LLC taxation is no different from any other business entity taxation. In reality, llc definition does not have an individual tax classification at the Federal or State level. Limited Liability Company owners can elect to be classified in any of the other business entity tax classification convenient to them. A single owner LLC is by default classified and taxed as a sole proprietorship. Multiple owners LLC can elect to be taxed as a partnership or a corporation. If elected to be taxed as a partnership, the income from business should reflect in each partner’s tax returns. When taxed as a corporation, tax on the business income has to calculated and paid through 1120 form. In Federal and state taxation, the differences in LLC vs S Corp taxes are that LLC can elect to be taxed as convenient to the members and beneficial to the business, while the S Corp passes through it profits to its shareholders who in turn reflects that in their personal tax returns and pays taxes accordingly.
A single member Limited Liability company when elected to be taxed as a “disregarded entity” (which means the LLC has no separated existence from that of LLC owner for tax purposes) profit from active trade or business is subject to self employment tax. The single member should report the business income in a schedule C tax form and pay the self employment tax based on Schedule SE Tax form. Where the LLC is not engaged in active trade or business and only a passive source of income such as income from investments or deposits, no self employment tax is payable. When a multiple member LLC engaged in active trade or business elects to be taxed as a partnership, the partners pay self employment tax on their share of profits and report the business income through a 1065 form. In an LLC elected to be taxed as a corporation, no self employment taxes are applicable on amounts paid as wages to the members but such payments will be subject to payroll taxes.
Where the LLC is treated as a disregarded entity or a partnership for tax purposes, no payroll taxes are applicable to profits distributed to the members and where no employees are engaged in the business. In LLC’s treated a C Corporation for tax purposes, any amount paid to members other than profits are subject to payroll taxes. For finer details on LLC taxation, consulting a corporate law firm will be prudent. They will be able to guide you on the most beneficial way to be taxed based on your business activities and LLC operating agreement.
The articles of incorporation are required for a c corp and an s corp. The article of incorporation is required by all states and is used as a charter for your business. The articles of incorporation are designed to establish the existence of your corporation, which is done by filing your articles of incorporation in the state that you are incorporating in. The articles of incorporation are also designed to provide the public about certain basic information for your corporation.
When preparing the articles of incorporation you can use corporate kits or you can find a sample online and create your own articles of incorporation. When preparing your own articles of incorporation it is imperative that you include certain things, if these things are not included in the articles of incorporation, you will not be able to file your articles of incorporation with the Sectary of State’s office.
The first thing that you need to include within your articles of incorporation is the name and address of the new corporation. When including the address you want to give the address of where you will be doing the most business. For example, if you will be running an internet business from your home you will want to give them your home address.
The second thing that you need to include in the articles of incorporation is the purpose of your corporation. When stating your corporation’s purpose you want to use broad language. The reason for that is if you do not use broad terms to describe what your corporation is doing you can limit what your corporation can do. For example, if you state your corporation is going to be selling corporate business gifts to other businesses you will not be able to sell to the public. Instead, you want to use a term like sell quality corporate business gifts to people and businesses that might have a need for them.
The third thing that must be included in your articles of incorporation is the name and address of your corporation’s registered agent. The registered agent is anybody in your corporation who is authorized to accept legal documents on the corporation’s behalf. For example, if your corporation is ever involved in a lawsuit the registered agent will be the person who is served with the papers.
The fourth and final requirement for your articles of incorporation is the stock information. With the stock information, you will want to include the type of stock that you will be issuing and the value of each share. You also want to include how many shares of stock your corporation is allowed to issue, if offering different types of stock you want to include how many shares of each type of stock you will be issuing.
While those are, the main requirements that you will need to have for the articles of incorporation you can still include other information about your corporation in general. Most articles of incorporation include the identity of the people who started the corporation. You can also include the identity of the director or directors. Whoever is identified in the articles of incorporation for being in charge of the corporation must sign the articles of incorporation before they are filed.
With how important the articles of incorporation are for your business it is imperative that you get them right. If you do not feel like you can prepare the articles of incorporation, yourself it is imperative that you get somebody, such as a corporate law firm to help you prepare the articles of incorporation. Corporate law firms are nice to use because they can help save you valuable time, which gets your corporation up and running sooner.
