I am almost ready to open my home based shop operating out of a separate kitchen here in Georgia. I am in Augusta Ga, Richmond county. I have applied and received my EIN from the IRS. I am going to open my checking account in the next week or two. Planning to start operating the 1st of the new year. I have my insurance lined up to begin as soon as I give them the okay. I am wondering other than having my kitchen approved through the Dept. of Agriculture and the zoning papers am I missing anything? Mostly I am confused about charging tax. Is there a website that I can go to that will tell me how much sales tax to charge?

If you sell food that is meant to be consumed outside your shop (i.e. you don't have a seating area) you do not have to collect state sales tax in GA.

https://etax.dor.ga.gov/salestax/TLP_2010_List_of_Sales_and_Use_Tax_Exemptions.pdf

You can contact the Augusta regional office for more info, including what the rules are for county and/or municipal sales tax (if any).

https://etax.dor.ga.gov/doroff.aspx

You'll also want to make sure you have accounting software like QuickBooks set up (or you hire an accountant) to keep track of income and expenses for income tax purposes.

Congratulations with your new business! Have you contacted the Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE)? http://www.score.org/ It's a free service that helps entrepreneurs both online and in-person.

In Michigan it is the same as the above poster. You don't have to pay/charge sales tax if they take the food out. However, you DO still have to file sales tax every year. It will just end up with a $0 amount. I didn't know this for some reason when I started, and when I found out, I had to file like 3 years worth. Which wasn't much, a few papers, and obviously nothing owed. But just didn't want you to overlook it.