Selling Axolotls in America?

I want to breed and sell axolotls. I have 3 young females, one of which has already started making eggs, a young male, and an older male. Has anyone here breed axolotls before? I was thinking of selling them to local mom and pop pet stores. I have a thousand questions, like, is it legal? profitable? how do I set up the books of the business, so that I can differentiate between costs of maintaining my first pet axolotl and the other ones in the "business"? I have helped raise axolotls from babies before, but the only real questions I have are the legal and accounting side of the business.

You will have to pay state sales tax and federal income tax on the money you make. Rules for setting up a business selling amphibians are different for different states and municipalities. You have to find out the regs for your state and city, borough, or county.

For Penna. I have a State sales tax number, a Reptile and Amphibian dealer license with the Dept. of Ag. and a Reptile and Amphibian Artificial Propagation license with the dept of Ag. I also sell amphibians in Md. and N Y and have state sales tax permits for both of those states. I file and pay sales tax quarterly to semiannually for each state I sell in. I pay state and federal income taxes on the business annually when I pay my regular income tax. If you make a lot of money you might be required to pay state and federal tax quarterly to semiannually. I have my books gone over once a year by an accountant. Starting up you might need to see an accountant more than once a year. I keep track of expenses and amortize breeding stock.

Most importantly you can't sell or own them in CA and NJ without getting a big fat fine.

If you only want to breed and sell a few locally, you may be able to consider this a hobby rather than a business. You should first assess whether there is a local market to sell a significant number, or just a few. And decide if you will be willing to ship them, which would greatly increase your market.

The IRS allows you to make a nominal amount of money from a hobby without declaring it a business. But you MUST declare it to be a business if (1) You intend to make money and conduct it like a business or (2) You make a profit for a certain number of years (you'd need to read the regs yourself, I don't remember how many years). So you could probably get away with doing what you are proposing as a hobby, at least for a while. The usual disclaimers: read the IRS rules yourself, don't take my word for it! I accept no liability if I am wrong about this advice!

I have declared my sales of offspring as a business. I don't use an accountant, but I'm sure I'm losing lots of deductions by not doing so. I didn't bother to convert my pets and equipment to business assets.

Do you know of any places in Northern VA that sell Axolotl?

Just stopping by to say Hello Michael. Nice to see you here.