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Georgia is known as one of the biggest hubs for small startups. Home Depot and Coca-Cola are some of the most renowned business names originating from here. The Peach state invites small startups to grow healthily without any difficulties. Getting a business license in GA (Georgia) is pretty simple if you do everything legally. The state cooperation of Georgia acts as the first window for business information in Georgia. It helps to resolve as well as minimize any issue related to the business licenses. It offers a clearing room to get all the doubts cleared regarding the license. It works in coordination with the local, state, and central resources. The Georgia state office has also issued a downloadable file known as the First stop Business Guide in order to clear the doubts of individuals and the emerging firms denoting all the legal and regulatory guidelines.
The emerging entrepreneurs and the individuals who want to start a business from a new end can take the knowledge and the resources from the Business development university of Georgia which can provide business education and also gives you the opportunity to take part in the development initiatives and programs. The community affairs department of Georgia can give you ideas regarding the economic affairs including the internal and the external affairs for the business licensing in Georgia.
Georgia Business- License, registrations, and permits
Whenever you start a business you should make sure that you register the name of your company in Georgia’s federal office and other government agencies. In order to make the course of your business hurdle-free and without any legal errors you should have a clear idea about the permits, registrations as well as a business license in Georgia. Hence to make your understanding better we have got a detailed analysis for getting a Business License in Georgia:
Tax regulation Guidelines
The owners of the business must get the taxation number both from the federal as well as the state. All the companies operating in Georgia are bound to get the business license with all the permits and registration certificates when starting the business. Avoidance of such guidelines may lead to serious consequences. The license and the permits also act as certificates for the tax holding and insurance tax of unemployment. There are some of the other taxes also like the franchise tax and the income tax. You should get detailed information about all of these before registration. If you want to know more you can visit the official website of the Georgia Department for the revenue.
Registration of Business License
It is for the small business owners to apply for the business registrations and other relevant types of business you want to carry out. For example, if you run a restaurant, pub, or bar in which you would be selling alcohol and alcoholic beverages then you must get an alcohol license in order to sell alcohol or commonly known as liquor in Georgia. The business must apply for the service license if they want to charge any membership fees or any other deals to the customers. The services costs of buying are usually valid for one year and costs around $50. It is the responsibility of the owner to renew the license every year without fail. You learn and understand by visiting the official site of the service license department or you can download the app via georgia.gov.
DBA or fictitious name filing
In order to run a business under any business name which should be different from your own name, you must register the name in the supreme court of the Country in the department of Clerks for any business conduct. There is no need to apply for the DBA if you are a non-profit firm or corporation, a short-term partnership company, or a short-term liability company.
Incorporation filing
You can use your own name as the business name when you are running your business in Georgia. If they do not want to use their real name but some other name, then they need to file an application at the corporation division of the state to register the fictional name. In the case of a sole proprietorship, the head of the owner may not register the name in the department of the state.
Employer Regulations
The owners of the business must follow the guidelines of Georgia in order to hire the employees. Some of them are listed below-
- Income Tax guidelines: It is a must for business owners to get a record of the tax holdings of the workers or the employees for efficient tax-paying and bookkeeping. Employers should ensure that each employee has signed the income tax holding document which is known as the Form-W4 at the time when they join the business.
- Eligibility Verification: The federal system guides the employers to get the employee’s verification signed at the time of joining. The form is known as the I-9 form which will ensure whether the person is eligible to work in Georgia legally or not. The form’s duration to be filled is within 3 days of their employment and this regulation should be followed by both the citizens and the non-citizens of the US.
- The hiring of a new Employee: It is the sole responsibility of the owner of the business to report any new employee which they have hired or re-hired under the Georgia New Hire Program. They can use online mode for the reporting. The employers must notify about the tax holdings, the wages of each of the employees annually without fail. The report may be filed online via email. The temporary or the subsidiary companies should also report the hiring of a new employee.
Thus, getting a business license in Georgia is simple if you follow all the proceedings in the correct order legally. Before starting a business, you should curate all the expenses and license details to have a smooth run of your business.