Wednesday, February 25, 2009

A Virginia Limited Liability Company is Ideal for Small Business

By Amy McDaniel

If you are thinking about starting a business in Virginia, you must use an asset protection vehicle such as a Virginia limited liability company to protect yourself. Entrepreneurship is one of the wonderful paths to financial independence but it is not without risk.

The Commonwealth of Virginia has won awards for the best state for business. These awards are a sign that Virginia lawmakers understand the need to encourage and facilitate the growth of entrepreneurship. One clear example of a business friendly law is the Virginia Limited Liability Company Act.

By using an LLC in Virginia, you are not automatically liable personally for the debts, lawsuits and other liability of your business. The law creates a layer of protection for you. This is so important today when small business lawsuits are such an epidemic. The Virginia laws also made it very affordable to get this protection. Filing fees are minimal to create a Virginia LLC with the state.

Lawmakers also realized that the last thing small business owners needed was to be buried in legal compliance requirements and formalities. Many of the rules imposed upon corporations are there because they are needed for larger and more complex business enterprises. In the small business context, these are just not necessary.

So, business owners do not have to worry about spending time or money on meeting legal compliance requirements. This allows them to spend their time on building their businesses and reaching customers. The Virginia LLC laws intentionally make it easy and flexible for a Virginia business to be run through one. There is no mandated one size fits all structure when it comes to determining ownership details or operational processes. Each business can decide on these details themselves based on their business situation.

Even the Internal Revenue Service understands the need to encourage small business creation by ensuring that the limited liability company has some tax benefits as well. A Virginia limited liability company only is required to pay tax once on profits. This is known as a single layer of taxation which saves taxes compared to the double taxation structure of a C corporation.

In summary, the Virginia limited liability company is the ideal entity for a Virginia small business and was designed for these business endeavors. There are many steps to starting a business in Virginia but choosing and forming the right legal entity should be your first step. This important decision provides the foundation upon which your entire business will be built upon. - 15246

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