it's time to get it straight with Uncle
Sam.
The first step was for me to go online and
get my EIN number, or Employee Identification Number.
This is kind of like the social security
number for your business. It is free and takes about 5 minutes or
so.
Here is the link: https://sa.www4.irs.gov/modiein/individual/index.jsp
The hours of operation are Monday through
Friday 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. Eastern Time. You can't apply at other times.
Once you get your number, you must save a
copy of it. I printed mine for my files, saved a copy on my hard drive, and
make sure the number is on me should I need it.
Once I was straight with the federal
government, it was time to get straight with the state of New York. Paying
taxes varies from state to state. Some have no taxes, some have taxes only on
certain things, and some try to kill you, like New York. In addition, they call
ability to collect taxes on your items by different names, like seller's
permit, sales tax ID, etc. In New York, it's called a Certificate of Authority,
and the number you get will be the exact same number as your EIN from the
federal government. Here, once you get it you will be required to file your
taxes quarterly for the first year, no later than 20 days after that quarter
ends, and all done online unless there's some reason that you can't. They may
switch you up after that, with some having to file monthly, or yearly or
whatever.
I had to create an account with the state
government (I already had one because I had received unemployment), but now I
had to add a business section to it, and ask for access to all of their
services. I then had to give them my EIN/Certificate of Authority number, or
either my social security. I remembered that all
the accountants had said not to put your
social all over the place. They had sent me a notice telling me when I
had to have my account up and running for,
and when my first filing deadline was and they had given me a temporary pin
number. I had to declare my jurisdiction and they determined what my tax rate
was. I pay a tax rate that is a combo platter of New York State and New York
City, and my first payment was about $22 and change, $21.50 because I got a
little discount for being a vendor.
I was also interested in what if I wanted
to buy wholesale as well. I found out that I could use my EIN/Certificate of
Authority in those instances so I would not have to pay taxes on purchases, and
that sometimes a Resale Certificate would have to be sent to the seller.
Haven't done that, but I'm looking forward to buy my supplies wholesale to cut
my costs in the future.
My Certificate of Authority had gotten lost
in the mail, so I had to call and let them know, and they issued another one
that arrived the very day my first filing was due. But all that time I was
watching for it like I was getting a present or something. It kind of made me
feel more legit, even though now I have to pay my taxes and file those forms.
I'm glad that I can now get space at different fairs and things, because you
need that number to get a temporary vendor's license in New York.
I'm on my way. We'll see soon what the ups
and downs are of being on the grid.
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