I'm in NC....and have been told that I do not need a license from the state to operate a bakery out of my home....just also found out I don't need one from the county...this seems odd to me...but I'll go with it...anyone else in NC have any information

who told you?

I spoke with someone at the Franklin county planning and inspections as well as someone from the Secretary of State office

I was told that some counties or cities do require a license but that Franklin county does not

littlecake....are you in NC too?

no, i'm not in NC....call the health dept tomorrow, they have the final word on the rules.

they will tell you all the requirements...it varies from county to county here too.

Good Luck....I hope you don't have to have a separate kitchen, only a handful of states allow you to use the family kitchen.

http://www.agr.state.nc.us/fooddrug/food/homebiz.htm

heres a link i copied from the sticky above your post.

Thanks for the info!!! I've already had the health inspector come out to the house and she said that's all I needed. It just seems way to easy to me.....I know there are people on here from NC....wish they saw this and could help. Thanks for responding!!

Spoonful -

Try adding NC to your subject line and see if some tarheels will come help.

I'm interested in this topic also. I'm in Charlotte.

btw, how was the inspection? What types of things did they look for? Is there some sort of checklist? I'm trying to get my kitchen inspection ready, but am not sure how to prepare.

if you got the health dept over with....you're good to go.....some places are just easier than others.

i have a storefront and didn't need a business lic. in oklahoma.

do they tax food in nc?...if they do you'll need a tax # , so you can send in your sales tax every month.

LUCKY YOU....looks like you got an EASY BUTTON.

for some reason i don't have the edit option...I know I've seen it there before...oh well

the inspection wasn't bad at all.....they just check my mixer, utincils, pans and the temp in my fridge....I also have an extra bedroom that I turned into a place for consultations and storage so she inspected that too....as long as your kitchen is really clean you will be fine

That's how it is in NH too, though I do have a food service license as a result of my inspection. Some towns have their own separate inspections, but my town doesn't. We have to register our business with the state as well, so you might want to call your secretary of state and make sure that you don't have to file with them for tax purposes. You have state tax down there in NC right? I would imagine that the state will require something of you.

Good luck!!

(oh.. and you can only edit your post for a few hours after your write it. After that you are stuck with it as is)

I'm not in NC, but check with Dept. of AG.

Mike

Does anyone know about SC?

From my experience, none of the departments seem to know about the others. There's no central checklist(it would be awesome if there were). I started with the county health dept...."no, there's no permit or license that we can issue for that..." so, I called the state, "we'll send someone out..." after the inspection, I was told, "you're good to go. you are now a business" I kid you not. I, like you, thought....there has GOT to be more to it than that....and there is....nothing major though unless you forget one and they find out about you before you find out about them.



inspection-dept. of ag

business permit-city hall

notarized copy of application for business name-any public notary-form available as a pdf here-http://www.nccommerce.com/en/BusinessServices/StartYourBusiness/Forms/

register business name-registar of deeds-courthouse(?)

check with county tax assessor to see if you must file a Business Personal Property Tax form that lists items used to produce your product(this one truly pisses me off...but that is soooooooo another vent)...pans, spatulas, bowls, mixers, oven, refrigerator, freezer......not all counties assess this tax. I just happen to be in one that does.

Register with ncdor-http://www.dornc.com/taxes/sales/who.html

The point at which you decide to go from giving them away to selling them, is the point you should become legal, regardless of the income. At some point...like 3 years, if your earnings are less than a certain amount you are considered a hobbyist. I don't recall who determines this or what the amount is.

Thank you soooooo much all4cake!!! I thought it was just me. I did register my name with the register of deeds but I do need to look into the tax stuff.

I knew it seemed way too easy!

Thanks again to everyone who replied!

Yay! Thanks for this NC information. Your are so generous to share!

yep, ya'll got the bppt too...

http://www.co.franklin.nc.us/Pdf/Tax%20Form.pdf

I didn't know about it either until I'd been doing business for like 18 months...filing taxes every 3 months...end of year fed and state tax returns...I get a letter in the mail sounding quite "ah ha! we caught you!" like. I was "negligent". Anyway, after contacting their collection agency ...I truly was mortified that it was handled the way it was when they could've simply had the registrar's office issue one when the business name was filed...oh yeah, and they assessed late filing/paying fees to it too.

like I said earlier...it's better to find them before they find you.

"check with county tax assessor to see if you must file a Business Personal Property Tax form that lists items used to produce your product(this one truly pisses me off...but that is soooooooo another vent)...pans, spatulas, bowls, mixers, oven, refrigerator, freezer......not all counties assess this tax. I just happen to be in one that does."
...............................................................................

UGH....in oklahoma i pay around 200.00 a year personal property tax.

how much does it suck to have to pay taxes for owning stuff?...i guess i should shut up. it could be more.....

oh yeah...there's that too...I don't get it....I just don't...buy the stuff...pay taxes on it (sales tax-both state and county is assessed)....then, every year until whatever their value scale is says it's no longer necessary to claim the item(s) whether I make one freakin' sale or not...I gotta pay that tax...I mean seriously I could understand it if I was to be taxed on items I bought TO OPEN A BUSINESS WITH (well, I could understand it better....would seem more fair) than to tax someone on items they use to produce items with then tax (state and county) those items that are sold...I just don't see how they figure they are entitled to repeated taxing on items I already owned. The oven and refrigerator that have been part of the house since we moved in (we did replace the oven...but we gotta leave it if we move) are now being taxed because I use them in my production of cakes. It just seems like everybody wants a piece of the pie and no one wants to help make the pie even when there ain't no pie to get a piece of.

Would they also tax Grandma's crochet hooks that she uses to produce afghans and doilies at the local flea market or her very own specialty shop? I seriously doubt it.

I keep telling myself it could be worse. and I know it could too.