TaxEsqBlog -by Ronald J. Cappuccio, J.D., LL.M.(Tax)

Supreme Court issues an Opinion Allowing States to Force online US Retailers to Collect Sales Tax What a disaster for US online businesses! In SD v. Wayfair, the US Supreme Court slapped online retailers the burden of collecting Sales Tax on sales out-of-state. This means small businesses must comply with thousands of state and local sales tax rates and the different laws of each jurisdiction. This was backed by the big online companies such as Amazon, Apple, Walmart, as well as the big storefront retailers. Compliance will be next to impossible with expensive services and will drive small US online companies out of business, jacking-up prices for consumers. The large online companies and non-US companies will have a big advantage.  Starting a new online business means many people will choose a foreign entity and complicated ownership structures to remain competitive. Poor decision! The full case: https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/17pdf/17-494...

Basic Entities in the United States. Anyone, even a non-US citizen and non-US resident can establish a sole proprietorship. This is simply operating the business under your own name. You have personal liability for the actions of any employees or any actions taken in the name of the business. The business can also have a trade name also known as a " doing business as" name which is typically filed with the state. The advantage of a sole proprietorship is simplicity. There is not much you need to do to set up the business other than obtaining a tax identification number and possibly a trade name certificate from the state. Depending on how the services are rendered are rendered, there may be some licenses that are required but for most online businesses that it is not necessary. Another advantage of the sole proprietorship is that it is taxed on the individual tax return. There is no double taxation. The sole proprietorship is simply taxed at the individual level for both ...

Unlike many countries, you do not have to be a citizen of the United States, or a resident, in order to establish a business in the US. A non-US citizen and resident establish a business without having any kind of immigration visa or any special. That person will be treated the same as a resident and citizen of the US. Also unlike many countries, the United States, is exactly what its name indicates: "states". Each of the 50 states, and the District of Columbia have different laws and requirements for establishing a corporation, limited liability company, limited partnership or any of the various business entities. Also just because a business is established in one state does not mean that it is authorized to set up an office, warehouse or manufacturing plant in another state. For example if an online business were established in Delaware, and decided to have a warehouse employees in New York, you need to have that Delaware corporation or LLC authorized to do business in N...