Are you guys aware of this ticking time bomb?

Supposed to cut down on criminals using shell corporations to move their drug running and illegal immigrant sex-trafficking profits around, I can see why a lot of republicunts would be against it.

Did you read that law? Just go through the FAQ on that site. Even an aqualang with 1/10th of brain would see that "supposed to" is just a pretext. It would do NOTHING for what it is "supposed to" but will make those remaining 20 millions or so small businesses, even one man shops, criminals. Most of those businesses aren't even aware that they have to submit such reports. And that "law" is EXTREMELY VAGUE and can be interpreted as they see fit. And no, that vagueness is not a bug, it is INTENTIONAL. And it is targeted at those they claim to protect -- small businesses. Every business with yearly revenue of 5 millions and more is EXEMPT.

Allow me to apologise on behalf of bitrex. He is one of our two unashamed Marxists on this group. So naturally he will be in favour of punishing anyone who just wants to make a better life for themselves and their families.

According to the reporting form you have to sign, you'd only "become a criminal" if you "willfully" failed to comply. So if you were merely oblivious to this regulation, you'd be okay. In theory at any rate.

See above.

Facing the choice between Kamala "I Fully Support the Child-Burning State of Israel" and Donald "Dictator for a Day" Trump should make anyone almost nostalgic for the good ol' days of Nixon and Mao Zedong, indeed. At least you didn't call me a democrat, that's nice of you.

"Most of those businesses aren't even aware that they have to submit such reports."

File for a license from the government. Never look at the rules again. Heh, reminds me of the average ham radio operator.

Ha! Yeah, in particular the rules regarding maximum RF output power.

You really must hate living in the US don't you?

Assuming you live in the USA and aren't a Russian or Iranian troll.

I'm Canadian and I have to fill out US forms to do business there such as:

IRS regulations require non-US taxpayers to provide Form W-8BEN to Amazon in order to be exempt from US tax reporting requirements. An IRS Form W-8BEN expires on December 31 following three years after a selling partner provides it to Amazon. When prompted, foreign selling partners are required to retake the tax interview to submit a new form.

So, get a life, find a real problem and deal with it.

How about this - US residents who wish to import products valued over around $2000USD MUST provide their Social Security Number to their customs clearance provider under US law that was enacted in the early

John

I don't. I'm a one man shop filing my business taxes as Schedule C on my personal tax return.

There are many such businesses (probably most of those 20 millions that didn't submit that form yet?). People, e.g. make an LLC for renting out their rental properties. There are no lawyers and accountants there. There are also many one man shop LLCs made by consultants doing some contracts. There are many LLCs created just to be able to talk to those big companies who "do not deal with individuals".

Those are ALL subject to that law. Those who have lawyers and accountants are more likely to have more than 5 million dollars yearly revenue so they are all EXEMPT. This law is targeted at a LITTLE GUY who usually don't have lawyers and accountants.

You hire somebody if you have money for this. And actual need. You probably don't understand that there are many different situations.

I have a permanent full time job. This is my main income source. I do also have an LLC that I use for side contracts. Those are quite rare, don't even happen every year. Didn't have any in 2023 and none this year. The LLC cash flow is negative -- not even counting other expenses, just business license cost pushes it in the negative territory. Do you think there is NEED for hiring somebody to do nothing? And where the money to spend on such hiring is supposed to come from?

The other use for that LLC is to get calibration agreements and other stuff with big companies that won't even talk to individuals. Ever tried Fluke for example? And they are not an exception. Did you try to get proper Internet connectivity with legal IP addresses where you can run your own server farm? With your own domains, DNS, email, and everything else?

As of doing own plumbing -- yes, I do. As well as woodworking, HVAC, small construction, electrical, and whatever else. And I do all kinds of welding, machining, metalworking, building prototypes, do software engineering close to the bare metal and much more. I know that I will do it better than most of so-called "professionals", will be confident that the work is done properly, it will cost me way less than those "professional" services, will do way less damage to my nervous system, and it is FUN to learn new skills. I do have many licenses/certifications like e.g. EPA Universal HVAC that allows me to work on ANY HVAC system. And I have tons of tools for different trades that I purchase instead of paying "professionals" order of magnitude higher price for each one-time job which is poorly done most of the time.

Also, I've been taught that an engineer must be able to do himself whatever he wants the technicians and other workers are supposed to do to implement his design. E.g. one may be not as skilled to do tricky welds but he should be able at least start and keep an arc otherwise he has no moral authority to make any demands on the workers and technicians. When you can do whatever they can do you have their respect.

And those clients/customers who hire me are NOT one man shops. They have money to burn and they don't have experience so they actually have a NEED.

You still don't understand. I'm not complaining. Filed that form and forgot about it. The original post was to WARN others who are not aware of that sneaky law so they won't get fined unexpectedly.

It is YOU (not you personally but general "you") who started totally irrelevant thread.

Why should I close shop? You probably don't understand what REAL engineer is. And what is the life time passion to learn new things. I don't do this because I HAVE TO for feeding my family. I'm a principal electrical engineer with a big company with offices on all 6 continents, with a revenue in billions. That pays good enough so I don't have to do those side contracts or whatever. I'm picky and only take what's interesting and challenging, not just ANY job that can make me some bucks. My primary job is similar, it is always something new and challenging. It is probably difficult to imagine that some people do whatever they love instead of what they must to earn their bread and butter.

I like what I do. It is my lifetime passion for 50 years and I hope to die doing stuff that I love to do. Would've been bored to death doing the same routine job over and over again, day after day.

Highly recommend reading books, they rule. Try to start with e.g. "Profession" by Isaac Asimov.

I don't do it for money. I have enough from other source. And it is boring to death doing the same job over and over again. It generates some money from time to time when some interesting contract happens but it is not just to earn some. You won't take your money with you in your grave. And doing that just for money is boring. I'm engineer and I do engineering, not just making money however I could. Not just electrical engineering but also other stuff like software and more.

I do file my tax returns. There is no need for a special accountant for that. I'm not in some boring business with thousands of receipts and such. If I do a contract, it is usually rather lengthy thing with high price and very simple accounting -- I just send an invoice every 2 weeks and get it paid. With the same customer, maybe a couple or so per year. Don't need an accountant for that. Especially when this doesn't happen EVERY year.

OK, that's going nowhere, no reason to waste time on that. Read "Profession", recommended. There are many thousands of other good books but that one is probably a good thing to start with.

Have lots of more interesting stuff to do than engage in empty demagogy. I'm giving up, you can declare yourself a winner.

Riiight. Republicans are bringing so much drug running and sex trafficing into the country.

D is for delusional.

No, democrats had a large majority in both houses. If Bush signed it, that was probably because it was in an omnibus bill with 100 essential items.