An LLC does help with getting a proper EIN and DUNS number which helps greatly in establishing trust in a relationship with a new client.. Yes it absolutely helps with accepting payments.. having an EIN is necessary in many cases..
No it doesn't. Sole proprietors can get DUNS numbers just fine. It's literally the first option when you tell them how your business is structured right after telling them your name and email address.
> "Yes it absolutely helps with accepting payments"
A billion people accepting payments in every possible form without being incorporated say that you're wrong. No method of payment processing, from credit cards to memecoins, cares whether you're incorporated.
> "having an EIN is necessary in many cases"
Again, getting an EIN and forming an LLC are completely unrelated.
Forming an LLC doesn't make separating finances any easier. It doesn't help you do it or help you force yourself to to do it. My objection is specifically to the claim that it helps you do anything. It doesn't.
Also, you should separate finances as a sole proprietor too.
For all these things I think just having an EIN is simpler.
You don’t even need that to start; you set up Capital One (for example) business accounts using your SSN. The EIN is just to avoid putting your personal SSN on invoices.
LLC matters if you think you’ll have liability risks.
LLCs are great, but you should be aware that single-member LLCs may offer less liability protection than you expect, and in some circumstances it can be easier to pierce the corporate veil.
As someone living in Taiwan, can I set up an LLC and get all the benefits of it?
I now have a Singapore entity that helps me out for getting a Stripe account mainly.
Depends on what's your goal. Privacy and the least amount of paperwork? Probably a place like Wyoming, where your annual report is a single page saying "yeah I'm still alive". But an LLC will usually need to be parallel-registered in the state it's doing business in, so if it's a pain-in-the-butt state like California, might as well register it here - you're not escaping their fees and paperwork either way.
If you live in California, you likely have to register in California. So you really only have one option, unless you want to register in two places. You’ll also have to pay at least $800/year for the pleasure.
>Cost-wise it’s maybe $500 a year, all in (unless you have the pleasure of living in California, in which case you have to add their inane $800 on top). But that’s pretty reasonable considering the optionality it gives you to just… build shit these days.
You don't need an LLC to build things and sell things. And you also get the downsides of needing to stay at an office to be able to be served or having to have your active home address be publicly viewable.
additionally many RAs offer mail forwarding/virtual offices (that can even accept deliveries) for pretty affordable , eg northwest registered agent offering seemingly millions of sheridan wy suites
> "An LLC will help you force a separation of personal and work finances"
No it won't.
> "it’ll help you accept payments"
No it won't.
> "or sign up for a bank account"
No it won't.
An LLC doesn't make those things any easier than they already are (very easy) as a sole proprietor.
An LLC only does the liability thing. And that's fine. Just don't make other things up. You don't need to.
An LLC does help with getting a proper EIN and DUNS number which helps greatly in establishing trust in a relationship with a new client.. Yes it absolutely helps with accepting payments.. having an EIN is necessary in many cases..
> "An LLC does help with getting a proper EIN"
No it doesn't. Sole proprietors get EINs just fine. It's literally the first option on the first page of the application. https://sa.www4.irs.gov/applyein/legalStructure
> "and DUNS number"
No it doesn't. Sole proprietors can get DUNS numbers just fine. It's literally the first option when you tell them how your business is structured right after telling them your name and email address.
> "Yes it absolutely helps with accepting payments"
A billion people accepting payments in every possible form without being incorporated say that you're wrong. No method of payment processing, from credit cards to memecoins, cares whether you're incorporated.
> "having an EIN is necessary in many cases"
Again, getting an EIN and forming an LLC are completely unrelated.
There are many financial products which require business incorporation.
"Financial products" is vague, so what if we just go down the list of payment methods and see which ones require being incorporated.
Credit card? No. ACH? No. Wire transfer? No. Cash? No. Crypto? No. Check? No. IOU on a napkin? No. Pokemon card? No. Sex? Weirdly illegal in most places, but still no.
...uh...which ones did I miss?
It doesn't force you to do anything, same as a sole proprietor.
What it does do is that since it provides a rigid structure, it compels law abiding citizens to do those actions, not forcing still.
You would have a hard time proving liability if you didn't have separated finances.
Forming an LLC doesn't make separating finances any easier. It doesn't help you do it or help you force yourself to to do it. My objection is specifically to the claim that it helps you do anything. It doesn't.
Also, you should separate finances as a sole proprietor too.
For all these things I think just having an EIN is simpler.
You don’t even need that to start; you set up Capital One (for example) business accounts using your SSN. The EIN is just to avoid putting your personal SSN on invoices.
LLC matters if you think you’ll have liability risks.
LLCs are great, but you should be aware that single-member LLCs may offer less liability protection than you expect, and in some circumstances it can be easier to pierce the corporate veil.
As someone living in Taiwan, can I set up an LLC and get all the benefits of it? I now have a Singapore entity that helps me out for getting a Stripe account mainly.
hello from an old TotalSpore-head :)
A question is: where do you register one? Should it be Caymans or Panama or South Dakota or Texas or Delaware or your home state?
Also, what type of LLC should it be?
Depends on what's your goal. Privacy and the least amount of paperwork? Probably a place like Wyoming, where your annual report is a single page saying "yeah I'm still alive". But an LLC will usually need to be parallel-registered in the state it's doing business in, so if it's a pain-in-the-butt state like California, might as well register it here - you're not escaping their fees and paperwork either way.
Delaware is for big companies.
If you live in California, you likely have to register in California. So you really only have one option, unless you want to register in two places. You’ll also have to pay at least $800/year for the pleasure.
Well if nothing else I feel a bit better having an llc sitting around doing nothing.
>Cost-wise it’s maybe $500 a year, all in (unless you have the pleasure of living in California, in which case you have to add their inane $800 on top). But that’s pretty reasonable considering the optionality it gives you to just… build shit these days.
You don't need an LLC to build things and sell things. And you also get the downsides of needing to stay at an office to be able to be served or having to have your active home address be publicly viewable.
That's specifically the $100 of the $500/year fee; you pay for a registered agent to handle all that for you (and shield your address).
additionally many RAs offer mail forwarding/virtual offices (that can even accept deliveries) for pretty affordable , eg northwest registered agent offering seemingly millions of sheridan wy suites
whats the uk equiv?
A ‘Registered Limited Company’, as in ‘Widgets Ltd.’. Per the ‘Limited Liability Companies Act’ of 1855.
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Why does everything need to make money so bad, this is terrible advice
"Everything" doesn't need to make money so bad. But if you're interested in making money on the internet, this is good advice.
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