Business Structure

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When starting your own business, there are many different things in which you need to do before opening your doors up for business. From the idea itself, you then must choose a location, finance the business, and figure out what type of business structure your business is. Depending on which type of business structure you are, you have a specific income tax form in which you have to file with. The five types of most common business structures according to the IRS is, Sole Proprietorship, Partnership, Corporation, S Corporation and Limited Liability Company. Each structure has advantages and disadvantages so that is why as a business owner, you should figure out which type of structure is right for you.
When a business is structured as a Sole Proprietorship, more than likely there is just one owner. Sole Proprietorship are the most common and easiest types of formation since they are not incorporated. Since a Sole Proprietorship is not a real legal entity, legally you are held responsible for anything and everything the business does. If there is an accident or your business is not profitable, your personal assets are at stake. Therefore, anything that you own can be taken from you if you cannot pay. When a person dies or stops doing business, the business easily can no longer exist. Management and the Operations of the business are held by one person only, the owner. When dealing with taxes for sole proprietorship, the income or loss is passed down to the owner personal tax return (1040) as a regular taxable income. Thus there is no special type of form to file for being in business. If the company has a loss, the owner can deduct a portion of their losses from their own taxable income. Trying to raise capital is difficult for th...

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...siness tax id number? Are you comfortable with putting personal assets on the line for your business? How much control do you or your partners want to have? Will the company be owned by others investors with no single owner?

Works Cited

Bizfilings. "A Guide To Forming Your Business." A Guide To Forming Your Business. Bizfillings, 25 July 2011. Web. 1 Dec. 2013.
Internal Revenue Service. "Business Structures." Business Structures. IRS, 14 Nov. 2013. Web. 1 Dec. 2013.
Lamar, Barbara. "Comparison of Business Entities." Comparison of Business Entities. Lamar & Associates PLLC, 29 Apr. 2013. Web. 1 Dec. 2013.
Volusion. "Starting A Business." Starting A Business Types of Business. OnlineBusiness, 3 Apr. 2012. Web. 1 Dec. 2013.
Small Business Association. "Choose Your Business Structure." Business Structures. Small Business Association, 12 Mar. 2012. Web. 1 Dec. 2013.

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