Unable to get a (home based) business license in my city - What do I do now?

el_lago

el_lago

Active member
I tried getting a business license from the city I live in and they told me I have to have a "real" office and that I can't get a license to run *ANY* kind of business from my home.

There's no way I'm going to shell out hundreds of dollars every month for an office that I don't need and won't use. Has anyone gone through this before and did you find an easy solution? What other options do I have, besides asking a friend from another city to let me claim to be running a business from their home, in order to get a license?

I'm about to spend a lot of money on a camera (DVX of course!), lighting, sound equipment, etc. I need my business license first in order to be able to claim the equipment as a deduction on my taxes, right?

Any helpful advice would be greatly appreciated.
 
What city do you live in?
Just form an LLC (cheap), get an EIN (Employer ID Number) and open a business banking account, then you are done. Purchase everything on the bus. account.
 
You're dealing with zoning restrictions. They're basically trying to keep you from reducing property values because they think you'll have all sorts of people coming to your home for business. This is what the nanny state gets us...

Here's what you do (since you're not going to be running a retail outlet) go to mailboxes etc. and get a private mail box there. This becomes your business address and instead of writing Box 123 you write Suite 123. Then do what Sirius said.

Matt
 
Thanks for the info, guys. It's much appreciated.

Barry, do you, or anyone else, have any tax accountants that you can recommend? (thanks for the link BTW)

Sirius D - I live in Bell Gardens, CA.

Matt - That's what I figured. I tried stressing to them that with what I'm doing there would be no way to tell that a business was being run from my home (no clients, no traffic, etc). After explaining exactly what I'd be doing they said it didn't matter due to city ordinances.
 
Thats bizarre unless your storing depleted uranium. I'd talk to some more folks and get the final word. What kind fo business are we talking about? Audio / Visual ? or Brothel ?

What City do you live in?

I have NEVER HEARD THIS before, again, unless you are opening a funeral home.
 
lol

I live in Bell Gardens, CA. Last week I talked to the mayor when he came to the neighborhood and he gave me his card. I misplaced it, but once I find it I'm going to give him a call to discuss the matter. When I talked to the clerk's office I asked what specific city ordinance it was that prohibited home based businesses and they said they didn't know but would research it and mail me the info (I'm not going to hold my breath).

In regards to my business, I'm going to be creating a unique series of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu instructional videos with an accomplished black belt instructor. My goal is to market the videos through commercials and magazines. The series will be filmed at a location other than my house.
 
See if your city has something like what Vegas has -- a Home Occupancy Permit (or something like that) which lets you get a waiver for zoning to operate a business out of your home. There's all sorts of restrictions, but basically it can be summed up as: would anyone ever know there was a business going on there? Will there be trucks and deliveries, and customers visiting? If those things happen, they won't allow it. If none of those things happen, they may allow it.

Second, regarding what MattC said -- some places offer what's called a "license hanging" service. In the old days you used to be able to designate a private mailbox as "Suite 123" or whatever, but the Post Office put the kibosh on that -- they came out with rules requiring you to state your private mailbox as "PMB", not "suite". If it's a mailbox, it *has* to be prefixed PMB (as in, joe schmoe productions, 456 baker street, PMB 123). So that won't fly as a physical address anymore.

But some MBE's (aren't they all UPS Stores now?) or other private mailbox firms may offer a $10/month or $20/month "license hanging" service... that may be what you need. They charge you a fee and let you use their place of business as your place of business. They may have a little computer and a little desk set up somewhere, which you're technically allowed to use (not that you ever would, it's usually a very lame/cheap system) so technically, technically, it qualifies as a "place of business", which makes it legal for you to hang your license there.
 
Go get yourself a PrePaid Legal membership for $17 a month. Then call the attorneys to ask your questions about this issue. Have them write a letter to the city. I suspect that will be the end of the problem. I use my PPL membership often, pays for itsekf 5-6 times over every year.

Actually, from the sound of what you have planned, you may not even NEED a license. That is generally only required if you are soliciting business locally. Good question to ask an attorney. And Barry's solution sometimes works too. Whenever I have seen that required, the clerks usually nicely explain it that way, but maybe your civil service is living up to its expectations.
 
I suppose they object to people selling stuff out of their home on ebay, too. It would have just as much impact as what you're trying to do, right?

Dan
 
Thanks for the great advice, everyone.

Dan - Yes, the business I'm starting would be about as noticeable as the average joe who sells from his home on ebay. I've actually done pretty much the same thing before with two separate jiu jitsu tournament videos that were sold through forums, ebay, and the website of the company I was doing the work for. Although what I want to do is going to be on a much larger scale, it will still be virtually impossible to tell that I'm running any kind of business.
 
As long as you aren't going to hammer signs on your front gate I don't see the problem. As stated before the feds as far as business use of personal property don't have a problem with what you are doing. You may deduct the business use of your home from your federal taxes. The only thing you need to protect is your property from a liability issues, say if a client came over and tripped on the rake you left in your front yard and was injured. Technically your home owners insurance would not cover you for this because it is a business use. You will need a business liability policy to cover that kind of possible claim.
 
..brazilian jui jistu videos? lol i might be doing the same thing in a little while here. i would be working with some world champs and top competitors that i used to train with. have fun.. and film that rollin action!
 
Most municipalities I know of in this country,---including the one I live in don't enforce regulations regarding home business. Unless somebody opens a retail outlet and traffic and parking become an issue.
Video production,---not a problem. Video rentals,---a problem.
Selling depleted uranium from the home could also be problematic.
That,---and Brazilian marshal arts.
 
If your primary goal right now is purchasing equipment that can be written off at tax time, all you need to do is get an EIN (employer identification number) and declare yourself a sole proprietorship business. Five minutes on the IRS website and, voila, you are a legal business (it's free, too).

http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/article/0,,id=98350,00.html

Now, depending on what type of business you'll be running, you may later want to form an LLC as Sirius suggested or even incorporate. But for now, you can just get your EIN and start purchasing your equipment until you figure out the specifics of the business later.
 
dustino said:
If your primary goal right now is purchasing equipment that can be written off at tax time, all you need to do is get an EIN (employer identification number) and declare yourself a sole proprietorship business. Five minutes on the IRS website and, voila, you are a legal business (it's free, too).

http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/article/0,,id=98350,00.html

Now, depending on what type of business you'll be running, you may later want to form an LLC as Sirius suggested or even incorporate. But for now, you can just get your EIN and start purchasing your equipment until you figure out the specifics of the business later.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info and link, Dustino! That helps a lot.
 
iamloser said:
..brazilian jui jistu videos? lol i might be doing the same thing in a little while here. i would be working with some world champs and top competitors that i used to train with. have fun.. and film that rollin action!
Click to expand...

Nice! :thumbsup:
Shoot me an e-mail if you'd be interested in selling the videos on my friend's website ( http://www.grappletv.com ).
We're interested in adding to the list of videos we offer.

ellago@grappletv.com
 
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