Signing up for Doba…and a State Sales Tax ID

While I’m waiting to be approved by Authorize.net so I can take credit cards directly, rather than just through PayPal and Google Checkout (both of which are already set up) let’s set up a Doba account, shall we?

There are two packages to choose from, one for $50/month and the other for $60/month. I’m the type of guy who often just goes for the more expensive option when the price is that low, but I’ve been getting cheaper and cheaper the older I get, so let’s actually take a look at the differences…well, really, there is only one difference I care about, which is the “custom product exports”, and yes, that looks like something I’m going to want, so I will sign up for the more expensive option after all.

Creating my account was quick and easy. But now I’m logged in and not sure exactly what to do…webinar? Nah. Education center? Boring. Blog? Nope. Let’s just click on “settings” and see what’s there. Ok, I’m filling things out…oh yeah, I guess I need a state tax ID/reseller’s permit. Luckily Doba has a link straight to the website, although geez, you can tell when you’re dealing with the government as opposed to a private enterprise. How about a big button that says “Click here to get your reseller permit!” Nope, none of that. Have to figure it out. But at least it can all be done online. I remember having to drive 45 minutes each way to Salt Lake City from Provo, Utah when I started my first business 10 years ago to fill out paperwork.

Alrighty…this is taking forever, and I’m not sure I’m going down the right path. I already have a corporation, I just need a sales tax id, but it seems like I’m applying to set up a new corporation all over again, so I think I’m going to need to get some outside help on this one. Darn it, this shouldn’t be this hard.

Ok, I had to use the phone. I don’t like using the phone, but I did. Kathy at the Utah State Tax Commission knew immediately what I needed, which is form TC-69, which, in my situation, has to be filled out offline and sent or walked in. No online process for me. If I didn’t already own a business I could do it all at once, online, but apparently if you already own a business then to do this supplementary step it needs to be done offline. Well, it’s printing, and I’ll be filling it out…by hand…with a pen…and then faxing it in, like a caveman or something.

So I’m filling out the form, and apparently because I have an S-Corp that means I have to attach a copy of my “IRS approval letter”. Great, I don’t know what that is or where it is…ok, time to contact my accountant and see if he has a copy of it.  Or maybe I should just set up a separate sole proprietorship for this experiment instead of trying to run it through my existing corporation. But that’s going to have to be tomorrow, because I’m out of time for today.

Update Friday, 15-Jan-10: Talked to my accountant and he recommended I run everything through my existing company rather than set up a new sole proprietorship.  He also helped me get in touch with the IRS about the s-corp approval letter. Turns out they don’t keep copies of the letter, and can’t re-generate it because it only can be generated when the initial approval is made (your government, using leading edge technology for the economy of today!), but they can send out other forms of documentation to prove you are an s-corp, so that will be in the mail next week to me, at which point I can submit the paper application for my sales tax ID, which hopefully I’ve filled out correctly (it’s hard to know), and then on the paper it says it will take around 15 days for me to get my ID. Great. Well, maybe it will take me that long to get the site designed and up and running anyway.

Update Thursday, 28-Jan-10: How government hurts small business.