right from the very start.
Also, I will be doing regular screen printing but I will also be doing my own clothing line under the same name to select retailers around my area. Can I purchase items before the new year for my clothing company at wholesale prices with my EIN so I can get test printing done for my line or should I leave my EIN# out of this since I don't want to pay taxes this year?
Alot of questions I know... any more information you folks have would once again be greatly appreciated.
Last edited by MUTINYIND; September 30th, 2008 at 09:50 AM.
Order i did it.
Got business Lic, sole pro, since it was home based i couldnt have customers over, stock large amounts of product or do any shipping and receiving out of the home. I had to have a designated area to call my office (My empty room)
Got tax ID no ( just called IRS and had it done in 10 minutes)
"Another thing I was curious about is when I registered for my EIN/Resellers permit I put the start date of my business for January 2009. With doing I was trying to make my take filing as easy as possible this year since I will be getting married in a month (which makes filing hard enough!). Rather than starting a business over 3/4 of the way through the year I was thinking that it would be best to start fresh at the very beginning of the year. Is this wise?"
This is neither wise or not, just a matter of preference. Since I run my business as a DBA, the taxes are just like any other job. I add the income from the business to my regular job and get taxed on it. The complicated part is if your trying to get deductions such as working form your home(water, electricty, work area, etc). If you already have a CPA or place that does your taxes each year, they'll just add another form for your business.
As for the California resale tax(not inclome), I've heard they've made thing easier since it's online now. I used to do the paperwork quarterly, but since I've started doing this again, it'll be my first time doing it online.
" And with the whole filing process is it easier to go through a tax program like Turbotax or go to somewhere like H&R BLOCK? From my understanding Turbotax is pretty straight foward but I just don't want to get stumped when in the middle of filing."
You can use turbo tax, kiplingers, or any of the other tax programs, but for my first few years, I took my taxes in to a CPA. The reason for this was I wanted to see where and how they filled out the business side of the forms. This way, when I did my own, I can compare last years form to the ones I did myself. I could check to see if I filled out all the correct ones, etc.
" Can I purchase items before the new year for my clothing company at wholesale prices with my EIN so I can get test printing done for my line or should I leave my EIN# out of this since I don't want to pay taxes this year?"
From what I know, no you can't use your EIN/SSN or whatever until the start date of your resale license. It doesn't mean that the reseller won't sell to you, it just means that you are not supposed to. When I re-signed up for my resale license, I gave them a starte date a month out. Then I asked if I could start buying some items to test on and that I wouldn't start selling until later. The lady from the state building told me that I need to change my start date sooner if I wanted to start buying anything....so I did. I'm not positive about this, but this is what she told me.
I hope this makes sense....and remember always consult a real CPA for the final answer.....
when you get a tax id # and start buying from vendors at wholesale prices?
Yes you can start buying once you recieve your tax id, but remember that you will also need to use those writeoffs on your taxes for that year.
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when selling products and keeping record of it?
What to keep record of?
You want to keep track of your inventory, but most importanty your sales and profit. You will need to file your state use tax, which is usually due in July, and you should also know that you only pay taxes on sales made in the state of california, if that is where you are located.
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When doing taxes is it complicated?
It can be if you dont keep good records. I cannot strees this enough. Make sure to keep all of your paperwork, and keep it in order. You will use all of your reciepts for purchasing for you business and file at the end of the year for your business tax. You will then need to pay your state tax in July and need records of your sales for that. I would really make sure you understand how these taxes work and are filed, before starting.
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Always do right; this will gratify some people and astonish the rest. ~~~Mark Twain BobbieLee
Charles, what exactly do you mean when you say "publish in paper"
It's often referred to as a "ficticious name statement". You will be required to do this when you get your business license from the city (or if you live in an unincorporated area, the county)
I would do this before getting your resale license, only because you will then be sure than you can use the business name you are planning on using.
If you're a sole proprietor, you can use your ss #, you don't need a fed number. If you are going to be an LLC, consult your accountant or attorney.
When you go to the bank to open a checking account, they will likely want to see your business license and your ficticious name statement, possibly your resale permit.
Below is the link to sellers permit license needed in California
Below is the link for fictitious business license for Santa Clara county in Silicon Valley. I am sure you can find something similar for your specific county.
CALIFORNIA Start up process explained 
