WASHINGTON (Jan. 10, 2013) — The U.S. Census Bureau is reminding business owners that Feb. 12 is the deadline for returning the 2012 Economic Census form sent to nearly 4 million businesses late last year.
Businesses that received the survey forms are required by law to respond, the Census Bureau said.
The Census Bureau conducts an economic census every five years—in years ending in "2" and "7"—to collect reliable business statistics that are considered essential to understanding the American economy.
The information collected—on industry revenues, employment and other measures of American business performance—is then made available to provide consistent, comparable and comprehensive benchmarking data across industries and geographic areas.
To help business owners complete the census forms accurately and on time, the Census Bureau is conducting a webinar at 1 p.m. EST on Jan. 24. To take part, visit the Census website.
To get help with forms and report online, business owners can visit: econhelp.census.gov.
The Economic Census tracks statistics on 18 of the 20 industry sectors defined under the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). The categories relevant to the tire distribution and automotive service sectors are:
326212 — Retreading tires;
423130 — Tires, new and used, motor vehicle, merchant wholesalers;
423930 — Tires, scrap, merchant wholesalers;
441310 — Automotive parts and accessories stores;
441320 — Tire dealers, including businesses engaged in retailing new and/or used tires and tubes or retailing new tires in combination with automotive repair services; and
811111 through 81118 — General automotive repair.