Top ten legal and tax resources for start-ups

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Starting Up in Business
Top ten legal and tax resources for start-ups

STARTING UP IN BUSINESS

Top ten legal and tax resources for start-ups

When you are starting out in business, there is a lot to get to grips with. Your product or service offering. Marketing. Sales. Expenses, (many of which are unexpected). Staff. Deadlines. Banks. Offices. Customers. Suppliers. Funding. VAT. Maybe patents or trademarks. Taxes. The list is endless.

No one person knows all of this stuff, and there will be a lot of new concepts, rules and laws that you have to be aware of. When it comes to the law and tax, a professional advisor is a necessity and it would be wrong to suggest that you can learn it all from a blog post or magazine article and then just do-it-yourself. There are nuances within the law, that takes years to master, ask anybody who has manoeuvred though the minefields selling across borders. If you get the legal and tax structures wrong at the start, it can end up closing you down.

However, you can inform yourself to ensure that you know what your advisors are talking about, that you are getting the best advice possible and that all major issues are being addressed.

Here is a list of ten websites that cover many important legal and tax issues faced by start-up businesses.

Legal Links

“Good laws have their origins in bad morals.” Ambrosius Macrobius (395–423 AD).

1. Companies Registration Office

Companies Registration Office

Register a business name, set up a company, search for information about a company, file an annual return and more at the Companies Registration Office Online.

2. CORE

File statutory returns and business names online for convenience and economy, using CORE (Companies Online Registration Environment).

3. The Office of the Director of Corportate Enforcement (ODCE)

The Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement (ODCE), has eight guides available for download, which are written with the non-professional in mind. These guides briefly explain the principal duties and powers of companies, their officers and others.

4. Patents, Trademarks and Copyright

Find information on Patents, Trademarks and Copyright and search through databases and registers at The Irish Patents Office.

5. Consumer Rights

Keep track of consumer rights from the National Consumer Agency.

Tax Affairs

“Earning money would be a pleasure … if it wasn’t so taxing.” Anon.

6. The Revenue

The Irish Revenue Commissioners website contains a lot of user guides and information, as well as being the place to pay your taxes online.

7. Top tips to taxpayers

Essential information, tax guides, useful links and top tips to taxpayers, whether you are employed, self-employed or just interested in learning more about the Irish tax system from the Irish Taxation Institute.

8. The Revenue Calendar – Tax Deadlines

The Revenue Calendar - Tax return and payment dates by month

9. Apply online for a Tax Clearance Certificate

Apply online for a Tax Clearance Certificate. Anyone whose tax affairs are in order can apply, but the need to produce these certificates usually arises in the context of a person seeking State money, (e.g. Government contracts or grants), or obtaining licences, (e.g. excise licence or road transport licence), but can also arise in other cases e.g. politicians.

10. Forecast Payroll Taxes

You can forecast payroll taxes by using this ready reckoner.

No doubt you have some resources of your own, but the ten websites above cover many of the legal and taxing (!) issues faced by start-up businesses. Not the most fun of topics? That’s for sure, but one that you will certainly have to face all the time in business, so roll up your sleeves and make sure it gets done.

“In this world nothing is certain but death and taxes." Benjamin Franklin