<html><head></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; ">We have an LLC (<a href="http://www.lemonbean.com">www.lemonbean.com</a>) and we set it up because it provided more asset protection than a general partnership (since I have a partner, I could not have a sole proprietorship). It was the least onerous of the options. I wanted to be sure we set it up correctly so we used a lawyer. It was expensive and I have no idea if we would have been able to do it correctly ourselves (but also didn't want to deal with any of it - probably should have used bizfilings, now that I've looked at it). The $800 fee to the state each year seems like a lot to me and I'm not sure what it buys us. <div><br></div><div>We changed to an LLC after starting out as a general partnership. This was a hassle because our Fed tax ID number was dependent on our business structure, as was our bank account. So it is good to try to figure it out before you get all that going. <br><div><br></div><div>I like my accountant: Andrew Stern at Stern and Assoc. <a href="mailto:andrew@ztaxman.com">andrew@ztaxman.com</a>, (415) 668-3130. Our business/tax attorney is Buchanan Law Group, <a href="http://www.buchananlawgroup.com/">http://www.buchananlawgroup.com/</a></div><div><br></div><div>Good luck.</div><div><br></div><div>Ilana</div><div><br></div><div><br><div><br><div><div>On Oct 21, 2009, at 1.34 pm, Kelly hawk wrote:</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><blockquote type="cite"><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; ">We run opencar as an LLC. AFAICT, the main thing we're missing out on is insurance/retirement tax benefits. But we're not much on paperwork in this household, so it's a tradeoff we're living with just fine. Very little paperwork and a flat yearly fee to the state.<div><br><div><div>On Oct 21, 2009, at 10:27 AM, Geoff Davis wrote:</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><blockquote type="cite">I've always used S-corps for my businesses. They're pretty easy to maintain and to set up. I've used <a href="http://bizfilings.com/">bizfilings.com</a> (inexpensive and easy to use) and a lawyer (more expensive and kind of a pain) - I recommend <a href="http://bizfilings.com/">bizfilings.com</a>. I don't know a lot about the differences between the various types of corporations, but all the people I've talked to for advice have recommended an S-corp, and all the reading I've done points to an S-corp for me. Your business may be different, though.<div> <br></div><div>Geoff<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Wed, Oct 21, 2009 at 10:21 AM, Brian Chaikelson <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:brianchaikelson@gmail.com">brianchaikelson@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex;"> Hi -<br> <br> Anyone with experience getting a startup/small business up and running? I'm trying to navigate the right tax entity - ie. sole proprietorship or LLC versus S-corp/C-corp, etc. No other employees at this point, so the latter 2 may be overkill.<br> <br> Is setup complicated and if so, recommended tax advisors/accountants to guide me through this?<br> <br> Thanks!<br> Brian<br> _______________________________________________<br> Social mailing list<br> <a href="mailto:Social@lists.deeptrouble.com" target="_blank">Social@lists.deeptrouble.com</a><br> <a href="http://lists.deeptrouble.com/listinfo.cgi/social-deeptrouble.com" target="_blank">http://lists.deeptrouble.com/listinfo.cgi/social-deeptrouble.com</a><br> </blockquote></div><br></div> _______________________________________________<br>Social mailing list<br><a href="mailto:Social@lists.deeptrouble.com">Social@lists.deeptrouble.com</a><br><a href="http://lists.deeptrouble.com/listinfo.cgi/social-deeptrouble.com">http://lists.deeptrouble.com/listinfo.cgi/social-deeptrouble.com</a><br></blockquote></div><br></div></div>_______________________________________________<br>Social mailing list<br><a href="mailto:Social@lists.deeptrouble.com">Social@lists.deeptrouble.com</a><br>http://lists.deeptrouble.com/listinfo.cgi/social-deeptrouble.com<br></blockquote></div><br></div></div></div></body></html>