You have five basic choices when setting up business entities: sole proprietorships, partnerships, limited liability companies, S corporations and C corporations. Most small businesses benefit by choosing the LLC structure because it protects you from personal liability and your profits pass through for simple taxation treatment, instead of being double-taxed like regular C corporations.
Organizing a corporation limits your liability to your investment in the business, but LLCs don 't require seating a board of directors, holding shareholder meetings and other time-consuming and expensive administrative formalities. Another great benefit is that you can divide profits any way you want, entice employees by offering them a share of your profits and assign shares without requiring the recipients to pay market value. You can choose to tax any LLC’s profits as a corporate entity or pass-through company, which means that profits are passed through to the shareholders and taxed as regular income.
Using LLCs, S Corporations and Holding Companies
The actual business structure of these arrangements usually involves establishing a holding entity that owns assets and an operating entity that uses the assets. Of course, setting up this arrangement should be done in such a way that business assets are protected from personal creditors and personal assets can 't be targeted by the business, but this takes careful planning. The operating entity conducts business and bears any risks of
There are three types of business entities: sole proprietorship, partnerships, and corporations. Sole proprietorships are businesses owned by an individual person. They are easy to form, but are not taxed. Instead the individual business owner is taxed on any monies acquired on behalf of the business (Kubasek, 2012. Partnerships are businesses that are owned by more than one individual owners. The big thing about partnerships is that each partner is personally responsible for the acts of the other partners in the business . (Kubasek, 2012 Corporations are businesses owned by multiple people to include shareholders (Kubasek, 2012). They can sue and be sued and are subject to a host of rules and regulations set forth by the government.
When looking at liability, creating an LLC will limit the owner’s exposure to just his invested amount. This will legally shield his home, bank accounts, family’s property and other personal assets from seizure or liquidation in the event the company is held responsible for any of the situations mentioned, such as a cabinet falling or subcontractor failing to perform. It would also protect him in the event the expansion of his company fails, and a worst case scenario of the company going under.
A limited liability company consists of a single owner, or sometimes more than one owner, and are not taxed as separate business entities. All profits and losses pass through the business to those who own the company. Owners must report profits and losses on their personal tax return filing as a corporation, partnership, or sole proprietorship. If the LLC is ran by a single owner, they file a 1040 Schedule C form as a sole proprietor. Partners file a 1065 form consisting of a partnership, and a form 1120 is filed if the LLC is filing as a corporation. The LLC must be registered such as the State Corporation Commission, Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs, or the Division of Corporations and Commercial Code. The great thing about an LLC is that the owner has freedom in management. The owner is able to run the organization as they see fit not answering to anyone,
Limited Liability Company (LLC) combines the tax advantages of a partnership with the limited liability aspects of a corporation. LLC’s are governed by the Uniform Limited Liability Company Act (ULLCA). All members of the LLC enjoy limited liability unless there is serious misconduct is committed by said member(s), or a member fails to follow through on an obligation. All this should be outlined in your preformation contract. You will have more flexibility with taxation and options on how to manage the company. It would be advisable to also have an Operating Agreement. This will dictate how management will be hired and fired, division of profits, how to transfer interest in the event a member chooses to opt out or dies. What steps to take in the event of dissociation of a partner, and if it causes the dissolution of the LLC. Most importantly how the members vote in the LLC. The weight of the members vote is in accordance with the member’s capital
The last of the four types includes the limited liability company, also known as a LLC. An LLC is an unincorporated form of business that carries characteristics of all of the other three forms of business. An LLC can choose to be taxed as a partnership, the owners can manage the business, and the owners have limited liability for debts and obligations of the partnership. LLC’s are
When choosing a business structure, it is important to understand the kind of liability that you might face. For example, in the case of Jeb and Josh their business venture is very risky, they should choose a business form that minimizes any potential personal liability. I think that a limited liability company (LLC) allows them the maximum protection for their personal assets without the formalities of corporate bylaws, directors and shareholders.
The managing member’s share of the profits is considered earned income and is therefore subjected to the self-employment tax. Also a member of an LLC cannot pay themselves wages from the profits of the LLC. “The great flexibility that is afforded by an LLC makes it one of the most popular types of business formations used” (Waller).
A Limited Liability Company (LLC), as the name states, has the ability in keeping your liability limited as a professional owner. This is fundamental in protecting your personal assets by separating them from your business assets. In choosing to run a LLC company, we have agreed that a manager-managed business would be conducive to our field of industry. Although one person will have the authority in overseeing the daily tasks of running the business, all non-managing members will still have an input in all decisions in regards to the enterprise. Contract negotiations and employment are just a few of the joint duties of all members. Running an LLC has many advantages like flexibility, limited liability in business related debts, pass-through taxes, and reliability standing. However, with perks there are always some downfalls, such disadvantages consists of being subjected to self-employment tax or if a member departs the LLC ceases to exist, although an Operating Agreement can reverse this challenge. As you can see, running an LLC has more pros, out weighing the cons of such companies.
Proprietorships have three advantages: they are easy and inexpensive to form, subject to few regulations, and no corporate income taxes. The disadvantages are difficult to raise capital, unlimited liability and limited life. Partnership are similar to proprietorships in that they can be stablished relatively easily and inexpensively. The partners are generally subject to unlimited personal liability, this makes it difficult for partnerships to raise large amount of capital. Corporation also have unlimited lives, and easy transfer of ownership, limited liability and ease of raising capital to operate larger businesses. The disadvantages are double taxation, the corporation’s earnings are taxed; and then when its after-tax earnings are paid out as dividends, those earnings are taxed again as personal income to the stockholders. Limited liability reduces the risks endure by investors; and other things held constant, the lower the firm’s risk, the higher its
The first and most notable benefit of an LLC over a Sole Proprietorship are potentially the tax benefits. Even though you are the sole owner of Kyle Grocery Stores, you have many managers and investors that are accumulating a steady amount of wages as a result of the companies increasing revenues and reducing of costs. However, all of the company's revenues are still yours and still go on your tax return. However, as a member of an LLC, each one your managers and you can report on your own individual tax returns provided the LLC agreement be set up the right way.
With Gloria Smithson’s concern in reference to personal liabilities for the members of her family, the three formations listed below are believed to be the best suited for the Smithson’s situation:
In order for an informed decision to be made in regards to appropriate business structure for any business it is necessary to understand each business structure separately and any attempt to understand business structure must consider the C-corporation as a baseline against which to compare subsequent business structures. A C-corporation is a business organized as a separate entity from the owner or owners of the business that requires the observation of certain formalities. In Texas these formalities include adopting bylaws, maintaining a record of accounts, issuance of stock, recording the issuance and transference of stock, recording minutes of board of director and shareholder meetings, as well as maintaining a record of current and past shareholders (Tex. BOC § 21). It is important to remember that corporate formalities will require time and expense to maintain and every attempt should be made to comply with these requirements to protect the liability limitation of the corporation’s shareholders, officers, and owners.
Legal Structure of a Business Orgnanisation Business organisations are the different legal forms a business can adopt. The key distinction is that some businesses provide limited liability for any debts the business incurs. Others have unlimited liability - which obviously doesn't [IMAGE]Unincorporated Incorporated Up Arrow Callout: Sole-trader Up Arrow Callout: Partnership Up Arrow Callout: Private Limited Company (ltd)
The advantages to a LLC are: 1) Reduction of personal liability. A sole proprietor has unlimited liability, which can include the potential loss of all personal assets. 2) Taxes. Forming an LLC may mean that more expenses can be considered business expenses and be deducted from the company’s income. 3) Improved credibility. The business may have increased credibility in the business world compared to a sole proprietorship. 4) Ability to attract investment. Corporations, even LLCs, can raise capital through the sale of equity. 5) Continuous life. Sole proprietorships have a limited life,
Those legal structures are: sole trader,partnership,partnership with limited liability(LLP),private limited company (LtD) and public limited company (PLC).