Sunday, February 15, 2009

Forming an LLC in Georgia: What are the Benefits?

By Alice Johnson

The limited liability company has become more popular than its corporation counterpart due to its features combining the advantages of all business entities and at the same time doing away with the shortcomings inherent to the other forms of business.

When you form a Georgia LLC, the Georgia LLC laws give you a simple entity to use and maintain but, as your business grows and in the event your business requires complexity, the limited liability company is flexible to accommodate this.

OWNERS GET LIMITED LIABILITY PROTECTION

The GA LLC offers the owners a much needed legal shield when it comes to sharing liability for business debts. The owners are not personally liable as the business is considered as a separate entity

Section 14-11-303 of the Georgia LLC Act gives owners this protection. There are some exceptions for tax liabilities and other limited exceptions but overall, this is a great benefit not afforded when you do business as a sole proprietor business.

OWNERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT STRUCTURE FLEXIBILITY

Unlike other legal entity structures, a Georgia LLC can be altered by the owners to meet the business needs of the particular business. There are very little formalities and forming an LLC in Georgia is affordable and fairly straightforward.

As a business evolves and grows over time, its ownership and operational structure may need to change to account for the growth and possible complexity. For example, the business may admit new owners or bring on a passive investor. Also, there may be a need for more official approval processes when it comes to major business decisions.

FEDERAL INCOME TAX CHOICES

In 1997, the IRS also greatly endorsed the LLC for small business when it passed regulation giving this legal entity the most tax options. An LLC automatically qualifies for a single layer of taxation so it avoids the double taxation of corporations. In addition, it can elect corporate tax status if this is more beneficial for a particular business.

A main reason the Georgia Limited Liability Company has become the entity of choice for small business is because in 1997, the IRS passed regulations that allows for the business entity to choose the way the business will be taxed. There are no longer any additional requirements to qualify for a single layer of pass through taxation.

When you form a GA LLC, your business will be taxed via a single layer of pass through taxation by default. This type of taxation avoids the potentially significant double taxation effect of corporate taxation. However, in some circumstances, your accountant may advise that a corporation tax structure is more advantageous. In these cases, a Georgia company LLC may file an election with the IRS to be taxed as a C corporation or an S corporation. The S corporation qualification does require that the entity and its owners meet a set of requirements. You get more choices when it comes to how your business income will be taxed. - 15246

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