What is a
Business License?
Many clients ask me whether the
trademark or corporation filing takes care of the
business license requirement. By the way, a
business license is simply a business tax
registration certificate issued by the
state, county or city in which the
business in question is located. You are
legally required to obtain it if you are starting
any type of business.
Who Needs A Business License?
This is true regardless
of whether you are a doctor, lawyer, baker or
candlestick maker. Even if your business is an
online internet business, a home based business, a
handy man business or an outdoor vendor business -
You are required to obtain a business license.
And to end all arguments, even if you are am
attorney and you have a state license to practice
law, you are still required to obtain a local
government business license.
Why Do You Need A Business License?
First,
lets examine why the state wants you
to have a Business license.
The states, counties or other
governing agencies want to be sure
that anyone starting a business
obtains a business license and pays his or her local tax to the
government.
Furthermore, local governments want to ensure public
safety and prevention of fraud. Thus, they
perform inspections and obtain all your personal
information to protect the public from unscrupulous and fraudulent
persons.
As an
attorney, I have set up quite a few
small businesses. On
several occasions we have helped
client's obtain a Business license.
We have been using a
professional
and inexpensive service
to help us obtain business
licenses for our clients. When the license is
issued, it looks like any permit
with a business number that permits
the business to start business
operations.
Note that many states required you
to obtain a federal tax ID, or
a
Wholesale or Retail License
as well as a business license. In fact,
depending on the city, county or state you are
conducting business, these requirements are set out
in the business license application form.
How to Get A Business License
You could get
your business license yourself if you knew where to
file it or what government agency issues a
business license for your particular type of
business. However, to save time it is a good
idea to use a service to do it for you. Even
though we cannot guarantee worked performed by other
services, we
recommend using
this site
to get your Business license. They have helped us in the past to
get our Business license within
reasonable time for a reasonable service fee. However,
note that we cannot guarantee the
results of parties we recommend you
to obtain your business license or
any other document that we don't directly work to
obtain for you.
-
All legal articles in this site
are general and informative. The articles or any other information on this
site is not legal advice nor is any information warranted or guaranteed.
Laws change over time and in different localities and jurisdictions laws may
be different from any laws mentioned on this site. It is advisable that you
consult a attorney and or an accountant in the area where your business
will be located.
-
Elias
Stassinos, Esquire
is a trademark and
incorporation attorney that has
helped thousands of small
business owners and entrepreneurs
launch their first business
enterprise. He's also an
entrepreneur who operates several
successful businesses not related to
his law practice.
Copyright
© E. Stassinos, Esq. 2005. All Rights Reserved.
