Stefanie Edwards

Often you are exempt from having to charge state sales tax, but you may need to charge local sales tax. It also depends on where you are selling (may have to charge it at a fair, for instance). http://forrager.com/faq/#sales-tax

Maple syrup isn’t specifically mentioned in VA’s cottage food law, so I’m not sure if you’re exempt from inspection, though you may be. You can sell your maple syrup as a home food processing operation, but that requires an inspection. You should contact the ag dept about this.

Yes, if you’re using a licensed commercial kitchen and have the proper license from the ag dept, you can sell online. http://forrager.com/faq/#commercial

I don’t know the laws about making cologne, but I know that they would be separate from the cottage food law. I recommend you contact the health dept about this.

Here’s a blog post I wrote about pricing: http://forrager.com/2016/05/the-price-is-wrong/

I do not think that any cottage food law is sophisticated enough to specify bartering transactions as monetary transactions that count against your sales limit. If it were me, I’d only count monetary transactions against the sales limit, and I’d be highly surprised if ignoring bartering transactions were illegal.

I don’t think you’ll find a resource specific to salsa, but generally, the requirements are going to be greater if you rent a kitchen. You should contact the ag dept for specific info about the business you want to start. I’d expect that you’ll have to take a course with a Better Process Control School.

This website has the most comprehensive statewide directory available: http://forrager.com/cfos/?regions=california

There isn’t any statewide, govt initiative to list all CFOs, but there are a few health depts that have lists of CFOs in their counties. Off the top of my head, I think Sacramento, LA, San Bernardino, Orange, and a few others have a list.