The Advantages of Using an LLC for your Small Business

If you operate your small business as a sole proprietorship, you may have thought about forming a limited liability company (LLC) to protect your assets. Or maybe you’re launching a new business and want to know your options for setting it up. Here are the basics of operating as an LLC and why it might be a good choice for your business. An LLC is a bit of a hybrid entity because it can be structured to resemble a corporation for owner liability purposes and a partnership for federal tax purposes. This duality may provide the owners with the best of both worlds. Protecting your personal assets Like the shareholders of a corporation, the owners of an LLC (called “members” rather than shareholders or partners) generally aren’t liable...

Choosing a Business Entity? Here are the Pros and Cons of a C Corporation

If you’re launching a new business venture, you’re probably wondering which form of business is most suitable. Here is a summary of the major advantages and disadvantages of doing business as a C corporation. A C corporation allows the business to be treated and taxed as a separate entity from you as the principal owner. A properly structured corporation can protect you from the debts of the business yet enable you to control both day-to-day operations and corporate acts such as redemptions, acquisitions and even liquidations. In addition, the corporate tax rate is currently 21%, which is lower than the highest noncorporate tax rate. Following formalities In order to ensure that a corporation is treated as a separate entity, it’s important to observe various formalities required by your state....

Which Entity is Most Suitable for you Business?

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) has changed the landscape for business taxpayers.  These changes have caused many business owners to ask: Which entity is most suitable for me? TCJA introduced a flat 21% federal income tax rate for C corporations. Under prior law, profitable C corporations paid up to 35%. TCJA also cut individual income tax rates, which apply to sole proprietorships and pass-through entities, including partnerships, S corporations, and LLCs (treated as partnerships for tax purposes). However, the top rate dropped from 39.6% to only 37%. Which entity is most suitable: Entity tax basics Before the TCJA, conventional wisdom was that most small businesses should be set up as sole proprietorships or pass-through entities to avoid the double taxation of C corporations. A C corporation pays...