What legal stuff do start up web design companies need?

[krymson]

I know what software web designers need but im talking about the legal stuff. DBA's, Tax ID numbers, the works.

Im in the middle of starting up my business but i am unclear on everything a web design business needs. Texas can be pretty unclear on these things such as do i have to charge sales tax or not. Do i need a business license or will a dba work? All of these questions even after weeks of googleing i have not found a straight forward answer to. I had thought about hiring a lawyer to help me out through that but i dont even know where to begin finding a good lawyer for web design for legal advice.

So i turn to my fellow web designer which im hoping a few of you guys have come across this problem and know a solution, and if you know the texas laws that would be even better but in general i just want to know what i need to cover my butt and not get in trouble by the irs and the government.

Many Thanks.

 

[ronaldroe]

I don't know if it will help you, but I was the President of a (very) small non-profit for about a year. We registered with the IRS and had an employer id (EIN), which essentially is your tax ID.

Have you tried the Chamber of Commerce? They may at least be able to point you in the right direction.

 

[krymson]

Ah i completely forgot about the chamber of commerce, not i gotta find one here in houston which shouldnt be too hard.

 

[Phreaddee]

dont know how it works in the US but here in Aus the basic requirements are as follows

1. minimum public liability insurance (professional indemnity is recommended)
2. Official Trading Name
3. ABN / ACN depending on whether you are a sole trader or a company.
4. If you register for GST (goods and services tax) you have to do Business Activity Statements quarterly.

Optional
5. go to a lawyer and get some basic contracts written up.
6. organise an accountant and see how much you can "claim" back.

7. keep really good records, you'll never know when you'll get audited!

 

[krymson]

its a lil different here in the Us, because you have to have federal stuff as well as state stuff so its basically double the crap which means double the spending on start up, but monday imma hit up my local chamber of commerce cause they give out free info on this stuff as well as the texas workforce comission

 

[helloworld]

I started mine last year.. Did an LLC as that is the least amount of paperwork and taxes.. I just want to be able to accept company checks and not be sued personally. Made the most sense for me (being a one-man-band). Not sure if this is helpful..

 

[krymson]

how much did the llc run you?

 

[helloworld]

Its different for each state.. Mine was around $100 and another $100 went to the company that set it up for me. I wasn't ready to deal with all the paperwork as I was moving from FL to OR at the time.

 

[kayla]

Wish I could help... I'm in Canada so I'm really not able to give you any help at all since everything will be different in Texas/the US.