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LLC vs Corporation

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By jasonstevens

Many small business owners are trying to make the right decision between setting up an LLC vs Corporation.  There are a lot of important factors to take into account when making this decision, and it can have a significant impact on your expenses and income due to taxation differences.  In many cases, it's truly best to talk with an experienced lawyer or accountant to get their opinion about which is better for your business.  You can also search online for guidelines on which type of organization in terms of an LLC versus a corporation is best for your circumstances.


One of the main differences in an LLC vs corporation is the taxation.  You may need to treat income differently when it occurs in different formation methods.  It's also a question of ownership as well as the number of owners and shareholders involved can be a factor in when choosing which type of organization is most efficient for your company. 

There may also be a lot of company and industry specific reasons for choosing one type of business structure for another.  Often the best way to determine this is to speak with a lawyer or an accountant who is familiar with your company and your industry.  Typically it's a good idea to make the right decision up front since changing the type and structure of the company later on down the road can be difficult, expensive and even impossible in some cases.  Even if it costs you a bit of money now to talk with an accountant or lawyer, it's probably worth it since you can save a lot of money by being set up correctly from the start and not needing to make extensive changes later when the right choice becomes more obvious.  Many businesses have made unfortunate and ill advised choices in their initial formation that resulted in costly changes later that would have been averted if they had sought the relevant advice at the time and saved themselves a lot of money and trouble too.

If speaking with a lawyer or accountant is impossible due to the cost, you can also look online to see various checklists that explain the costs and benefits of each type of business structure.  Typically these can give you the general guidelines but be cautious since they can completely skip over some nuance that is unique or special to your business or industry that dramatically tips the scales in favor of one alternative or the other.


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