Street vendors and home kitchens: books, sales tax and taxes done for you
Free tax review
Find out what we’d handle and what it costs
Thirty minutes by phone; you leave with one written price.
For a cart, stand, pop-up or home kitchen, we keep the books, record daily cash, card-reader and app sales, file sales tax returns, and prepare the year-end return. Bookkeeping starts at $375 a month, quoted as a flat fee in writing before we start. Based in Santa Clarita, we work with street vendors and home kitchens in any state.
Typical situations
Do you work with street vendors and home kitchens like me?
Yes, we take on street vendors and home kitchens — a cart, a stand, a pop-up or meals sold from home — in Los Angeles, the San Fernando Valley or anywhere else, however the money comes in.
A taco or birria stand paid mostly in cash, with a card reader on weekends
The cash pays for meat and tortillas before anyone writes the day down, and the card reader’s 1099-K — the form its processor files to report what it paid out — shows a total nobody can tie to the bank. We record each day’s sales from the cash count and the reader’s report and tie the year to the 1099-K. Monthly bookkeeping from $375 a month — how the monthly books run.
A fruit or elote cart in the City of Los Angeles with a new seller’s permit
The seller’s permit — California’s sales tax registration — comes with sales tax returns to file. The first months’ cash went straight back into fruit, cups and chile powder, and no day’s sales were written down, so there is nothing to file from. We set up the books from the cart’s first day and file the sales tax returns as they come due. We don’t file the vending permit.
A pop-up working night markets and festivals a few weekends a month
Each event’s cash, card sales and booth fee land in one pile, so nobody can say what each location sold when the sales tax return is due. We keep each event’s sales and booth fee on their own lines and prepare the sales tax return by location from them.
A MEHKO home kitchen selling plated meals for pickup and delivery
A MEHKO — a microenterprise home kitchen operation, a small restaurant run from a home kitchen under a county health permit — takes orders by text and online a few nights a week, paid by Zelle, Venmo or card at pickup, and the meal count and the year’s sales total sit on scraps of paper that never reach the books. We keep a running count of meals and gross sales month by month from the order records, so the owner sees where the year stands, and keep hot plated meals apart from cold dishes sold to go. We don’t file the MEHKO permit.
A vendor filing a first federal return with no Social Security number
The return needs an ITIN, the IRS tax number for someone who isn’t eligible for a Social Security number, and the ITIN application, Form W-7, goes in with that first return. The year’s cash and card sales were never totaled. We total the year from the cash counts, the reader’s reports and the bank, then prepare the return. The return alone from $650 — how we prepare the return.
A vendor two years behind
The card-reader reports sit in the app, a stack of bank statements sits in a drawer, and the cash was never written down. We put the missing months back together from the bank and the reader’s reports, then prepare the returns. Cleanup from $750 — how a catch-up project runs.
Run a food truck or trailer rather than a cart or stand? That page is here: food truck accounting.
Cash and card sales
How do street vendors and home kitchens report cash and card sales?
Every dollar a street vendor or home kitchen takes in — cash, card, Zelle, Venmo or Cash App — goes on the return, whether or not a 1099 ever arrives.
The IRS requires no cash register and no particular system: a receipt book or a daily cash count, totaled each day, shows what came in. A card reader’s processor sends a 1099-K for card sales at any amount, and it shows the gross before fees and refunds come out.
We log every day’s take from the cash count and the card reader’s report, and we match each cash deposit, card payout and app payment to a day’s sales — or mark it as a transfer between your own accounts, a loan, a refund or a personal item. We reconcile the 1099-K to the books and code the ingredients, supplies and booth fees. At year end the business goes on Schedule C — the business page of your personal return — and we pick its six-digit business code from the IRS list; the list has no line for carts, so for a cart or stand we use 722300, its Special food services code.
For the cart paid in cash: how a Los Angeles cart vendor paid in cash files taxes.
Sales tax
Do California street vendors and home kitchens charge sales tax on food and need a seller’s permit?
In California, a street vendor or home kitchen charges sales tax on hot food and sodas, and needs a free seller’s permit, California’s sales tax registration, once it makes three or more taxable sales in 12 months. Food sold hot — tacos or birria off the grill — is taxable whether it’s eaten on the spot or taken to go; food eaten at tables or chairs the vendor sets out is taxable; and cold food sold to go generally isn’t. We track cold to-go sales on their own line in the card reader or the daily sheet, because under the state’s rule for sellers whose sales are mostly food and mostly taxable, those sales stay untaxed only when they’re tracked separately.
To the state, a cart or stand is a mobile food vendor. Unless tax shows on the receipt as its own line, your prices are treated as already including it, and the tax is owed whether or not you collected it. We work the tax out of your sales either way. A pop-up with no permanent place of business that sells at a location for less than 90 days uses a free temporary seller’s permit for each location, the short-term version of the same registration; a vendor who already holds a permit registers each temporary location under it as a sub-permit instead. We keep each location’s sales apart so each sale is reported at the rate for the place it was made.
For a MEHKO, the way we apply the state’s rules, hot plated meals are taxable whether they’re eaten at the home’s table, picked up or delivered, and cold dishes sold to go generally aren’t. We file the sales tax returns on the schedule the state assigns.
Selling at night markets and events: how sales tax works for pop-up vendors at night markets and events.
Catch-up work
What does a catch-up look like when a street food vendor’s books are behind?
A catch-up rebuilds a street food vendor’s missing months from the records that exist, then prepares the returns from the rebuilt books — a cleanup project from $750.
What we ask for
The card-reader reports from the app, the Zelle, Venmo and Cash App histories, the bank statements, and whatever daily sales notes, receipt books or cash counts exist.
How the cleanup runs
We rebuild each month from the bank, the reader’s reports and the app histories, check the rebuilt card sales against the 1099-K, and code the ingredients, supplies and booth fees. Any missing sales tax filings are rebuilt by period from the same records.
What you get
The rebuilt year, the return, and the quarterly estimates — the tax payments made four times a year — figured from reconciled numbers.
Cleanup is billed half to start and the balance on delivery — see how a cleanup project runs.
The monthly close
What do you check every month in a street vendor’s books?
Each month we check a street vendor’s or home kitchen’s daily sales records against the money that actually arrived, and the month’s filings against the calendar.
- The daily sales notes or cash count, totaled day by day
- Card-reader reports matched to the payouts that landed
- Payment-app histories matched to sales
- The bank — every deposit matched or explained
- Ingredient and supply receipts coded
- Event and booth fees on their own lines
- The sales tax filing calendar, with each return’s due date
Each month you get the P&L (the profit and loss statement), the balance sheet and a short note on what needs attention — see what the monthly bookkeeping includes.
California
What’s different for a street food vendor in California?
In California, and in the City of Los Angeles in particular, four things change for a street vendor or home kitchen: the sidewalk vending law, the City of Los Angeles vending permit, the MEHKO home-kitchen limits and the City’s business tax registration.
- California’s sidewalk vending law. It covers anyone selling food from a pushcart, a stand or another nonmotorized setup on a sidewalk. Cities can regulate sidewalk vending only within the state’s standards. A city may require a valid state seller’s permit, and a city that asks for a Social Security number for its vending permit has to accept an ITIN instead. We keep the books and file the sales tax returns that come with the seller’s permit.
- The City of Los Angeles Sidewalk & Park Vending Permit. Anyone selling food or merchandise on City sidewalks or in City parks needs it, and it is renewed every 12 months. To get it, the City first asks for its Business Tax Registration Certificate, a California seller’s permit and, for food, a County public health permit. We don’t file permits; we keep the books the seller’s permit and the tax returns rely on. More: what Los Angeles sidewalk vendors need to know about the seller’s permit.
- MEHKO home kitchens. State law caps a MEHKO at 30 meals a day, 90 a week and $100,000 in verifiable gross sales a year, adjusted each year for inflation. These are permit limits; they don’t change how the income is taxed. Los Angeles County Public Health has issued the permits since November 1, 2024, everywhere in the county except Pasadena, Long Beach and Vernon, and the County requires records of all sales and meals sold. We keep the running meal count and sales total in the books, so the records the County asks for are there; we don’t say whether a kitchen is within the limits. More: how taxes work for a MEHKO in Los Angeles County.
- The City of Los Angeles business tax. A vendor based in the City, or based outside it and working inside it seven days or more in a year, registers for the Business Tax Registration Certificate, and with $100,000 or less of prior-year worldwide gross receipts the tax is zero — but only for a registered business that renews on time. We keep the prior-year gross receipts figure in the books, ready for the renewal; we don’t file the registration.
Pricing
What do books and taxes cost for a street food vendor in 2026?
In 2026, bookkeeping for a street food vendor starts at $375 a month, payroll at $95 a month, the return alone at $650 for a Schedule C or $850 for an LLC or S-corp with the owner’s personal return included, and a cleanup at $750. Filing W-2s and 1099s on their own, without monthly books, starts at $95. Each is a flat fee quoted in writing before we start.
Recording your cash, card and app sales day by day, the sales tax filings and the quarterly estimate figures sit inside the quote; there’s no separate charge for them. What moves a quote above the floor: whether you run a cart, a stand, a pop-up or a home kitchen; how many days a week you sell and how many locations or events; how much comes in as cash, card or app payments; whether there’s a seller’s permit and how often the state has you file; a helper on payroll; whether the return needs an ITIN; and how far behind the books are. The quote is the price.
Books
from $375/mo
- Each day’s cash, card and app sales recorded
- Every deposit matched to a day’s sales or explained
- The state’s sales tax returns filed
- Quarterly estimate figures
- Monthly P&L, balance sheet and a short note
Payroll
from $95/mo
- A helper on payroll
- Weekly, biweekly or monthly pay runs
- Pay stubs and direct deposit
- Year-end W-2s included
- How payroll for a helper runs
The return alone
from $650
- Schedule C prepared from your records
- From $850 for an LLC or S-corp — the owner’s personal return included
- What the return-only price covers
How it works
What happens after you book?
After you book, you get one free 30-minute call, an engagement letter sent during it, then a portal invite and a short checklist.
The 30-minute call
We ask what you sell and from where, how customers pay you, which permits you already hold, whether anyone helps you, and how far behind the books are. It ends with one flat price for the work we’d take on, in writing.
The engagement letter
Sent during the call and signed whenever you’re ready. Once you sign, we set up a short onboarding call, and the secure-portal invite comes from that call.
Access and documents
The portal invite, read-only bank feeds or your QuickBooks file, the card-reader reports, the Zelle, Venmo and Cash App histories, your daily sales notes, and the receipt books and booth-fee receipts. A short checklist goes with it, so nothing is missed.
Behind first, then monthly
If the books are behind, the cleanup comes first, then the first monthly close.
The return at year end
Half the return fee starts the work, and the balance is due before it’s filed. You see the return before anything is filed, and an extension is free if April gets tight.
Communication
You’ll know where the books and the return stand.
The person who answers the phone is on the same team that keeps your books and prepares your return.
The same-day rule
Call or email during business hours and you’ll hear back the same day — all twelve months.
Questions all year
A question about a receipt, a payment-app total or a form that arrived goes straight to the people keeping your books, any month of the year.
Admitted to practice before the IRS
Our team of IRS representation specialists is admitted to practice before the IRS. If an IRS letter shows up — one about income that wasn’t reported, for example — forward it: how we handle IRS letters.
The N&T Tax & Advisory Group team
For a street food vendor or a home kitchen, we keep the books, handle the sales tax filings, run payroll for a helper and prepare the return.
Bookkeeping · Tax preparation · Tax planning · IRS representation · Direct line: (661) 554-4495
Reviews
Rated 5.0 on Google
★★★★★ Twelve reviews, every one five stars, every one verifiable. Read all of them on Google →
"Alex helped me resolve a complicated tax situation that had been causing me a lot of stress. He was extremely knowledgeable, responsive, and efficient throughout the entire process."
Kevin B. — via Google
"Working with Alex was straightforward. I hadn't looked at my books all year, but he made my life easy and handled the whole profit and loss at the end of the year so I could get my taxes done."
Levon B. — via Google
"I came to this company with previous tax years and bookkeeping that were done incorrectly. They're very knowledgeable about what they do and help me get everything in order at a very reasonable price."
Sayra A. — via Google
Where we work
Do you work with street vendors and home kitchens outside California?
Yes — based in Santa Clarita, we work with vendors and home kitchens remotely in any state. Documents move through the secure portal, and the monthly report goes over by phone or screen share. If you work in another state, we work to that state’s payroll and filing rules and price it into your quote.
What we don’t do
We handle the tax and money side: the books, sales tax, payroll, quarterly estimates and the return. Sidewalk vending permits, health permits and the MEHKO permit, business licenses, food safety and commissary rules, citations and enforcement, immigration matters, IRS acceptance-agent services, insurance, menu pricing, legal advice, and reviewed, compiled or audited statements are outside our work, and we don’t advise on them.
Worth reading
What can you read before you call?
Short articles from our blog for vendors and home kitchens, from the first quarterly payment to the equipment write-off.
FAQ
What should a street food vendor ask before booking?
Do I have to report cash, Zelle and Venmo sales if I don’t get a 1099-K?
Yes — every sale is reportable whether or not a form arrives. A payment app or online marketplace files a 1099-K when your payments for the year pass $20,000 in more than 200 transactions, and it may send one for less. We reconcile any 1099-K that does arrive to the books, so the return reflects the year you actually had.
What do I need before I pay someone who helps at my stand?
Get a signed W-9 — the form that collects the helper’s name and taxpayer ID — before the first payment. A helper paid as a contractor $2,000 or more in 2026 gets a 1099-NEC, the year-end form for a contractor you paid, due February 1, 2027; as we apply the rule, paying in cash doesn’t change that. California presumes a worker, including a helper who cooks, preps or sells at your cart, stand or pop-up, is an employee unless the state’s ABC test for treating a worker as a contractor is met. We run payroll for a helper you put on payroll, and we tell you when a case needs an employment attorney.
Can I file taxes without a Social Security number?
Yes — you file with an ITIN, a 9-digit IRS number, used for federal tax purposes only, for someone who isn’t eligible for a Social Security number. A first ITIN is applied for on Form W-7, the ITIN application, sent in with the first return rather than on its own, and estimated payments don’t have to wait for it. An ITIN that isn’t used on a federal return for three years in a row expires and has to be renewed. We prepare the return for vendors who file with an ITIN.
Do I owe self-employment tax and quarterly payments on cart or home-kitchen income?
Yes, once your net earnings (what’s left of sales after ingredients, supplies and other costs) reach $400, you owe self-employment tax, the Social Security and Medicare tax on self-employed earnings. Quarterly estimates, the tax payments made four times a year, are how that tax gets paid during the year, and the last 2026 payment is due January 15, 2027. We figure each quarter from the closed books.
My books are a year behind. Can you catch them up?
Yes. We rebuild the missing year from whatever you have, including bank statements, card-reader and app reports and any daily notes, as a cleanup project from $750, and the return comes from those reconciled numbers. Tell us on the call which months and which sales tax periods are missing, and the quote covers all of them.
Should a street food business be an LLC or an S-corp?
Either can work; an S-corp is a tax election an LLC can also make, so the choice is about how the business is taxed, and a California LLC owes the $800 annual tax. We model both on your own numbers before you form or elect anything — our entity-selection page shows how the comparison works.
Ready to get the books, the sales tax and the return handled?
One free 30-minute call. You’ll leave knowing what we’d handle and what it costs — whether or not you hire us.
Rather talk now? Call (661) 554-4495 — reach us during business hours and you’ll hear back the same day.
Our team of IRS representation specialists is admitted to practice before the IRS. This page is general information, not tax advice for your specific situation.