<div> There's a terrific amount of information out there on different business structures and at least the same amount of misinformation and lack of understanding of the differences. Attached is a simple comparison, and I stress simple, of the tax-related differences between sole-proprietorships, corporations and S-corps, and LLC's. FWIW.<br> <br> <font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Paul</font><br> </div> <div> <br> </div> <div> <br> </div> -----Original Message-----<br> From: Michelle Smith <michelle@smithpianoservice.com><br> To: 'Pianotech List' <pianotech@ptg.org><br> Sent: Wed, 19 Mar 2008 7:51 pm<br> Subject: RE: Incorporation questions<br> <br> <div id="AOLMsgPart_2_7f685022-2b16-4e00-88e1-2e9c5ea19ac7"> <style> @#AOLMsgPart_2_7f685022-2b16-4e00-88e1-2e9c5ea19ac7 font-face {font-family:"Cambria Math"; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4;}@#AOLMsgPart_2_7f685022-2b16-4e00-88e1-2e9c5ea19ac7 font-face {font-family:Tahoma; panose-1:2 11 6 4 3 5 4 4 2 4;}@#AOLMsgPart_2_7f685022-2b16-4e00-88e1-2e9c5ea19ac7 font-face {font-family:"Bookman Old Style"; panose-1:2 5 6 4 5 5 5 2 2 4;} #AOLMsgPart_2_7f685022-2b16-4e00-88e1-2e9c5ea19ac7 p.MsoNormal,#AOLMsgPart_2_7f685022-2b16-4e00-88e1-2e9c5ea19ac7 li.MsoNormal,#AOLMsgPart_2_7f685022-2b16-4e00-88e1-2e9c5ea19ac7 div.MsoNormal {margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";}#AOLMsgPart_2_7f685022-2b16-4e00-88e1-2e9c5ea19ac7 a:link,#AOLMsgPart_2_7f685022-2b16-4e00-88e1-2e9c5ea19ac7 span.MsoHyperlink {mso-style-priority:99; color:blue; text-decoration:underline;}#AOLMsgPart_2_7f685022-2b16-4e00-88e1-2e9c5ea19ac7 a:visited,#AOLMsgPart_2_7f685022-2b16-4e00-88e1-2e9c5ea19ac7 span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed {mso-style-priority:99; color:purple; text-decoration:underline;}#AOLMsgPart_2_7f685022-2b16-4e00-88e1-2e9c5ea19ac7 span.EmailStyle17 {mso-style-type:personal-reply; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; color:#1F497D;}#AOLMsgPart_2_7f685022-2b16-4e00-88e1-2e9c5ea19ac7 .MsoChpDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; font-size:10.0pt;}@#AOLMsgPart_2_7f685022-2b16-4e00-88e1-2e9c5ea19ac7 page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.0in 1.0in 1.0in;}#AOLMsgPart_2_7f685022-2b16-4e00-88e1-2e9c5ea19ac7 div.Section1 {page:Section1;}</style> <div class="Section1"> <blockquote style="margin-top: 5pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 5pt;"> <div> <div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);">Hi Geoff and others.  My husband (a graphic designer) and I combined our businesses into one corporation.   Our reasons for doing this were to keep our business finances completely separate from personal and to remove personal liability.  (He does large scale corporate and political advertising.)  We incorporated together but have a dba (doing business as) for each business.  The dba’s are where our clients write checks.</span></div> <div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);"> </span></div> <div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);">I believe my husband used an online service for incorporating which reduces your costs but leaves you with a lot of work.  </span></div> <div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);"> </span></div> <div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);">The whole process has been pretty overwhelming.  My husband fell behind on the paperwork (he’s a creative spirit, bless his heart) and I had to rescue the corporation.  I’ve taken over all of the bookkeeping except for our end of the year taxes which our CPA does.  Quickbooks helps me quite a bit because I subscribe to their payroll service.  We’re at the point of doing monthly payroll deposits and it sends me reminders and then I e-file.</span></div> <div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);"> </span></div> <div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);">If your business has become large enough to be concerned about personal liability and income tax, then go for it but be aware of the amount of self-education that is involved.  </span></div> <div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);"> </span></div> <div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);">Best wishes!</span></div> <div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);"> </span></div> <div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);">Michelle Smith</span></div> <div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);">Smith Piano Service</span></div> <div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);">Bastrop, Texas</span></div> <div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);"> </span></div> <div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);"> </span></div> <div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; color: rgb(31, 73, 125);"> </span></b></div> <div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Bookman Old Style","serif";">SNIP</span></div> </div> <div> <div class="MsoNormal"> </div> </div> <div> <div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Today's questions are directed to those among you who have actually gone through the process of starting a corporation and then converting it to an S corporation.</span></div> </div> <blockquote style="border-style: none none none solid; border-color: -moz-use-text-color -moz-use-text-color -moz-use-text-color black; border-width: medium medium medium 1.5pt; margin: 5pt 0in 5pt 3.75pt; padding: 0in 0in 0in 4pt;"> <div> <div class="MsoNormal"> </div> </div> <div> <div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">: What, exactly, is the process?</span></div> </div> <div> <div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">: Did you do it yourself, or did you hire an attorney? </span></div> </div> <div> <div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">: Changing from Sole Proprietor to Corporation, how do you cover the question of stocks and board meetings?</span></div> </div> <div> <div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">: What about creating a business "name" that ends in Inc., Corp., or Ltd.? To whom do your tuning clients write their checks to?</span></div> </div> <div> <div class="MsoNormal"> </div> </div> <div> <div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">I've found all the forms. And even though there are only about three really basic items being asked for on them, I find myself overwhelmed with questions and procedures regarding the process of actually acquiring and/or creating those items.</span></div> </div> <div> <div class="MsoNormal"> </div> </div> <div> <div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">So I guess my only real question is: How did you do it?</span></div> </div> <div> <div class="MsoNormal"> </div> </div> <div> <div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">-- Geoff Sykes, RPT</span></div> </div> <div> <div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">-- Los Angeles</span></div> </div> </blockquote> </blockquote> </div> </div>  <div id='u8CA583F43242D56-AEC-148C' class='aol_ad_footer'><FONT style="color: black; font: normal 10pt ARIAL, SAN-SERIF;"><HR style="MARGIN-TOP: 10px">Planning your summer road trip? 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