Hello!
I run my website at http://www.desert-storm.com and have done so for the last 4 years mainly as a hobby.

Recently, a friend told me that I may wish to form a corporation (of what type I dont know) in order to seperate the site's income and other aspects from my personal income, etc.

The best benefit I see would be that I would be able to keep the site's finances seperate from my personal finances, ie accounts and taxes.


Has anyone done this? What is involved? Is this something I should do?

Thanks in advance,
Scott O'Hara
webmaster@desert-storm.com

I would talk to a lawyer about it all they can answer the questions a little bit better and you'll get good advice.


---Off Subject---
<Pout> I'm a Disabled Vetern but I don't see any honors :( Guess all the glory goes to the War guys.

P.S. I was a MLRS crewmember if you want a pic I'll be happy to send it.

It usually only costs around 100.00 to setup an LLC in your state... Just call the Secretary of States office and have them fax you the form to fill-out. It is usually a very simple form that you can fill-out with the help of an attorney.

You don't need to do it, but if your company is ever sued then your personal assets can be attached. If you have a formal company setup with the state like an LLC then usually the most they can get is whatever the company has.

Scott

And a side benefit of all this (consult a CPA) is that you can claim all sorts of neat tax deductions. You know that dinner (be sure to discuss your site during the conversation), milage up and back to the computer store, hosting fess, etc. Again, consult a CPA.

All I know is that an expediated S-Corp incorparation filing costs like 600 bucks.

I think its like 200 to pay a lawyer or an accountant with state fees and such.

You don't need the LLC or corporation to deduct appropriate business expenses, actually. Many businesses are sole proprietorships or partnerships. The disadvantage of the latter is, as somebody pointed out, personal liability in the event the business cannot satisfy a debt or judgment.

Best,

-- Jon

My suggestion is look up a local Accountant, that is the best way to do it. Many of them will take care of all of the paper work, and take care all of the tax work. It may cost you a bit more then yourself just doing it, but a lot less hassel.

Haha.. I laughed when I asked an accountant in my area on how much it would cost me for her to help me setup up a LLC. She gave me a quote of $1000. Like get real..

Depends where you go I suppose, ours cost us $150.00/month. A good amount of cash up front, as we had a good mess on our hands. However now that they have things under control its well worth the money.

Definately consult an experience lawyer. Besides income there's liability issues you need to be aware of.

Don't check with just a lawyer or a CPA, check it out with both. Find a CPA and a lawyer that work well together and that you feel comfortable with. Making sure everything is set-up properly is key as in some places you cannot change from a C Corp, S Corp, LLC once it is set (each have own pros and cons).

LLC's and S Corp's should cost about $500-$1000 depending on your location.

There are also different regulator filing issues to be considered. Depending on the location you may have more periodic paper work with one or the other.

Also consider investors. If you ever think you may want/need investors (private investors) the form of the business may make it easier or hard to have investors.