Retarded Law?

I don't know specifically about flooring, but let me be the one guy to come in here and tell you that, more often than not, you're right - licensing requirements are at least as frequently about sheltering established businesses from new competitors as they are about "protecting consumers."Why do barbers need to be licensed? Why do interior decorators need licenses? Was there some incredible plague of people with mismatched drapes and sofas that regular market activity couldn't solve? Is there some issue where people got bad haircuts and didn't know why? If shaving is so dangerous why do we let people do it themselves?Licensing doctors - that makes sense, people don't have the expertise to distinguish legitimate medicine from snake oil. (Doctors barely do!) Licensing contractors - there's an issue of public safety.Flooring? If you put down wrinkly linoleum is it that big a deal? You'd have to tell me what the risks are, when it comes to your profession."Regulatory capture" is what this is called, and you know you're looking at a regulatory capture situation where the rationale offered is one of public safety, but current established businesses are being grandfathered in.

Certainly the revenue is how they sell the deal to legislators, but nobody's state is getting rich off of $250 business licensing. You need a federal tax ID to pay federal taxes, and if you're going to set up the business as a distinct legal and tax entity from your personal income - which is the point of that kind of business - then obviously you need a distinct tax identifier so your business can pay state and federal taxes. Agreed - regulatory capture benefits entrenched interests at the expense of new businesses.