Editing Establishing An LLC (section)

== Hiring ==

You'll have to verify someone's right to work where you are, but that's really about it. That's the Form I-9.

In order to hire someone on OPT, you don't have to do very much. The key thing you'll have to do is verify their EAD in person (there's a way out of this but I chose to keep it simple so I don't inadvertently fuck it up) and then the two of you make sure [https://www.uscis.gov/i-9 Form I-9] is filled out and kept somewhere safe so that you can show the DHS and friends when they ask.

The STEM extension is its own thing, and to be honest, you should just get a lawyer. Everyone uses Fragomen because they're cheap, but they routinely fuck things up so I use someone I know I can trust: [https://serottelaw.com/ Serotte Law]. These guys have helped me with employment-related immigration both as an employee and as an employer. They're all very smart and have things buttoned down.

=== E-Verify ===

You'll need to [https://idp.uscis.gov/enroll/everify enroll in E-Verify] if you have some kinds of employees. In my case, I had someone I'd have to take on their STEM-extension for OPT. The process is quite straightforward, but after that you have to make sure to enter all your employee information in there.

The only thing of note is that if you get into E-Verify and if you have someone starting, you're going to have to put them in there within 3 days of their start date.

=== California EDD ===

If you're in California you'll also have to register with the state for an [https://eddservices.edd.ca.gov/ EDD number] so that you can correctly handle state taxes and so on. This is a straightforward process.

A little while after you finish the online portion, they'll call you from a "No Caller ID" to ask you for your EIN and the street address. I know, it seems like a scam, but that's how they do it and then it'll be approved and you'll get all the information required to run payroll which is:

* Your EDD Number (absolutely required)
* Your Unemployment Insurance Rate (SUI) - this is 3.4% to start with so you could theoretically do without being told
* Whether you have Employment Training Tax (0.1%) - you usually do

The guy on the other side also pointed me to [https://edd.ca.gov/siteassets/files/pdf_pub_ctr/de160.pdf this user guide] and was an all around mensch. But it ''will'' seem like a scam.

=== Depositing Taxes ===

One of the things you'll have to do if you have an employee is pay taxes on time. I use [https://payroll.zoho.com/ Zoho Payroll] to run payroll. It was the most affordable thing and since I already use Zoho Mail it was quite simple to do.

[[File:Form 941 on EFTPS Subcategories.png|thumb|alt=Form 941 showing subcategories unfilled|Form 941 showing subcategories unfilled. It's okay to do that. If you have an employee who is exempt from Social Security and Medicare filling this in will be tough since 0 is not an accepted value.]]


[[File:EFTPS - Form 941 First Time Submission Warning.png|thumb|alt=A screenshot of EFTPS showing the warning it displays on first time submission:  Your payment has not been scheduled yet because: (X) You are not enrolled for this tax form. If you don't want to proceed with this payment, select Abandon below. If you want to change the tax type, date, or amount for this new payment, select Edit below. If you want to continue and schedule this payment, select Continue below. If you want to cancel the original payment, click on "Cancel a Tax Payment to the left. Note: Payments cannot be canceled less than two business days before their scheduled date.|This warning shows up the first time you pay this tax. Despite what it's saying it's intended to say that you haven't previously paid this before.]]

The other thing you should do is sign up for [https://www.eftps.gov/eftps/ EFTPS] to pay taxes online to the Federal Government. This is quite straightforward, but you should do it ahead of time since they'll take a week to send you a mail with your PIN in it and your enrollment number. You'll need your EIN to get this done and the address you receive mail at.

Once you have your PIN, you can complete registration and pay your taxes. I haven't missed my date so I can't tell you what happens if you do but your payroll software will tell you everything. Just set a reminder to look at it every month and schedule what it tells you is due within the month.

EFTPS is not the most user-friendly software. It will display a warning the first time you pay for a form to make sure you're not accidentally depositing money to the government. This is probably because it's hard to get it back. You should hit Continue if you want it to go through.

[[Category:Tips]]