David Eig posted a new question on 6/13/2009
I was wondering if, as a sole proprietor, would I need a company name and Fed ID? I was hoping to just use my name . . . what is your advice with that idea?
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Jerry McMahan Responded on 6/13/2009
You can use your own name for the business. You might want to register it, however, as a "DBA" so that other people could not use it for business purposes. As for the Federal ID, you have it. It is called your social security number. You will use that for tax purposes.
Ryan Gyure Responded on 6/14/2009
In short, the answer is no. You only need to apply for an EIN under a few circumstances.
1. Do you have employees?
2. Operate a Corporation or Partnership
3. File: Employment, Excise, or Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms Tax.
4. Withhold taxes
5. Have Keogh plan.
Source: http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/article/0,,id=97872,00.html
Henry McCabe Responded on 6/15/2009
David,
Most states require that any business which operates under a name other than that of the legal entity of the business register the name of the business as a fictitious or doing business as name. For example a proprieter named John Smith who ran a business called Smitty's Lawn Service would have to register that name. It is a way of making sure that the public can identify the actual owner of the business. Similarly, if a corporation called JS Inc. operated Smitty's Lawn Service, it would have to register the dba in addition to the corporate name.
Henry McCabe
SCORE Counselor
