<html> <head> <meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1"> </head> <body bgcolor="#FFFFFF" text="#000000"> I have been thinking some more about the tax matter.  Wim, you say <blockquote type="cite">On the other hand, here in Hawaii I have to collect sales tax on all transactions, including public schools and churches, (and then pay it to the state). Because of that I have to have a business license, but only to collect and pay the taxes, not to be in business. </blockquote> That seems fair enough. In the UK there is a kind of sales tax called Value Added Tax, but small businesses whose turnover is below a certain amount, do not need to be concerned with it. Larger businesses have to be VAT Registered, and collect the tax on goods and services, and pay it to the government. In Rick's case, there seem to be two issues he is facing: <blockquote type="cite"> <pre wrap="">List, my municipal office in town just told me I need to get a contractors license to do business in the city. They also consider me to be violating zoning laws by operating a business in a residential zone.</pre> </blockquote> The first issue is the matter of needing a Contractors License.  There must be some ordinaces or statutes written down that give the definition of Contractor and that specify who must obtain a license as one.  It is surely the right of the Citizen to be able to examine the statutes/ordinances for himself, and to be able to make an Appeal if he thinks that a city official is applying them incorrectly. In a broader view, is it legal for a  city to empose an additional tax on the self-employed?  It is a long-established principle in US law - taken enough times to the Supreme Court - that a State or other local authority, may not impose a tax on a freedom that is guaranteed to the citizen by the Constitution of the United States. Thus if, for example, you have political views and you wish to distribute pamphlets in your neighborhood at election time, or you put out leaflets advertising church services, a State or City cannot require you to obtain a license for doing so, because those freedoms of expression are enshrined in the US Constitution, and no City or State may tax them.  I don't know how this would apply in respect of an extra tax on a self-employed person, however.  Expert legal advice is needed, I guess! On the second matter, of zoning: The question here, it seemeth to me, is What constitutes a Business Premises. Of course it is sensible that a residential district should be protected. Thus if an employed hairdresser, for example, were to leave the shop where he or she works, and decide to set up a self-employed business, it is understandable that the City would take a dim view of building a large extension with shop window and doors to the front of the house and putting up an illuminated shop sign.  That is a matter of protecting the residential status of an area.  But if the service the haridresser wanted to provide, was entirely a mobile one, visiting housebound clients in their homes, surely the hairdreser's home is not becoming a business premises? Or, imagine a college professor whose 5-year employed Tenure comes to an end. The college says, We would still like you to teach classes for us, but on a self-employed basis. We will pay you a small Retaining Fee to keep you available to us for a year, but you must invoice us for your work, on a consultancy basis, and your taxes will not be deducted at source - you will be self-employed and must do your own taxes.  What has changed regarding his home? It is now the home of a self-employed person, that is all. He makes out his invoices and does his book-keeping, at his desk at work, outside of hours.  How has his home become a business premises? Surely it has not! Unless you argue that in order to carry on a business, you need enough sleep, and since your home is where you sleep, it is integral to your business. But that is silly! Best regards, David. </body> </html>