Running a Tiny Business as a Kid in Oklahoma

Can a kid run a tiny business in Oklahoma?

Yes.

There is no special “kid business permit” in Oklahoma.

Kids can run tiny businesses, like a lemonade stand or mowing lawns for neighbors.

Words to know

• Profit: Profit is the money you keep after you pay for what your business needed.
• Permit: A permit is a paper from the government that says you may do something.
• Tax: A tax is money people pay to the government to help pay for roads, schools, and other shared things.
• Sales tax: Sales tax is a small extra amount added when someone buys a thing, and that money goes to the state.
• Receipt: A receipt is a small paper or note that shows what someone bought and what they paid.
• Customer: A customer is a person who buys something from you.

What about sales tax?

Grown-ups who sell things in Oklahoma collect sales tax.

Then they send that tax money to the state.

To do that, a seller needs a sales tax permit.

The permit is grown-up paperwork.

By law, the person on the permit must be 18 or older.

A parent or guardian can get the permit for a kid’s business.

The parent or guardian is the one responsible for sending in the tax.

That rule is in Oklahoma’s law book. It is called 68 O.S. § 1364.

The $400 rule

The tax office has a rule about your own business.

If you earn $400 or more of profit from your own business in a year, you have to tell the tax office on a tax return.

This rule is the same for kids and grown-ups.

Did you earn less than $400 of profit?

You still keep good records.

A grown-up can help you check what to do.

Keep a money notebook

Get a notebook for your business money.

Write down what you spent.

Write down what you earned.

Profit is money earned minus money spent.

Where can you set up?

Your own yard is the simple place to start.

Cities can have their own rules about stands on sidewalks or in parks.

Before you set up anywhere that is not your own yard, ask a parent to check with city hall.

Selling food

Food has extra rules.

A grown-up should read the state’s food page with you before you sell food.

Oklahoma has a law about homemade food. It is called the Homemade Food Freedom Act.

Mowing lawns

Mowing lawns counts as your own business too.

The same $400 rule applies.

Ask a grown-up first

Ask a grown-up before you sign anything.

Ask a grown-up before you promise anything big.

Ask a grown-up before you make a page on the internet with your name or photo.

Good luck with your tiny business!