My business just got wings

[benmychree]

Laws are different in every state, but here in CT, you would need to collect sales tax on any work you do, so that would be something to do since if they find you were not remitting sales tax, you will owe all the back taxes as well as late penalties. I don’t believe you have to register as a business since any retail sale is taxable, so you might be able to register as your person and collect the tax and remit while keeping your business under the radar.

We also have to pay personal property tax on everything used in the business. For a machine shop, that would mean every tool in your shop, desk you use to do your bookkeeping, computer, pens, etc. The local tax auditor probably won’t believe one micrometer is used in the business, but another one isn’t, so once you start a business, everything related to that business is taxed, so best to stay under the radar as long as you can, but be mindful that they may hit you up for back taxes if found out.

Where I live live, they seem to be ok with a business run out of a home, as long as there are not any customers coming there, or more than normal deliveries for a residential area. For my neighbor, they seem to have at least one per day, so I don’t think they could complain about my deliveries lol.

If you decide to stay under the radar, do not put your address on anything online if you can avoid it. Google searches various databases and adds any company listing they find to their maps. I don’t know if your local town references these maps to find tax cheats, but I do know that is what I would do if that was my job. I have found a previous company I had shown at my home address, but not my current company, so not sure how often that is updated, or how they do that.

It sounds like you have a great first lead, so hopefully it works out for you and you can build a nice side business.

Laws are different in every state, but here in CT, you would need to collect sales tax on any work you do, so that would be something to do since if they find you were not remitting sales tax, you will owe all the back taxes as well as late penalties. I don’t believe you have to register as a business since any retail sale is taxable, so you might be able to register as your person and collect the tax and remit while keeping your business under the radar.

We also have to pay personal property tax on everything used in the business. For a machine shop, that would mean every tool in your shop, desk you use to do your bookkeeping, computer, pens, etc. The local tax auditor probably won’t believe one micrometer is used in the business, but another one isn’t, so once you start a business, everything related to that business is taxed, so best to stay under the radar as long as you can, but be mindful that they may hit you up for back taxes if found out.

Where I live live, they seem to be ok with a business run out of a home, as long as there are not any customers coming there, or more than normal deliveries for a residential area. For my neighbor, they seem to have at least one per day, so I don’t think they could complain about my deliveries lol.

If you decide to stay under the radar, do not put your address on anything online if you can avoid it. Google searches various databases and adds any company listing they find to their maps. I don’t know if your local town references these maps to find tax cheats, but I do know that is what I would do if that was my job. I have found a previous company I had shown at my home address, but not my current company, so not sure how often that is updated, or how they do that.

It sounds like you have a great first lead, so hopefully it works out for you and you can build a nice side business.

The answer to the payment problem is cash on delivery. To make that attractive to the customer, it may be necessary to work a bit cheaper than the average purveyor, but since you won't be claiming the payments for taxes, it may be worth it. It is a good plan to claim anything that comes along via vhecke, and not so for cash jobs; not that I would ever do such a thing ---

 

[Ischgl99]

The answer to the payment problem is cash on delivery. To make that attractive to the customer, it may be necessary to work a bit cheaper than the average purveyor, but since you won't be claiming the payments for taxes, it may be worth it. It is a good plan to claim anything that comes along via vhecke, and not so for cash jobs; not that I would ever do such a thing ---

That entirely depends on your tolerance for risk, I tend to be a risk taker, so cash is king . But, we are probably getting a digital currency in the near future, so cash will be be gone, and so will be the opportunities to work under the radar.

 

[vocatexas]

I hope I'm not the only one that will resist going cashless as much as I can. Not trying to get political, but it's another way of Big Brother keeping tabs on us. I, for one, like cash in my pocket.

 

[ddickey]

I work for gold and silver.

 

[snoopdog]

The answer to the payment problem is cash on delivery. To make that attractive to the customer, it may be necessary to work a bit cheaper than the average purveyor, but since you won't be claiming the payments for taxes, it may be worth it. It is a good plan to claim anything that comes along via vhecke, and not so for cash jobs; not that I would ever do such a thing ---

They are few and far between, but still available. If you can, get a receipt book WITHOUT consecutive numbering. Mileage documentation adds up quickly, as well as a portion of phone/utilities. We use a DBA account instead of LLC.

 

[Janderso]

local governments usually take a dim view of industrial uses on residential properties, usually they take action on them if the neighbors complain, they don't go looking for them.

Fortunately I have neighbors that don’t mind my noise. I’ve asked several times.
With the doors closed and the full insulation of my garage it’s pretty quiet outside when I’m making a racket.

 

[Janderso]

They are few and far between, but still available. If you can, get a receipt book WITHOUT consecutive numbering. Mileage documentation adds up quickly, as well as a portion of phone/utilities. We use a DBA account instead of LLC.

I’m keeping track
All tool and stock purchases go into a file. I have my invoice book.

I haven’t asked about getting paid, what the bookkeeper may require from me. I bet a 1099 will be issued.
One step at a time.

 

[Janderso]

That entirely depends on your tolerance for risk, I tend to be a risk taker, so cash is king . But, we are probably getting a digital currency in the near future, so cash will be be gone, and so will be the opportunities to work under the radar.

I’m 66. Hopefully before cash is dead, well, let’s hope it’s a ways off

 

[Ischgl99]

I’m 66. Hopefully before cash is dead, well, let’s hope it’s a ways off

They’re testing now, so it could be as soon as this year it starts getting implemented. I’ve heard everything from they will close the banks for a week and switch everyone over at the same time to it will start with federal payments and work it’s way through the system over several years by making cash more difficult to get. My crystal ball is pretty hazy, but I am hoping it gets rejected by the population and we can stay with cash.

 

[Ischgl99]

If you wanted to use accounting software to keep track of your expenses and income, I use a free program called Manager. It is not as full featured as something like Quickbooks, but it does everything I need for my business, and the price is right. They have a forum where you can ask questions and other users help out, similar to here, and the developer pops in to help as well at times.

Www.manager.io