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New NY Business Info Page

I’ve grouped all the info I’ve posted for NY businesses in one easy to find place–find this page any time using the gold link on the right side of the page:

NY Sales Tax & Business Registration


If you need help with sales tax & business laws for 33 other states in the USA, please see here:

US: Sales Tax & Business Registration
Links to official state websites

Don’t see your state? Leave a comment on that post and I’ll update it as soon as possible for you.


GoToGreatPanes--glass coaster kit, stained glass sheild, hanging bat, celtic knot

Do I Need to File a Tax Return?

There’s so many people asking if they need to report their online income on their income taxes that I thought linking to this IRS app that will help you determine if you need to file (or if you should because of a benefit to you even though you don’t have to) might be useful.

It is set up for tax year 2009, but should still give you a good idea if you need to file:

Do I Need to File a Tax Return?

There are other questionnaires like this on the IRS site too:

Interactive Tax Assistant (ITA)

If you need to file, you’ll need to report all your income. The following post should be helpful to you:

Getting Ready to File Your Income Taxes?



Sales Tax & Business Registration Updates

I’ve been working on the sales tax & business registration page and we’re now linking to official websites of 32 states! See them by clicking below or clicking the link in the right sidebar:

US: Sales Tax & Business Registration
Links to Official Government Websites

Some of the new states include:

Alaska
Idaho
Maryland
North Dakota
Missouri

If you don’t see what you need please leave a comment and I’ll see if I can find the info for you and add it to the page.

Getting Ready to File Your Income Taxes?


Visit our Etsy shop: GoTo
Go To Great Panes, Kathryn Maloney ©2011
This post is copyrighted–you do not have permission to repost this content elsewhere but you are welcome to link to it if you’d like to share the information.

It’s that time of year! Lots of folks looking for info on getting their records ready for income taxes–the links below should help. (Links open in a new window.)

Help for downloading your Etsy & Paypal records:

Etsy: Download your Sales and Billing Data to a Spreadsheet

Download Your Paypal History

You’ll need a program with a spreadsheet to open csv files. If you don’t already have one this is great free software which has a spreadsheet available:

Open Office

You might also find the IRS publications listed here helpful for figuring out what goes where on your income taxes:

Help for Filing Federal Income Taxes for Your Small Business

And if you haven’t registered with your state yet (or on a more local level like city or county), you might want to check into the requirements for people selling from your area–the laws are different everywhere.

What you consider your hobby might be considered a business by the government, and their opinion is the one that counts… :)

US Sellers: Sales Tax & Business Registration

Go To Great Panes, Kathryn Maloney ©2011
This post is copyrighted–you do not have permission to repost this content elsewhere but you are welcome to link to it if you’d like to share the information.


Go To Supplies
Visit our 2nd Etsy shop: GoToSupplies

2010 Holiday Shipping Cut Off Dates


Visit our Etsy shop: GoTo
Go To Great Panes, Kathryn Maloney ©2010


Holiday Shipping Deadlines
from the US Postal Service–click here:



2010 Holiday Shipping
Cut Off Dates



For more shipping tips see our main “Shipping” page–see the gold links on the right or click here:
Shipping Basics



Paypal Express + New Etsy Checkout = Upgrade to PP Business Account Notices

Bats from GoTo's Etsy shop

Go To Great Panes, Kathryn Maloney ©2010
This post is copyrighted–you do not have permission to repost this content elsewhere but you are welcome to link to it if you’d like to share the information.

Etsy’s new checkout is using Paypal Express which requires sellers to have a business account (or premier account).

Lots of folks who have been selling on Etsy have been accepting their payments through their personal Paypal accounts and are now receiving an email when they get a sale telling them they need to upgrade their PP account to a business account.

These aren’t spoof emails, it’s a requirement of Paypal Express Checkout. From their site, to sign up for Express Checkout:

“What do I need to do?”

“Create a Business account.
Takes 3-5 minutes. We’ll need details about your business, and the personal information of the business owner(s)….”

Source: Paypal Express Checkout

You can see here what the purpose of each account is on the Paypal account sign-up page:
Paypal Registration Page

(Since you were always supposed to have a business or premier account for selling, this isn’t really a new thing, just many folks are newly aware of it. :) )



Go To Great Panes, Kathryn Maloney ©2010
This post is copyrighted–you do not have permission to repost this content elsewhere but you are welcome to link to it if you’d like to share the information.

Can I ship jewelry through International First Class Mail?


Visit our Etsy shop: GoTo
Go To Great Panes, Kathryn Maloney ©2010
This post is copyrighted–you do not have permission to repost this content elsewhere but you are welcome to link to it if you’d like to share the information.

One of the most common shipping questions is whether or not jewelry can be shipped via International First Class Mail.

So long as the destination country allows jewelry to be imported, you can send it International First Class Mail if it is of “nominal value”. The US Postal Service website doesn’t define nominal value exactly–here’s what they do say…

The dollar-limit you can send via
International First Class Mail is $400.00:
International Mail Manual (IMM)
2 Conditions for Mailing
240 First-Class Mail International
242 Eligibility

d. The maximum value for dutiable merchandise is $400. Items exceeding $400 must be mailed using Global Express Guaranteed service, Express Mail International service, or Priority Mail International service (but not with the Priority Mail International Flat Rate Envelope or Small Flat Rate Box).

Source: http://pe.usps.gov/text/imm/immc2_017.htm

and “valuable articles” must be sent International Priority Mail or faster services–this doesn’t include inexpensive jewelry or costume jewelry:
International Mail Manual
1 International Mail Services
130 Mailability
134 Valuable Articles

134.2 List of Articles

d. Manufactured and unmanufactured platinum, gold, and silver.

e. Precious stones, jewels, jewelry, watches, and other valuable articles.
Note: The term ‘jewelry’ is generally understood to denote articles of more than nominal value. Inexpensive jewelry, watches, such as tie clasps and costume jewelry, containing little or no precious metal, is not considered to be jewelry within the meaning of this section and is accepted under the same conditions as other mailable merchandise to any country. Inexpensive jewelry is accepted to countries that prohibit jewelry, but only at the sender’s risk.

Source: http://pe.usps.gov/text/imm/immc1_012.htm



For more shipping tips see our main “Shipping” page–see the gold links on the right or click here:
Shipping Basics



Go To Supplies
Visit our 2nd Etsy shop: GoToSupplies

Treasuries!

I’m pleased to put up a few treasuries we’re currently in–thanks to both RetroActiveTreasures & SanDesign for the heads up about the treasuries & including our work!


Click the image to go to the treasury!

Aliens

Aliens

and

A Little Get Together.

A Little Get Together--Click for the treasury!

Three more states added–KS, OH & IN


The Sales Tax & Business Registration
link page is up to 25 states now, just added:
Indiana
Kansas
Ohio


GoToGreatPanes' Etsy shop


Have Trouble with Destination-based
Sales Tax on Etsy?
We do too.

GoToGreatPanes' Etsy shop

Go To Great Panes, Kathryn Maloney ©2010
This post is copyrighted–you do not have permission to repost this content elsewhere but you are welcome to link to it if you’d like to share the information.

Etsy has updated their new sales tax feature so that it is at least as suitable for sellers as Paypal’s sales tax was which is great, but for some of us it’s still not usable.

If you live in a state that has sales tax based on the buyer’s address (destination-based) and the rate is determined by political boundaries–like counties or cities–and not on 5 digit zip codes, you may still be stuck.

Several states are set up this way including New York, Florida, South Carolina, Washington and others, and in these states some 5 digit zip codes cross county or city lines, meaning that two ship-to addresses in the same 5 digit zip code should be charged different sales tax rates.

Neither Etsy nor Paypal is set up to accommodate this issue so in-state buyers must be billed manually by sellers registered in most of these states if you want your tax collected accurately and need the receipt to show the actual tax due & collected.

Washington sellers are lucky–their state allows them a little lee-way when collecting sales tax through sites that aren’t set up to deal with the full 9 digit zip codes (see here for info) a few states have similar breaks for sellers, but many of us aren’t so lucky.

If you are in the same position as we are and are wondering what to do, here’s the only way I can find to make collecting tax accurately work:

  1. Offer “other” as a payment option in your Etsy shop,
  2. ask in-state buyers to select “other” as the method of payment in your listings & shop policies, then
  3. send them an email invoice with the sales tax rate for their ship-to address: Sending a Paypal Invoice



Go To Great Panes, Kathryn Maloney ©2010
This post is copyrighted–you do not have permission to repost this content elsewhere but you are welcome to link to it if you’d like to share the information.