Teach Soap

After a long summer and fall of traveling around for family and work reasons, I'm anticipating that in a few days, I'll have licenses in place so that I can open shop on Etsy without worrying (too much) about the hows and whens of collecting sales tax in my state, being legit, and on and on. It was a lot to sort through, and I'm still feeling wary, but excited!

But it looks like I could be moving just after the first of the year, and now I'm torn. I could go ahead and perhaps "shut down" by December 31, just for ease of getting taxes done right. I could just cancel my licenses (luckily, not too spendy) and focus on getting up to speed on my new state's rules and regulations--and taxes, as there's a B&O tax, meaning different rates for manufacturing and retailing, and I'm finding that intimidating enough to consider just making my family a truckload of holiday gifts from my existing supplies.

So tell me:

Have you moved your soaps, lotions, fizzies, and other lovely products to a new state? How did it go for you? How did you plan your move, and did you take some time off before you were able to get started again? Did you run into any problems, like needing to reformulate (for example, I might be going from a state that's perfect for making bath fizzes to a cold and humid one)? Do you have any success or horror stories to share?

Thanks!

Hallie

I don't have an answer for you, but wish you good luck!

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Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

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Thanks! I can't see any reason why I'd care to be a foreign entity; I wouldn't have any particular presence or nexus. And since I don't have an offline presence, re-establishment's not so much a concern. I think what is is conceptualizing (what I think of as) a very simple business as something more like a huge manufacturer. Like anything else in bulk, crazy paperwork seems necessary for a large enterprise, but I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around different tax rates for my own business!

The ideas about testing existing formulations are great. I hadn't thought of that, and luckily, the most potentially volatile formulations are finalized yet, so I'll be able to consider waiting there. Thanks again!

If you're a foreign entity, you'll need to pay fees and taxes and file statements in both states. I don't recommend that.

BTW, I'm a corporate paralegal IRL, and I'm about to move my entire life cross country. So I know way to much about it at the moment. LOL

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As it happens, my roommate is a really, really excellent business lawyer. I get incredible service in exchange for washing the dishes! Of course, it helps that I did almost everything for a paralegal certificate a while ago, so I get to skip some steps in consultations. (And I also have a lot of respect for people who can handle some of the, uh, personalities in the legal field, as that's what prompted me to do something else. Most people are great, but...) I have some family that I can lean on for accounting help, too. I agree that both are important.

I've had to pay taxes in more than one state often enough that I don't care to do it again (doesn't it seem like everyone wants to claim you as a resident, no matter how short a time span you spent there?), and if I'm not going to be in a state or doing much business there, I'd rather not register, though there certainly are some states that would claim you have to do so! The cost of being a foreign entity in multiple states can add up quickly, but I can see the benefit to a larger company or one that does enough business in a location that they might want any protections available to foreign entity companies in a state. I can also see why it would be important if you have employees in other states, too.

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Not at all, dolly777! I'm sorry to hear about your friend.

Just moving your home is bad enough. I moved from No CA to Portland for 17 months. Upon returning to CA following 17 months away, BOTH states wanted me for tax purposes. Oregon didn't want to let me go and I had to provide proof of voters registration, auto registration and all kinds of stuff to get Oregon off my case! Unbelievable. So I think moving the first month in any given year is preferable to moving in May! If you stay 6 months in each of two states then they each want 6 months of you!

Smart move Magic Hands! Very Timely!! LOL if ever moving could be called grand.

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~bytheSEAsoap~ Mella bythesea, bythesea, bythebeautiful sea

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