When the company I work for moved it’s DBA from Tucson, Arizona to Los Angeles, California, we thought it was going to be very easy to apply for a DBA. Just go to Google and type “file a DBA in Los Angeles.” Well, this was one of the few times that Google has misled me.
I wish I could show you a video of me going from different websites, even websites that looked like the official county of Los Angeles websites but they ended with “.net” that I had to mistrust. Basically, anything that did not end with.gov I thought was a scam. Yet, even after finding official Los Angeles Country websites, there were so many different ones that redirected me from one place to another. I found out the website with.net is an official government website, even though it’s flow is inconsistent and it is poorly designed.
Our company name, Drogobetski Digital Agency, although it has the surname of the owner and some websites said that “we need not file a doing business as” license, we decided to do it anyways because we needed to write checks from an account named after the company, as well as deposit checks in that name.
California
Individuals or entities doing business for profit under a name different from the owner(s) full legal name(s) must file a Fictitious Name Statement with the County Recorder-Clerk’s Office where the business will be conducted. Source: business.gov
DBA Application for LAX
The application and the process is called filing for a “Fictitious Business Name” (FBN). The FBN title — very Hollywood — can throw you off, but that is the way it was named in 1888, and that’s what they use today. The best way to do this is to:
- Visit http://www.lavote.net/Clerk/Business_Name.cfm and under “Renewals” (yes, it’s there even if you’re not renewing) there is a link to a PDF document titled “Click here for application for fictitious business name statement “
- Then show up in person to the headquarters at: 12400 Imperial Highway, 2nd Floor, Searches, Room 2207, Filings, Room 2001, Norwalk, CA 90650 (562) 462-2177 Office hours: 8 a.m. – 5 p.m., M-F, except holidays.
Why the Headquarters
Because all other annex agencies won’t be able to answer your official questions as a DBA, like do you need to file with a newspaper? or can you do it online? When do you have to start paying taxes? Do you have to collect sales tax? etc.
Filing to Pay Quarterly Taxes
After about an hour and a half of reading I finally ran into an article that explained that as opposed to filing a DBA (doing business as) license in the state of California or LA, I file a Tax Registration Certificate (TRC) by filling out a Business Tax Application. In Tucson, AZ one filed for an Occupation Certification (as in occupation a room, office or a building) in order to do business there, and they knew that the city would receive certain amount of tax revenue.
How do I apply for a Tax Registration Certificate (TRC)?
You can apply for a certificate by:
- Recommended: Fill out a PDF document (Google for TaxRegistrationV4.pdf) and email the document to them at Finance.CustomerService@lacity.org
- Go there in person at one of their locations. Find that on their website.
- Calling Office of Finance for the City of Los Angeles Customer Service Center at (213) 473-5901 Monday-Friday 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
