If It's Illegal To Sell Cakes From Home, Can I Do This?
Business By MrsNancyB1 Updated 22 Aug 2009 , 11:16pm by Larkin121
There we go again on the gonna get sued merry go round. 
I adamantly refuse to take evasive action by the thought of an improbable potential lawsuit.
(hold my breath till I turn blue) 
I have a good agent now. I have had disgusting mean insurance agents.
I'm glad you've got a good one.
I have tons of documentation.
Dude, I am suing no one for as long as humanly possible.
Which actually might be right around the corner come to think about it...but that's another story...to be continued..
There are hills I will die fighting on. Extensive insurance coverage not so much.
Dude, I am suing no one for as long as humanly possible.
Which actually might be right around the corner come to think about it...but that's another story...to be continued..
.
Well, now I want to know the other story! 
There we go again on the gonna get sued merry go round.
I adamantly refuse to take evasive action by the thought of an improbable potential lawsuit.
(hold my breath till I turn blue)
I have a good agent now. I have had disgusting mean insurance agents.
I'm glad you've got a good one.
I have tons of documentation.
Dude, I am suing no one for as long as humanly possible.
Which actually might be right around the corner come to think about it...but that's another story...to be continued..
There are hills I will die fighting on. Extensive insurance coverage not so much.
Kate if something happens to you, I am going to sue you.
Maybe it's been covered, but can anyone explain to me WHY it would be considered a business transaction for a friend to reimburse me for the ingredients only?!?! There is no profit involved, no advertising, no contracts, no nothing. How is that business?
Isn't that the same as if my brother goes to Fry's and buys me a computer so I don't have to drive there, and then I pay him back for the computer?? is he in the business of resale/retail now? I don't get it!!
I don't sell cakes for profit because I fear being caught, BUT I do make cakes for my family and close friends and they reimburse me just at the exact cost of the ingredients. I just cannot figure out how that can be thought of as a business, or even as selling.
There is no profit involved.......
I'm not jumping into the whole aspect of your questions, just the above portion.
Most businesses do not show a profit the first couple of years, but that doesn't mean they aren't a business. The gov't doesnt' care if you are a good or bad business person who can or can't create a good pricing structure. In many cases (not all, but many), the mere exchange of money constitutes a business transaction.
Profit has nothing to do with it.
So if they drop off the ingredients... and I am not keeping the ingredients because I am returning them to them in a different form... ?
I'm really not trying to be difficult. I understand what you are saying, but it would seem ridiculous for the IRS or the HD to care if my best friend wants me to make her a cake and would like to supply the ingredients as others have said here. Wouldn't the INTENT to be a business or not matter? I agree with you if I were making profit off said friend and then was trying to claim "Oh it was just one cake, I'm not a business!!" then the gov't could say you had intent to profit at some point.
Does that make sense?
). So I'm trying to find a loophole in the law in California, so that I can still make cakes for friends etc, and still get some money for them. I really enjoy making cakes, but I don't think I can sustain making them for free.
Anyways, I also have an interest in bow-making. I've been making bows for about a year, and I've sold several of them to friends with daughters.
So here's what I'm thinking to do. If someone orders a cake from me, I'd like to make the cake and make them a bow too (provided they have a daughter, otherwise I would have to handcraft something else). Then, I'm thinking to 'sell' my friend the bow for the cost of the cake (ie. $100). This way, I'm selling the bow, rather than the cake. Obviously the bow can't be eaten, so I'm still technically abiding by the law.
What do you think about this? Is this shady thinking to begin with? Is this even a feasible option? Can I realistically do this?
Please advise me. I really want to continue, but I don't want to break any laws. In fact, I'm hoping that the money that I make from the sale of the bow will be enough for me to eventually rent a commercial kitchen to avoid this loophole altogether.
TIA!
Doubt means don't. 
So if they drop off the ingredients... and I am not keeping the ingredients because I am returning them to them in a different form... ?
I'm really not trying to be difficult. I understand what you are saying, but it would seem ridiculous for the IRS or the HD to care if my best friend wants me to make her a cake and would like to supply the ingredients as others have said here. Wouldn't the INTENT to be a business or not matter? I agree with you if I were making profit off said friend and then was trying to claim "Oh it was just one cake, I'm not a business!!" then the gov't could say you had intent to profit at some point.
Does that make sense?
It makes sense to moi however it does not make sense to others and they are entitled to be wrong
>>>>>>>>Sue me bwuuuwhahahahahaha
^^^totally kidding ^^^^ sorta~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
No no no but seriously it's like someone said about babysitting-- generally speaking you don't provide health care benefits, holiday pay, stock options, sick pay, taxes, pay in to fica and unemployment insurance--it's just your neice or a friend's teenager or Auntie Louise, you pay 'em they go home happy.
You're not running an illicit day care are yah?
Pinch your nose together and say >>>You have to have a license for tha-at.
No seriously it's a tough gut wrenching issue.
tough tough tough
No easy answers.
Each one has to make their own decisions yes?
Yeah, and actually, regarding babysitting laws in this state ('cause my friend looked into it), you can legally watch 2 children that are RELATED to you, in your home, full time, and not be considered a daycare, which means you don't have to be licensed. So in that case, the fact that it's family gets you off the hook. Now, it would still be a business as far as income goes and has to reported (if it reaches a minimum, see next paragraph). Technically. But of course, almost no one I have met reports paying that income or that they received that income. 
And then regarding a occasional babysitter... it was my impression (correct me if I am wrong) that there is a threshold before income has to be reported. My brother started doing little business ventures by 17 and I remember our family looking this up - I think it was you could make up to $5000 before having to report it as income. So that would be why babysitters, as in 16 yr olds who just do it a few times a month, wouldn't need to be reporting anything.
You mean there are different rules concerning different levels of babysitting intensity??? Hmm interesting.
You mean there are different rules concerning different levels of babysitting intensity??? Hmm interesting.
There are rules like that here too. Number of kids, number of hours a day, etc...and the ladies who babysit are just as vehement about the licensed/unlicensed debate as us cake gals. The only difference is, they like to reply to each others craigslist ads and then when they get the address they turn the unlicensed provider in to CPS.
Good point Texas_Rose, I've seen that, too, on craigslist.
I feel the same way on that as I do cakes. If I want to pay my friend to watch my kids while I work, and she is not licensed, but she is just watching my 2 kids, who on earth cares but me and her?? Do I not get to decide if her house is "safe" enough for my kids? Now, the whole reporting income thing, I get that. But to say it's not legal just drives me up the wall. She should be able to watch my kids. I should be able to make her a cake. In fact, let's just make a big illegal mess - I'll have her watch my 2 non-related kids in her unlicensed home and I'll pay her with my illegally made cake.
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