Federal Tax Identification Number?

Question

I applied for a federal tax identification number for the stuff i sell on ebay; however i dont sell that many things, and am now concerned that maybe i shouldn't have done it. How do i cancel it? If i don't sell anymore do i still need to tell my tax person that i have an id number at the end of the year? Do i also need a state number if i decide to keep going? Thanks!

its was for a sole proprietorship with a different name

Answer 1

If you have a social security number, that is your personal federal tax id number, and you should probably use it. When you applied for this new federal tax id number what name did you give, your own personal name, or a corporate name? Were you trying to set up a new corporation?

Every individual has a social security number, and every corporation has a Fed Tax Id number. But no one should have two numbers. People sometimes set up corporations if they do a lot of trading, but then they have to do seperate tax returns and keep track of their business income and expense. If you do go forward with the seperate corporation, then you will probably need a state id as well.

Answer 2

You only need an EIN if you have employees. If you have a business but you are the only one working in it, you just use your social security number for your federal tax number.

For the state, you might need an ID so you can collect sales tax if you sell to residents of your state.

Answer 3

Just file your taxes as you always have and forget about the Federal Tax ID. If you have a "tax person" then you need to be asking him/her these questions.