Registering business in Texas,US for an online business.

[kingakoopa]

Hello experts,
I hope this finds you all in the best of your health & spirits.
I was hoping someone could send me in the right direction here.
So I have a full time and wanting to start a business.
I know the first step if to register my business.
its an online buy/sell business.
I have been told to register as an LLC and get a franchise tax license ( i have been told no sales license)
Am on the right track?
I also need to get an EIN from irs.gov but not sure if i should keep LLC , S corp or C corp on federal level.
Can anyone please help me?
should i be the owner or should i name my stay at home wife if that helps with any kind of tax savings?

I appreciate your help and assistance
Sincerely
KK

[vangogh]

Welcome to the forum KK. I'm not an expert on taxes or corporations so I won't be able to answer all your questions, but I think I can help with a few.

First a good website to look through is the Secretary of State website for Texas (http://www.sos.state.tx.us/corp/businessstructure.shtml). The navigation at the top has a section for Business Filings and you'll likely find good information there about what Texas requires for different businesses. It likely points you to other resources too.

Usually one of the first things you want to do is register your business name with the state. It keeps similar businesses from using the same name. It looks like all the forms are here (http://www.sos.state.tx.us/corp/forms_boc.shtml). I'm not sure if you have to form whichever corporation you choose before filing the name with the state.

An EIN is pretty easy to get. You can get one online through the IRS website (https://www.irs.gov/Businesses/Small-Businesses-&-Self-Employed/Apply-for-an-Employer-Identification-Number-%28EIN%29-Online). The link should take you to the page where you apply. The EIN is necessary if you have employees or are collecting sales tax I think. You can get one even if you don't need one. You'll be able to use it in places that otherwise ask for a social security number.

As far as which entity to form, that's not a question for me. However, one of our members, put together a site with good information about LLCs and other corporations (http://www.limitedliabilitycompanycenter.com/). It's probably a good place to start in getting familiar with the different types of corporations and what their benefits are.

Hope that helps. I'm sure others will pop in to answer some of the questions I couldn't.

[kingakoopa]

Thanks vangogh my friend !!!1

It looks like i might have to do franchise and sales tax both on TX.SOS
can anyone confirm?

also can i just do LLC on federal level too?

[IgniteGOC]

Hey there Kingakoopa!

I'm based in Houston, so I can help out with some insight on Texas based businesses.

Your first step would of course be to get a DBA. Don't bother paying anybody for this, go down to the courthouse yourself and register your business. This costs around $16 (a lot of attorneys and professional services companies charge $150 or so). This secures your business name and allows you to open bank accounts and such, as well as register for your EIN!

A DBA, however, is only good per registered county. The next step would be LLC, which gives you a national footprint. This is typically the best way to go for small businesses, as it gives you some security, without the hassles of incorporating (unless you get much larger).

Hope that helps!