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TTB, Location, and Business Registration

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  • TTB, Location, and Business Registration

    Perhaps a dumb question here, but from looking at the TTB site (https://www.ttb.gov/main_pages/start-a-business.shtml), it appears that before you can establish your business you need to have a location picked out. If I am understanding their website, that means you need to have a location before you can establish your business entity, get a tax ID, establish a trademark, and open a business bank account to pay for start up expenses.

    Is that correct? Is that what everyone's experience has been?

    Thanks.
    Brandon Besser, P.E.
    "He that breaks a thing to find out what it is has left the path of wisdom" - Gandalf

  • #2
    No one has had any confusion regarding the order of establishing your business?

    I would think the process would be like the following:

    1. Business plan
    2. Establish business structure
    3. Register the business
    4. Establish location and order equipment/build out
    5. Secure icense and permits
    6. Open

    The TTB site seems to imply that you have to have a location prior to establishing the business.

    I guess the crux of my question is what does the TTB consider "engaging in business"? Is that any business activities, or is that selling products?

    Thanks,
    Brandon Besser, P.E.
    "He that breaks a thing to find out what it is has left the path of wisdom" - Gandalf

    Comment


    • #3
      i'm no expert but here's my thoughts.

      you need to have a physical location before you apply with the TTB.

      Prior to that, you will need a business name and have a federal tax ID (EIN) number.

      You don't have to have your name trademarked prior to applying with TTB and you don't have to trademark your name at all, but I think it's a good idea to pursue it in case someone else is using the same name or something similar.

      I currently hold two federal permits and no one physically inspected my manufacturing premises on either application. While I didn't have all of my equipment purchased and/or installed when I applied, I submitted detailed floorplans of where the equipment would be placed and that apparently satisfied the requirements

      "engaging in business" I think means the manufacture of beer, wine or liquor. Not sure of the context of what you are reading, but you cannot make any beer until federally approved by the TTB.

      Comment


      • #4
        Originally posted by McNatt View Post
        i'm no expert but here's my thoughts.

        you need to have a physical location before you apply with the TTB.

        Prior to that, you will need a business name and have a federal tax ID (EIN) number.

        You don't have to have your name trademarked prior to applying with TTB and you don't have to trademark your name at all, but I think it's a good idea to pursue it in case someone else is using the same name or something similar.

        I currently hold two federal permits and no one physically inspected my manufacturing premises on either application. While I didn't have all of my equipment purchased and/or installed when I applied, I submitted detailed floorplans of where the equipment would be placed and that apparently satisfied the requirements

        "engaging in business" I think means the manufacture of beer, wine or liquor. Not sure of the context of what you are reading, but you cannot make any beer until federally approved by the TTB.
        Thanks for the response and the insight. That is how I was thinking the process would go, but the TTB list linked in the first post implies (assuming the list is chronological) that you need to have a location prior to establishing the legal structure, registering a name, and getting a tax ID...which seems totally backward.

        What had/has me confused is the TTB site says "...must file with TTB an application for a permit and receive approval BEFORE engaging in business.". As a person with a non-business background, I was not sure if that meant doing anything business related (ie establishing the business, setting up a business bank account, signing a lease as the business, purchasing equipment using the business account), or just engaging in manufacturing and sales. I assume it is just manufacturing/sales, but suppose I should give them a call.
        Brandon Besser, P.E.
        "He that breaks a thing to find out what it is has left the path of wisdom" - Gandalf

        Comment


        • #5
          I would get a lawyer or if you're comfortable doing it yourself, get your LLC or whatever business entity you are going to run under setup. Like I said before, I'm no expert, but I think you can list your corporate location at a location different than where you will be brewing, I'm not sure though. Ours was filed at the same address that we're manufacturing at. A business lawyer can answer those questions for you as it doesn't pertain to manufacturing at that point. You can then file for your EIN and state business license (different than liquor license).

          Once that's done, you can sell t-shirts, hats, stickers, etc. if you choose, to help promote and fund your start-up. The TTB doesn't care about that kind of business. They just mean you can't engage in manufacturing of beer until they approve it.

          Lots of breweries have started out selling hats, shirts, stickers, etc. many months and sometimes years ahead of manufacturing beer as a way of funding & promoting their business.

          As part of the TTB application process, you'll need to provide corporate information (officers, members, etc.), physical location of manufacturing, business and personal bank information, among other things. They don't care if you receive your business mail at the location, they just want to know where you are manufacturing at.

          I don't know what your financial state is currently, but if you have any doubts about doing all of this yourself, there are attorneys out there who specialize in all of this. They can help you create your corporation and also do the TTB permit process for you. We applied for our permits on our own, but we used an attorney to setup our LLC and also trademark our business name. We used Candace Moon, The Craft Beer Attorney out of San Diego for the trademark process. There is also the folks who post on here that can help as well, TTB Helper is their user name.

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