Thursday, November 20, 2008

Form a Texas LLC and Gain Major Business Benefits

By Christine Snook

If you are thinking of starting a business in Texas, you are fortunate. This is because Texas is a pro-business state which encourages and has good laws to promote small business growth. One law in particular, the Texas Limited Liability Company Act provides an ideal legal vehicle for operate a small business. This article sumamrizes some of the benefits of the Texas LLC and as you will see these are real and relevant ones that can be used by any business owner to help them succeed in the world of business.

The greatest advantage of a Texas LLC is limited liability protection. Without the use of an LLC, a business is run as a sole proprietorship and in this case, the owners are completely and wholly responsible for all the obligations of the business including any liability resulting from lawsuits in the future.

With a Texas LLC, this personal risk of a sole proprietor business is removed by law. As you can see, this is a tremendous and necessary benefit for any business. It only costs a few hundred dollars to form a Texas LLC and so there is no reason not to use one when you compare it to the benefit of protecting all your personal assets from what might happen in the future in your business. Small business lawsuits are on the rise and so this protection is a necessary requirement for any business in today's world.

A second benefit of using this kind of vehicle for your business is that the Texas LLC is an official entity and the use of one automatically distinguishes you from all the non-legal entity businesses out there. Potential customers view official legal entity businesses as more trustworthy and professional so this can help with getting your business started and obtaining customers.

Federal income tax choices is the thir benefit of a Texas LLC. The IRS allows a limited liability company in Texas to only be subject to a single layer of taxation automatically. This is a tremendous advantage over C corporation taxation which involves profits being subject to taxation twice (double taxation). You do not have to worry about qualifying or meeting the requirements of S corporation taxation either. With a Texas LLC, you get pass through taxation period. Or, if your accountant finds that your business will be better off under a corporation taxation structure, the Texas LLC is eligible to change its structure by making an election.

Another benefit is that a Texas LLC is very simple to manage and operate. Unlike corporations, there are no legally mandated formalities or structures when it comes to management and operations. In fact, the law allows for the owners to decide what rules and processes will apply to their business.

Every business is different and will have different concerns and needs. So, flexbility comes in very handy to allow each business to create an operational setting which works for them as opposed to having to make their business fit into some legally mandated arrangement. Small and simple LLCs can thrive off of a simple and hassle free management structure while more complicated and larger limited liability company businesses can put in place more governance procedures that are important to their business.

In summary every business owner in Texas should form a Texas LLC as the first step when it comes to starting a business. - 15246

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