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Regional, State, and 
Federal Resources
For Small Businesses

CITY OFFICES

City of Edmonds
City of Everett
City of Lake Stevens
City of Lynnwood
City of Marysville
City of Monroe
City of Mukilteo
City of Snohomish  

 

TRANSPORTATION

Community Transit
Everett Transit
Sound Transit
WA State Department of Transportation
WA State Transportation Alliance
WA State Ferries
Amtrak  

 

SNOHOMISH COUNTY

Economic Development Council of Snohomish County
Snohomish County Government
Snohomish County Tourism Bureau
SnoNet
United Way of Snohomish County
Snohomish County PUD  

   

OTHER REGIONAL LINKS

Puget Sound Regional Council http://www.psrc.org/index.htm

Snohomish County Tourism Bureau http://www.snohomish.org/

Edmonds Utilities Consortium (EUC) http://www.ci.edmonds.wa.us/EUCWeb/govern.htm

General Commuter Information http://transit.metrokc.gov/

Metro Online (Transit) http://transit.metrokc.gov/riderlink.html

WASHINGTON STATE

All businesses operating in the State of Washington must obtain a Washington State Master Business License. The Master Business License registers the business for state tax purposes and registers the trade name. A Uniform Business Identification Number, called a UBI Number, is assigned. For more information and to request an application, call 360.664.1400 or click here (http://www.dol.wa.gov/forms/forms.htm#business)

Association of Washington Businesses
Clean Washington Center
Experience Washington
WA Chamber of Commerce Executives
WA State Department of Ecology
WA State Department of Labor & Industries
WA State Department of Licensing
WA State Department of Revenue
WA State Attorney General
WA State Employment Security
WA State Legislature
WA State Small Business Development Center  

 

FEDERAL

This IRS small business website (http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/display/
0,,i1%3D2%26i2%3D23%26genericId%3D20005,00.html) provides information for self-employed entrepreneurs, employers and small to large businesses. The site offers a broad range of resources across federal and state agencies, as well as industry and profession specific information.
IRS Tax Information  

 

NEW-HIRE PAPERWORK

Form I-9
Under the Immigration and Nationality Act, you must verify the identity and employment eligibility of anyone you hire for employment in the United States. This includes citizens and non-citizens alike. The Employment Eligibility Verification Form I-9 was developed by the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) to verify that persons are eligible to work in the United States. You should complete a Form I-9 for every employee hired after November 6, 1986. After the Form I-9 is completed, sign it and retain the completed form to your files. You can download a Form I-9 by clicking here (http://www.irs.gov/).  

W-4  
To know how much income tax to withhold from employees' wages, you should have a Form W-4, Employee's Withholding Allowance Certificate, on file for each employee. Ask all new employees to give you a signed Form W-4 when they start work. Make the form effective with the first wage payment. If employees claim exemption from income tax withholding, they must indicate this on their W-4. The amount of income tax withholding must be based on filing status and withholding allowances as indicated on the form. If a new employee does not give you a completed Form W-4, withhold tax as if he or she is single, with no withholding allowances. You can download a W-4 by clicking here (http://www.irs.gov/)  

DSHS  
You must report all newly hired or rehired employees within 20 days of hiring. A rehire is an employee who returns to work after a 30-day period regardless of the reason for non-work. Not reporting could result in a penalty. To report a new hire, visit the DSHS website (http://www.wa.gov/dshs/newhire/).

 

PAYROLL CONSIDERATIONS

You may want to consider hiring a payroll processing company to do your payroll. If you decide to do your own payroll, you will need to pay your own payroll taxes. Either way, if you have employees, you are responsible for several federal, state and local taxes. Some of these taxes apply to employers, some are levied upon employees and some apply to both employers and employees.  

 

EMPLOYMENT TAXES

- Federal income tax withholding
- Social security and Medicare taxes
- Federal unemployment tax act (FUTA) tax

In addition, you are responsible for timely payment or deposit of the employment taxes withheld from employees, your matching share of social security and Medicare taxes, and any federal unemployment tax act (FUTA) tax. The employer's share of the social security, Medicare, and all of the FUTA tax deposits are deductible. Be careful to only deduct the employer's share of the social security and Medicare taxes. Do not deduct gross wages (before deductions for income tax withholding, social security and Medicare) plus the employee's share of social security and Medicare. That would be deducting social security and Medicare twice. The correct process is to either deduct gross wages plus the employer's share of social security and Medicare, or net wages plus all payments for social security and Medicare. For more information, visit the IRS website (http://www.irs.gov/).

 

WORKPLACE POSTERS

You are required by law to display posters that provide employees with helpful information and resources. You can find a list of required posters by clicking here (http://www.lni.wa.gov/ipub/101-054-000.htm).  

 

UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE

Unemployment Insurance is designed and intended to provide partial wage replacement for workers who are unemployed through no fault of their own. In the State of Washington, Unemployment Insurance is administered by the Employment Security Department. For more information, click here (http://www.wa.gov/esd/ui.htm).  

 

L&I INSURANCE

You will need to pay L&I Insurance for each employee. For more information, visit the Department of Labor and Industries by clicking here (http://www.lni.wa.gov) .  

 

WEBSITES FOR ENTREPRENEURS

The following is a list of on-line resources that provide additional details for entrepreneurs:

About.com's entrepreneur section (http://entrepreneurs.about.com/index.htm?terms=Entrepreneur)

Entrepreneur Magazine (http://www.entrepreneur.com/)

Inc. Magazine (http://www.inc.com/home/)

EntreWorld (http://www.entreworld.org/

Microsoft bCentral Small Business Solutions (http://www.bcentral.com/Default.asp)

Puget Sound Regional Council (http://www.psrc.org/)

Seattle Community Capital Development (http://www.seattleccd.com/)

Washington State (http://access.wa.gov/)

Washington State Office of Minority and Women's Business Enterprises (http://www.omwbe.wa.gov/)

Washington State Office of Trade & Economic Development (http://www.oted.wa.gov/index.htm)

Washington State University (WSU) Center for Entrepreneurial Studies (http://www.cbe.wsu.edu/~entrep/)

U.S. Small Business Administration (http://www.sba.gov/)

IRS (http://www.irs.com/)

United States Senate Committee on Small Business (http://www.senate.gov/~sbc/)