# Questions for starting my clothing line



## qnzillwill (Aug 4, 2011)

hey guys,

Im starting a clothing line, and i was confused with some things. For me to buy shirts wholesale off Alstyles, i must have a DBA and Resale number. I know i have to get a trademark for my brand name. I was confused about the business licenses. I see theres sole proprietorships, LLCS, C-corp, S-corp etc. Is a DBA a different kind of lisence rather than an LLC and sole proprietorship, or is it something you buy on top of the lisence you already have? Can i just get a DBA and star from there? I need something that will give me my tax id, have my business name filed, and let me use my name. Also, when signing up for a LLC it said that the company name must have LLC after it. Does this mean I have to put LLC behind it everytime it is used? If so, what kind of lisence can i get that i dont have to do this for or one that other clothing brands use? (I am starting the business by myself not selling at a store but by hand and website) But i plan on it progressing to the point where i will have my own store selling my brand with employees. Also, how do taxes work? I heard when selling off a site, you can only tax the consumers from your state. Do I get taxed every month and have my tax payment determined by me writing down how much i make annually? How do they know how much to tax me?

Thank you for your help.


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## Vetta1 (Oct 14, 2011)

qnzillwill said:


> hey guys,
> 
> Im starting a clothing line, and i was confused with some things. For me to buy shirts wholesale off Alstyles, i must have a DBA and Resale number. I know i have to get a trademark for my brand name. I was confused about the business licenses. I see theres sole proprietorships, LLCS, C-corp, S-corp etc. Is a DBA a different kind of lisence rather than an LLC and sole proprietorship, or is it something you buy on top of the lisence you already have? Can i just get a DBA and star from there? I need something that will give me my tax id, have my business name filed, and let me use my name. Also, when signing up for a LLC it said that the company name must have LLC after it. Does this mean I have to put LLC behind it everytime it is used? If so, what kind of lisence can i get that i dont have to do this for or one that other clothing brands use? (I am starting the business by myself not selling at a store but by hand and website) But i plan on it progressing to the point where i will have my own store selling my brand with employees. Also, how do taxes work? I heard when selling off a site, you can only tax the consumers from your state. Do I get taxed every month and have my tax payment determined by me writing down how much i make annually? How do they know how much to tax me?
> 
> Thank you for your help.


Good questions especially the last part about the taxes--that's what I've been trying to find some more info on--I've been on the IRS site and Dept. of Revenue site for my state and all that tax talk is confusing. Trying to figure everything out on my own without having to hire someone lol, since I am looking into just doing a small home based business. Everything else I am more familiar with now that I've been researching on here  Too bad it's been a couple of months and nobody still hasn't answer your question.


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## kimura-mma (Jul 26, 2008)

A DBA is a type of business registration. If you are a sole proprietorship, you can register a DBA instead of an LLC or Corp. This will allow you to get a Tax ID number and any other paperwork that your state requires.

If you choose to register an LLC, then you need to use the LLC suffix for any corporate matters. If you also have a trade name (or brand name), then it does not need to be used when using the trade name. For example, you would use the LLC on corporate letterhead, invoices, etc. It does not need to be used on hangtags, t-shirt designs, ads, etc.

For online sales, you only collect sales tax for orders that ship within your own state. You charge them the appropriate % based on their county. If you sell by hand, you also need to collect sales tax for those sales. Again, you would charge the % based on the county you're in when making the sale. Then every period (depends on the state, but I believe most are quarterly), you submit the collected sales tax to the state tax office.

And then every year, you need to report your earnings on a yearly tax return. As a sole proprietor, you may be able to include it on your personal return instead of filing a separate business return. Check with a local accountant to be sure.


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## Vetta1 (Oct 14, 2011)

Thanks Tim, you summed it up very nicely.


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