I'd like information on how to start a All In One catering company.

All of your tax registrations, from top to bottom, serve the same purpose. Registering the existence of your company, as well as opening the account into which you will be paying the taxes you are now registered for. Both parts are essential.

For Example:

Arnold opens a business catering, but doesn't file for his tax permits. He makes profit, and pays his employees, doing everything bhy the book despite his lack of permits. But come tax day, when Arnold tries to pay his taxes, no one will recognize the existence of his company and let him file. They will instead tax him, with no ability to claim reductions. Whats more, without employee ID numbers, Arnolds company will be taxed for the money it paid in wages despite no longer having that money.

Services would include: Beverages (non- alcoholic), Food (Courses), Decorating (For parties, weddings and other occasions (party/ special occasions planner))

This kind of business requires licensing from the top to the bottom, covering every level of filings and a certain amount of protection. It's no small matter, but the rewards of such a process far outweigh the costs. Indeed, the advantages to doing things right will make the difference in tough times.

As a business with both taxable services and goods, you will need not just a Federal Tax ID, but also a State Tax ID and a Sellers Permit to properly prepare you for your tax return filings.

Of course, should you choose to expand and employ more people, you will need to be properly licensed for it, which requires a Federal Employer Identification Number, as well as a State Employer Tax ID.

Now the most essential part of all of this is deciding on your business structure. If you simply want to establish yourself, then you file for a DBA, but if you want legal and financial protection, as well as a larger amount of control over your affairs, nothing short of an LLC or Corporation filing will do.

Once you have all of that, it comes time to license your business locally with a Business Tax registration. This is found at the city and county level and is just as essential for your business as everything that came before.

03 - Since you are selling food and catering services, here are the licenses and tax ids you are legally required to obtain before starting catering operations:

1. A business tax registration license

2. A DBA assumed business name

3. A federal tax id number also is required in most state for those that they get a seller's permit, and if you are a partnership or you want to use it instead of you social security number to open a bank account.

Also, note that forming an llc or incorporating eliminates the requirement of getting a dba. It is a good idea to form an llc to avoid personal liability from business transactions. Since you are dealing in food and catering services, you will need

4. A seller's permit.

Simply go online to www.businessnameusa.com and complete our three step process to obtain your licenses, starting with our questionaire, followed by the business information form, and finishing with the payment form, and we will begin processing your order imediately.

We can be reached one of three ways:

By phone between 9am-5pm PDT Mondays through Fridays at 310-455-6675

By snail mail at P.O. Box 14927, Long Beach CA, 90853

Or online at www.businessnameusa.com

It is essential for a small business of your type to not just file for a DBA, but to expand to an LLC or Corp. Why? Simple.

Let's go back to Arnold. Arnold has a catering business, and wants to do business across county lines. With a DBA he can, but if he can't stop someone else from opening an identically named catering business in the next county and advertyise based on his reputation as a caterer. Even worse, this other caterer does terrible work under Arnolds name, and hurts his business. Now if Arnold had an LLC or a Corp, he would be protected across the entire state, as well as having a wide range of legal liability protections to insulate him from his business.

In a continued effort to offer maximum service at the lowest prices possible, we have recently lowered our already basement prices, reducing sellers permit costs by $20.00, and including LLC and Corporation formation despite offering full service including bylaw, name and agreement filing as part of our package services.