Business Organization

If you own a small business, you face the prospect of losing ownership of your business in certain scenarios. A creditor can attach a judgment to any interest that an individual debtor may have in any business. In a corporation, a creditor may simply attach itself to the shares of the debtor’s stock to gain Read More…

 LLC Taxation 101 An LLC, or limited liability company, offers the same personal liability shield to each of its owners that a corporation offers. The LLC is essentially an organized partnership offering the same protections as corporations, but with much more flexibility. But, what characterizes LLC taxation? 1. Is the LLC entity itself taxed? The Read More…

 S Corporation Taxation 101 An “S” corporation is a corporation, just like a C corporation. Its shareholders enjoy the same general shield from personal liability for the corporations’ acts or omissions. The main differences lay in the tax structure of both entities and with certain restrictions on ownership. S corporation taxation presents a unique set Read More…

Unpaid Payroll Tax Liability Owners of a corporation or LLC with employees can be held personally responsible for the unpaid payroll tax liability. Businesses must withhold income tax and Social Security tax from paychecks and pay the IRS. Any owner, officer, manager or employee of the business who exercises control or supervision over any tax Read More…

Avoid Corporation & LLC Personal Liability! Once you have organized your business, you are still not entirely immune from personal liability. When courts impose liability on individuals for the actions of the corporation, this is referred to in legal parlance as “piercing the corporate veil.” In order to avoid personal liability for debts and other Read More…

Another basic but very important legal requirement for corporations involves compliance with what are known as “corporate formalities”. As the name suggest, corporations must comply with certain formal legal requirements to maintain its shareholders’ personal liability shield. (Corporate formalities should be followed by LLC’s as well, albeit to a lesser extent, as discussed below). Basically, Read More…

Once you have decided to organize, there are a variety of basic rules and regulations you should become familiar with. Simply stated, in exchange for the personal liability shield granted to each owner of an organized entity, certain legal requirements and formalities must be followed under each state statute. You should at least be familiar Read More…

Business Assumed Name Illinois An assumed name is any name you use to identify your business other than the full, legal name of the organized business entity as it appears on the Articles of Incorporation/Organization. In Illinois and in most other stats, assumed names are names you must register in order to be able to Read More…