Husband / Wife, Joint Venture?
larry....@gmail.com
this whole starting a business thing.
My wife and I want to start up a small business. We've
already gone out and got a DBA now I'm wondering what I need
to do next.
1. I was reading since my wife and I will be the only
employees we can be considered a join venture per a new law
passed in 2007. Is this true?
2. Do we need to get a new Tax Id for this business?
3. Is it best to have a seperate bank account?
Any other resources I can be pointed to would also help
greatly. If any of these questions should be posted
elsewhere please let me know
Thanks!
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Benjamin Yazersky CPA
> Hello please bear with me I'm trying to wrap my head around
> this whole starting a business thing.
>
> My wife and I want to start up a small business. We've
> already gone out and got a DBA now I'm wondering what I need
> to do next.
>
> 1. I was reading since my wife and I will be the only
> employees we can be considered a join venture per a new law
> passed in 2007. Is this true?
> 2. Do we need to get a new Tax Id for this business?
> 3. Is it best to have a seperate bank account?
>
> Any other resources I can be pointed to would also help
> greatly. If any of these questions should be posted
> elsewhere please let me know
The first thing you should do is find a local CPA/tax
advisor to help you with your planning & tax preparation
issues.
Per the 2007 tax law, a husband & wife in a business
together may be able to file a sch c instead of a
partnership tax return for their business. There may be
issues to deal with if your business is an LLC. Exactly how
some states are going to treat it is still being figured
out.
You will likely need a EIN for your business. You may have
to register in some form or fashion with your state as well.
Having a separate bank account for business use is normally
a good idea.
___________________________________
<<< Benjamin Yazersky, CPA [NJ & NY] >>>
-----> real address on hobokeni or hobokenx <-----
Paul Thomas, CPA
> Hello please bear with me I'm trying to wrap my head
> around this whole starting a business thing.
>
> My wife and I want to start up a small business. We've
> already gone out and got a DBA now I'm wondering
> what I need to do next.
>
> 1. I was reading since my wife and I will be the only
> employees
You are not an employee of your business venture.
Understand what that means.
> we can be considered a join venture per a new law
> passed in 2007. Is this true?
Yes, in that regard you don't have to file a partnership
return, but you each file a Schedule C reporting yoru share
of the business revenues and expenses. This isn't always
easy, to consult a CPA or EA in yoru area.
> 2. Do we need to get a new Tax Id for this business?
The Schedule C's contain your separate SSN's.
> 3. Is it best to have a seperate bank account?
It's always best to separate business from personal.
It may not be practical to do so in very small business
activities.
--
Paul A. Thomas, CPA
Athens, Georgia
John L
> out and got a DBA now I'm wondering what I need to do next.
So far, so good.
> 1. I was reading since my wife and I will be the only employees we
> can be considered a join venture per a new law passed in 2007. Is
> this true?
That seems unlikely. Assuming you file your personal taxes
jointly, you would normally treat a business like this as a
sole proprietorship and pay the taxes on Schedule C of your
personal return.
> 2. Do we need to get a new Tax Id for this business?
Yes. Visit www.irs.gov, click the link "Online EIN
Application" and you can get one in about a minute. The
only reason not to get a new EIN is if the two of you
already have an EIN for a previous business in which case
you'd use that EIN.
> 3. Is it best to have a seperate bank account?
Yes, it's a big help to keep the records straight. Also,
your bank is unlikely to allow you to deposit a check made
out to the DBA into your personal account, nor to let you
get a credit card merchant account without a business
account to link it to. (Been there.)
Regards,
John Levine, jo...@iecc.com, Primary Perpetrator of "The Internet for Dummies",
Information Superhighwayman wanna-be, http://www.johnlevine.com, ex-Mayor
"More Wiener schnitzel, please", said Tom, revealingly.
mak...@gmail.com
> <larry....@gmail.com> wrote:
>> Hello please bear with me I'm trying to wrap my head around
>> this whole starting a business thing.
>>
>> My wife and I want to start up a small business. We've
>> already gone out and got a DBA now I'm wondering what I need
>> to do next.
>>
>> 1. I was reading since my wife and I will be the only
>> employees we can be considered a join venture per a new law
>> passed in 2007. Is this true?
[...]
> Per the 2007 tax law, a husband & wife in a business
> together may be able to file a sch c instead of a
> partnership tax return for their business. There may be
> issues to deal with if your business is an LLC. Exactly how
> some states are going to treat it is still being figured
> out.
>
> You will likely need a EIN for your business. You may have
> to register in some form or fashion with your state as well.
Paul Thomas got it right. The new federal law allows a
taxpayer and spouse to each file a Schedule C for a joint
venture, instead of a partnership return. Previously this
was only allowed in community property states.
There is no such thing as a "joint" Schedule C, just as
there is no joint self-employment tax. Each spouse must
account for his or her share of self-employment net profit
and pay SE tax accordingly. Two Schedule C's, in other
words.
The EIN is a two-edged blade. It can help for superficial
privacy (you don't have to put your SSN on 1099-MISC forms)
and should be used for self-employed retirement accounts.
On the other hand frequently the IRS thinks EIN = employees,
so they will dog you every quarter to file an employee wage
and withholding return.
-Mark B.
Mark Bole
> <larry....@gmail.com> wrote:
>> Hello please bear with me I'm trying to wrap my head around
>> this whole starting a business thing.
>>
>> My wife and I want to start up a small business. We've
>> already gone out and got a DBA now I'm wondering what I need
>> to do next.
>>
>> 1. I was reading since my wife and I will be the only
>> employees we can be considered a join venture per a new law
>> passed in 2007. Is this true?
[...]
> Per the 2007 tax law, a husband & wife in a business
> together may be able to file a sch c instead of a
> partnership tax return for their business. There may be
> issues to deal with if your business is an LLC. Exactly how
> some states are going to treat it is still being figured
> out.
>
> You will likely need a EIN for your business. You may have
> to register in some form or fashion with your state as well.
Paul Thomas got it right. The new federal law allows a
taxpayer and spouse to each file a Schedule C for a joint
venture, instead of a partnership return. Previously this
was only allowed in community property states.
There is no such thing as a "joint" Schedule C, just as
there is no joint self-employment tax. Each spouse must
account for his or her share of self-employment net profit
and pay SE tax accordingly. Two Schedule C's, in other
words.
The EIN is a two-edged blade. It can help for superficial
privacy (you don't have to put your SSN on 1099-MISC forms)
and should be used for self-employed retirement accounts.
On the other hand frequently the IRS thinks EIN = employees,
so they will dog you every quarter to file an employee wage
and withholding return.
-Mark B.
<< ------------------------------------------------------- >>
Harlan Lunsford
> [...]
From what I've heard of the new law, yes indeed, only one
schedule c need be filed in any state, communistic or
regular type state. Then separate schedule se's may be
filed, divying up the profit for SE tax purposes.
More to come.
ChEAr$,
Harlan Lunsford, EA n LA