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I am relocating my general partnership to Salem, NH. Currently I reside in Wilmington and have filed a DBA here.
I know I need to refile when I move, but when I went to the Salem, NH website it said that Salem does not license businesses (is this the same thing?). Just wanted some clarification on how NH handles DBA (doing business as)... thanks.
As bignhfamily says, you incorporate/register a business with the state; not with the state. BTW, incorporating/registering a business with the state is unrelated to your residency in the state, but rather related to your business having a "nexus" with the state.
If you are an NH resident and you operate your business out of your home, you will most likely need to obtain a business occupation license/permit from your city. (My apologies, I do not know if Wilmington is in NH or not.)
(I notice you say you have filed a DBA where you are now. Perhaps that means you have not incorporated a business entity.)
I currently have a DBA filed in MA. I do operate a business of out my home, but it is a virtual company.. no clients come here. Do I still have to obtain an occupation license? thanks.
I currently have a DBA filed in MA. I do operate a business of out my home, but it is a virtual company.. no clients come here. Do I still have to obtain an occupation license? thanks.
A quick search for "home occupation" on the official site of Wilmington, MA returned a document containing the following text (on Page 22). You need to determine if your situation warrants a permit.
Quote:
4.1.3 Home Occupation - In the residential districts, the practice or conduct of a profession or occupation in an office or arts and crafts in a studio shall be permitted in a dwelling or in an accessory building thereto provided that: (1) the same is conducted, owned and managed by a resident(s) of the premises, (2) no more than one person other than the residents of the dwelling are employed on the premises in connection with the home occupation, (3) the use is clearly accessory to the residential use of the premises, (4) the use is located entirely within the dwelling or accessory building and occupies no more than 25% of the gross floor area of any one floor, (5) no more than ten vehicular trips per day shall be generated by the home occupation, (6) nor more than four persons (exclusive of the residents of the premises or the employee) shall be at the premises at any one time and (7) in the case of a home occupation requiring three or more parking spaces, a site plan is submitted in accordance with Subsection 6.5 Site Plan Review.
Sale to the public of antiques or similar goods such as furniture, household utensils and clothing shall not be permitted except for the sale of such goods as a garage, yard, tag or similar sale and provided that there shall be no more than two such sales, each extending for less than 36 hours, at any premises during a calendar year.
A similar search on the web site of Salem, NH did not bring up any specific information, but I did find a Checklist for New Businesses that says:
Quote:
5. Certificate of Occupancy is required. Application form needs to be submitted 48 hours in advance of occupancy. PERMITTING HOURS are Monday – Friday, 8:30 AM – 9:30 AM and 4:00 PM – 5:00 PM.
Unfortunately, this document does not clarify if the permit is for "home occupation". So, I can only suggest you contact the town if you will need a permit.
These home business are primarily local zoning regulations put in place by the small local governments. No big government involved.
You register your business with the Secretary of State and check with the town of Salem to see if there are any restrictions on doing business out of your home. The former requires a bit of paper, or electronic, work and the latter a visit to Town hall. No big deal.
I can't imagine you needing a permit from the town. Towns and municipalities are more concerned with things like traffic from customers, possible hazardous waste that might be entering the sewer system or storing solvents which the fire depertment needs to be aware of in case there is a fire. If you are just sitting on your computer dealing with customers remotely they could not care less.
Honestly I wish the rural towns would do a little more to regulate some of these businesses that owners are running on their property. There is a guy in Unity who runs a dump off his property who has about 12 large rusted out old trucks and all manner of trash for his neighbors to "enjoy." I'm all for being able to do what you want on your own property, but I think he could at least put up a cheap stockade fence or move the crap back. I guess the town of Unity is ok with looking like one big hazardous waste dump.
I just noticed I mistakenly said state (the second time around) when I should have said city in the following:
Quote:
Originally Posted by SMUR
As bignhfamily says, you incorporate/register a business with the state; not with the state.
Please read the above as:
As bignhfamily says, you incorporate/register a business with the state; not with the city.
Home-occupation regulations are by zoning/planning boards of towns. Practically every Southern NH town I have investigated has some sort of home-occupation regulation. Some (for example, Nashua) even distinguish between minor and major occupations. Some require only a declaration of minor occupation; but require an application followed by an inspection for major occupation.
(Wilmington, MA does not appear to require a permit for what-is-typically-called minor home occupation.)
One important consideration: I would not classify telecommuting a home occupation, if I use computer, phone, and other reasonable equipment I would use at my office desk; I do not routinely meet people at home for my work; and my telecommuting do not generate unreasonable vehicular traffic in my neighborhood. In this case, there will be a business registered somewhere else and the business will have all the permits that somewhere-else needs.
SMUR your last paragraph describes an LLC run out of my home. The business is registered in NH as being at my home address. It didn't even occur to me to ask the town if a license is required.
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