Temporary Sales Tax Permit in Connecticut?

Yeah, that's probably the rule -- you need a business license in most states to do anything. They might have an exemption for micro-businesses; maybe someone familiar with CT can tell you. Ask the organizers of the event as well.

But I want to point out one more thing: you will have to file a CT income tax return to report your CT based profits and pay tax on it. So be prepared to pay more for tax preparation :). You will be allowed a credit in your PA income tax return for tax paid to CT, but only on the CT profit (so if CT tax rate is more than PA, you only get a credit for up to the amount you would have paid to PA). Anyway, CT might offer standard deductions and exemptions, and if you make very little there you might owe nothing.

It looks like PA tax rate is 3.07%, and CT is 3% (for first 10k) and 5%. So say you make $3000 profit in CT and you tax rate winds up being 5% (which can happen if the income from PA puts you in a higher tax bracket), then you pay $150 tax to CT, but on your PA return you can only take a credit of $92.10 (which is $3000 times 3.07%).

responding to

Thank you for your answer! Yes, this really does open up an entirely new can of worms for me. I think I may not actually meet their income minimum for filing a tax return though - it looks like the minimum is $24,000 _from CT sources_ for non-residents, married, filing jointly, which is what we are:

This, of course, if I'm reading this right...

But as far as the original question: at least in PA registering a business and getting a sales tax license were two different things, I am still wondering if I was just reading a wrong page at CT state website. I could not find any micro-business exceptions but it looks like a $100 permit (valid for 5 years though) is a bit too much for an occasional event. I've no idea if I'm coming back there next year.

Anyway, thanks for sharing your thoughts on the matter!

"artsNcrafts" wrote in message news:42f2c$5052514a$43de0cc0$ snipped-for-privacy@news.flashnewsgroups.com...

That's only $20 per year. You can always pass the cost on to customers by raising prices say like $0.25 per item. Anyway, this is a non tax issue.

If you were invited, doesn't that mean you are making the sales through a local galery? If so they should be able to handle the sales tax issues.

Apparently. When I first saw the figure I thought it might be a minimum deposit toward sales tax you are required to pay. But looking at the documents on the website you noted, it appears that you pay that plus sales tax on any sales you make.

It's not what I've seen in California. My thought would be to find a retail business in CT that will let you "borrow" its license.

___ Stu

of worms for me. I think I may not actually meet their income minimum for filing a tax return though - it looks like the minimum is $24,000 _from CT sources_ for non-residents, married, filing jointly, which is what we are:

Heads up: That $24K is gross income from sources inside and outside CT. Effectively, it's your federal gross income.... This is typical of many states. In addition, CT also uses what I call the "what if" approach to taxing nonresidents. You compute your tax as if you were a resident and subject to tax on all your income and then multiply the tax by the ratio of income sourced from that state to total income.

getting a sales tax license were two different things, I am still wondering if I was just reading a wrong page at CT state website. I could not find any micro-business exceptions but it looks like a $100 permit (valid for 5 years though) is a bit too much for an occasional event. I've no idea if I'm coming back there next year.

Your interpretation and the answers are correct. CT wants $100 from you for the privilege of collecting their sales tax. $500 fine if they catch you selling stuff without a permit.

It's just a one day show, not an established gallery. The organizers are basically participants themselves and the venue is hired for that day only. So getting the sales tax permit is entirely on me and other participants, individually.

Thank you for the suggestion! I think I'm going to try that. It would be the most sensible thing to do given that I don't even know if I'm going to actually sell anything or be able to use the 5-year permit in subsequent years - it's my first CT show in 12+ years and who knows, maybe the last?

Thanks again!