home ffl york county

[lance4682]

could anybody give me some advice on obtaining a ffl to be used out of my home so i can set up a internet business, also if there is anything hindering me living in york county

[customloaded]

I'm not an FFL nor lawyer but I've been told that the place of business is open to inspection by state and federal law enforcement authorities at anytime. If this is true, I would most certainly reconsider your decision to have a business selling firearms from your home.

CL

[knight0334]

I'm not sure about York County, but they may have ordinances regulating businesses on residential property.

The ATF is hesitant on issuing to kitchen table dealers. They typically prefer at minimum a separation of home and business, which can be as little as a dedicated room or another building on the lot. Which also protects you, since the entire dedicated establishment is open to inspection. If you do not dedicate a specific area, they can inspect the entire house. The ATF will issue to kitchen table dealers, but its not as easy to get as it was back in the '70s and '80s.

You will probably want to form a LLC or corporation to help keep your personal assets clear of liability or other lawsuits. With the LLC or corp, you can lease/rent a portion of the home to the business and will help prove a separation of entities to the ATF.

Dont forget to get a PA Sales & Use Tax license. And the state dealers license through the sheriff.

Get some form of liability insurance.

[Xringshooter]

Here is what you will need to get started (in addition to your 01 FFL):

PA Firearms Sales license (you apply and get this at the Sheriffs’ Office). You may not get this before you get the 01 license but they should be able to give you something to attach to your 01 application stating that you will get it as soon as the 01 license is issued.

Any local licenses and/or approvals (township, city, boro, etc. will explain what you need). Once you have these, attach copies to the 01 application.

PA Sales and Use Tax license (apply on line at PA Dept. of Revenue). You can submit sales tax collected via EFT if you so wish.

A storefront business OR approval for a home based business from the local government agencies (the BATFE would prefer a storefront, but they will give approval for some home based businesses if the locals give their approval).

Not a true requirement but you're looking for trouble if you don't have them:

Set up a business, either LLC, Corp, or Sole Proprietorship (however, with SP if something goes wrong they can take everything you own)

Business insurance (unless you are independently wealthy and self-insure)

You then have to start filing a PA business tax return and a federal business tax return. (PA and Federal if a LLC or Corp, Federal only if a SP, because you declare your income directly on the PA income tax form).

Also, if working from home, set up a dedicated room to do your business. When the compliance agents come to looks at your bound book and other records, that is the only area they are allowed access (unless you take them elsewhere). If you don't have a dedicated room, the whole house is considered the business place and as such the BATFE is allowed to go anywhere in the house.


Good Luck.

[ungawa]

...You then have to start filing a PA business tax return and a federal business tax return. (PA and Federal if a LLC or Corp, Federal only if a SP, because you declare your income directly on the PA income tax form)...

I'm not an accountant, but I don't think what you said is always the case. LLCs that are disregarded entities, and do not ellect to be taxed as corps by the feds, do not have to file corporate tax returns to the feds. Although there are filing requirements with the Commonwealth, your profit and loss goes on a Schedule C to the feds.

Corporate returns (even for LLCs and S-corps) cost a few thousand a year in my experience. I would choose a disregarded entity LLC for a barn/kitchen operation (no corporate return, just a schedule C). Heck, even S-corps' profits must be payed by all shareholders every year, whether you take money out of the company or not. Your S-corp (or LLC of course) can have $50K in it's bank account and inventory at the end of the year. If you never take a single dollar of pay, you still owe taxes on $50K.

So there's no good reason for a small operation to be anything other than a disregarded entity LLC. You pay self employment tax, but that's pretty close to the payroll taxes you don't pay. But your accountant charges you $100 extra for your personal tax return instead of $3000 for a corporate return.

That isn't the whole story. There are a lot of scenarios where everything would work out differently. You need to talk to a good accountant. I'm not telling you what to do, I'm giving you food for thought.

[Xringshooter]

ungawa you are right, it isn't always the case. When I stated Fed business return I really should have been clearer about using the Schedule C or a true Federal business return depending on the type of corp you elect to be.

I'm a disregarded entity LLC and I just do the Schedule C and let the accounting firm I use do everything else the Commonwealth needs (costs me about $125 but it frees me from that headache of trying to figure out what PA actually wants to see). I'm not an accountant either, and after I first saw the RCT101 I see why they get paid what they do, it's worth it to me to let someone else do it .

[lance4682]

quick question is the pa firearms license shall issue such as the conceal license or is it up to the discretion of the sheriff or cleo

[JohnUSCG]

Wow....all that info really makes me appreciate my local FFL dealer all that much more! All those hoops to jump through!

[Xringshooter]

quick question is the pa firearms license shall issue such as the conceal license or is it up to the discretion of the sheriff or cleo

Reading the UFA, basically if you have a BATFE FFL, it is a shall issue. Its section 6113 that describes the who, what, why, and conditions.

[Hog Sniper]

I dont think ATF will issue your FFL for an Internet based business. They want store hours for customers..Just like they wont issue an FFL for gun show sales only..You will need to get the OK from your township. That will be their first stop when you meet with them for the first time.