Multiple DBA Seperate forms of Business Advice Needed

[ryanb4614]

State: Pennsylvania

Hello. I have had a online website that sells pet supplies since 2006. This business is still open. It is setup as a Sole Proprietorship. I am venturing off and opening a online automotive parts store (online only). I was registering for a DBA and EIN for the automotive business but I found you can only have 1 EIN per person with a Sole Proprietorshop? How would I go about doing this, advice please?

Side Note:My DBA used to be similar to SM Discount Service changed it to SM Pet Supplies (changed DBA) still didn't update the EIN's DBA that is on it. This was recent.

Also, I am a licensed funeral director. I will plan on opening my own funeral home within the next 5 years that would be a Sole Prop. Is this going to conflict with the online business? I don't want to have to develope a Corp example SM Service then have my funeral home and online DBA under it...:confused:

[Business Attorney]

You can only have one EIN as a sole proprietor but I don't see why that would be a problem. The EIN is just for dealing with the IRS and if you are running all of the businesses as a sole proprietor, your business is YOU no matter how many DBAs you come up with.

As an aside, I can understand why you might run a small online business as a sole proprietorship, but given the fact that the fee for organizing a Pennsylvania LLC (http://www.limitedliabilitycompanycenter.com/pennsylvania.html) is only $125 (and a corporation is the same), why would you even consider running a funeral home as a sole proprietorship? That seems unwise to me. There are some types of businesses where perhaps the limited liability feature of an LLC or corporation may not be worth the modest cost, but running a funeral home certainly does not seem like one of those businesses.

[ryanb4614]

Thank you for your reply it was great advice. Even if
I setup my funeral home as a corporation it would stil need an EIN number? I want to keep the funeral home income away from everything else for when doing taxes. My current EIN has my DBA and name on it. Possible to just have my name? Main reason is because both distributors require a copy of my EIN and it currently had ms pet supplies. Not sure how this will go with my automotive distributor.

[Business Attorney]

Every corporation needs its own EIN, so if you set up your funeral home as a corporation, it will need an EIN number.

To solve your problem on the DBA/EIN on your pet supply business and automotive supply business, why not adopt a DBA to something neutral like SM Service for vendors and use the more specific DBAs for customers? Change the name associated with the EIN to the new name so as not to confuse the IRS.

[ryanb4614]

Okay I have taken your device. I am just unclear of one thing that is minor. Example my parent DBA will be ABC Services, then ABC Auto Sales and ABC Pet Supplies will work under the parent DBA. When doing state sales tax do I file separate or together? I have contacted my bank account and they said it would have to be under the business name that is registered with the EIN, cannot have two account with the same EIN even if they are separate DBAs. So all money from ABC auto sales will have to go with ABC pet supplies. :confused:

[Business Attorney]

I'm not sure on the sales tax. I suspect there is only one return since a DBA is not a separate entity, but you should check with the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue.

Your bank sets their own rules, so if they will only allow one account per EIN, and you want to keep the activities separate, another choice would be to open a second account at another bank and use one account for one business and the other account for the other business.

Since both businesses are simply DBAs for the same sole proprietorship, I don't know that keeping the accounts separate serves any real purpose that could not be accomplished simply by keeping good accounting records.

[Evan]

I agree with David that for a business such as a funeral home, and the inexpensive cost -- it makes little sense not to incorporate or organize the business.

For state sales tax requirements, that may vary state-by-state. Some wish to have you report based on segment, which may be a functional segment, or based on location. (E.g. laundromat at 125 Main Street, and another on 300 Park Avenue).

I've never heard of a bank that had issues with the EIN and titling of the account. Worst case, title it in the name of ABC Services, Co. for each of them, and see if they can add the additional criteria for the mailing address. Such as c/o ABC Auto Sales or whatever -- so for recordkeeping purposes you know what it really is. And when it comes time to order the checks, the name and address at the top can usually be whatever you want. Don't feel compelled to order checks from the bank's provider -- they're usually overpriced.

[BizOwner]

Side Note:My DBA used to be similar to SM Discount Service changed it to SM Pet Supplies (changed DBA) still didn't update the EIN's DBA that is on it.

Updating your DBA will not change the name on the EIN. You have to change the name on the EIN with the IRS. You can find information about that on the IRS web site.