Runaround Part 1 - Personal Property

And so it begins.

Before you can fill out the Doing-Business-As DBA "Trade Name Application" form in Maryland, you must first get a "Personal Property Account" number to fill in question 4 on the DBA - TNA form.

The Personal Property number is only needed if your business is going to own or lease property at any point. (Other than a street mime, what business doesn't use any equipment???!!!)

This is annoying.
Fortunately my assistant isn't in desperate need of his funding.
Maybe I can pay him interest! That'd salve the wound, I hope.

So I found a "Personal Property Brochure" at:
http://www.dat.state.md.us/sdatweb/personal.html#forms

A link labeled "Personal Property Brochure", oddly enough is very near the top and also listed under "Other Information".


Apparently, sole proprietorships (I believe First Stop qualifies for that description) call the state to find out if they need to report personal property. It may be obvious in some cases, but if I don't have to file, I'd really rather not.

If you are setting up a business in Maryland, you'll be calling:

Department of Assessments and Taxation Business Personal Property Unit
301 West Preston Street,Room 801
Baltimore, MD 21201-2395
(410) 767-4991 Fax: 410-333-7937
1-888-246-5941 (toll free within MD)

Other ways to reach the Department are:
Website . . . . . . . . . . . . http://www.dat.state.md.us
Email . . . . . . . . . . . . . . persprop@dat.state.md.us
MD Relay Service . . . . . 1-800-735-2258 TT/voice

The Department also has a local assessment office in each of the counties where forms and routine information may be obtained.


I'll email the state and see what they say.

At the very bottom of the page I saw a link to the Application for Unincorporated ID Number
It's found at:
http://www.dat.state.md.us/sdatweb/pp_AT3-73nofill.pdf

I am confident this is what I'll need if the state says I have to have this Account #.