Taxes.... Sorry To Curse But I Have A Question

Do you need a tax ID if you are just grooming lawns? also how or do you need to charge taxes (sorry for cursing again) Right now we are only going to provide a service of grooming lawns we will not be selling any supplies like fertilizer, mulch, or irrigation systems. We are in the process of designing our door hangers to begin marketing door to door. We are also going to be sending a mailer or go in person to all real estate business's in our area next week or so but we need to find out the tax situation (sorry for cursing again) out first. We are very excited to get going we bought a new 1040 cub cadet, and will buy a new stihl weed eater when we get our first job. anyways looking forward to your thoughts Justin

Lawn care business tips

I think you are confused about tax id's. In order to work legally in the U.S. you MUST have a business license and if you are not a corporation, your social security number IS your tax id. So yes you need to have a tax id. You wont be collecting taxes on services but uncle sam will let you know how much you owe him at the end of the year.

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Last edited by clarklandscaping; 07-06-2008 at 09:38 PM.

[Steve]

Hi Justin,

Welcome to our forum. I think Shane answered your question on that one.

What got you to start your own lawn care company?

Thank you for clearing that up I figured I would have to pay income tax but I wasnt sure on taxes since it was a service I have always owned a business from skateboard shop to a tea cafe. I am 38 and just last year sold our 3,000 square foot commercial building that had 2 - 3 bedroom apartments and a full basement. So decided to do something different this time around and do a more cash based business I looked at buying and running tattoo shops but cant trust what I dont see plus my wife owns and operates her own press and marketing company ( Smooth Printing ) so i decided it we time for this small investment after hearing about this forum I started doing research and it only made since

Justin

I'm not sure if the system works differently in the states, and I think this was touched on already.

Where I live in Canada, you are supposed to have a business license for mowing lawns, which is governed by the municipality (probably done by the county in the US), but there are tons of random Asian landscapers who drive around in unmarked vans mowing lawns that clearly are not licensed/insured and no one seems to get mad at them. That being said, if you are making over a certain amount of money annually (I think it's $30,000 in Canada) you have to charge the federal government sales taxes (the Goods and Services Tax)...although this information is probably useless to you, what I'm trying to get at is that some sales taxes is simply for "stuff" only, whereas some is meant to be billed on any paid item/service, etc. depending on your jurisdiction.

Thank you I really appreciate all the input I figured I should ask here instead of asking at the tax ( sorry for cursing again ) place.....

Thank you
Justin