Today I tried to do some maintenance on one of my business licenses via the old-fashioned way: in-person. Yeah, not so much fun. However, IMHO, SLC’s government websites kind of suck. Once you find what you need, you’re golden…but until then, you’re on your own. Also, they make it really hard to find contact numbers.
So here was the deal. I have a relatively new LLC which I will use for all my “freedom business” activities – e.g., website affiliate/advertising revenue, e-book sales, product commissions, etc. When I originally signed up for this LLC, I didn’t get a resale (sales tax) license since I didn’t think I would be reselling products (I decided that I might, however – via drop ship). Anyway, I realized today that I needed to get a resale ID to be able to sell products I’ve wholesaled.
On a separate note, I also wanted to find out if I needed to register a DBA (doing business as) for each of my websites and online endeavors. Here’s what I found out:
You do NOT need to register a DBA for each web entity…unless you want to protect that business name. From my perspective, those business names are already protected since they are purchased domains. If someone wants to start a business under one of those names…fine by me…but you can’t have the domain! Ha!
There are several steps to setting up a business and getting your resale license in SLC. I’m sure it’s probably similar in most places. Here are the pieces of paper you need:
- Business registration as an LLC – given by UT Dept. of Commerce
- Federal Employer Identification Number (FEIN) – given by IRS
- Resale license – given by UT Tax Commission
- Actual permission to operate your business from home – given by your local municipality (South Salt Lake City, for me)
You can use the Utah One-Stop Business Registration for items 1, 2 and 3. However, item four must be given by your locality. They might even have to review your zoning and inspect your home. It just depends on your local laws.
So why did I take a whirlwind tour today? As it turns out, each of these entities resides in a different building in Salt Lake. I walked to all of them, and a couple of wrongs ones, too. At least I got to write this nifty post to help you fellow Utahns (and others) navigate your licensing.
Lauren