When you incorporate your business, you open up a whole new world of
opportunities for increasing your net profit (the amount of money you get to keep!)
through proper tax planning. The corporation will also protect you from personal liability
for problems involving corporate assets or employees.
The corporation has been called the "Ultimate Tax Shelter"
and the "Last Way Left for the Little Guy to Get Rich." When you realize that
all the tax advantages available to the big guys, i.e., IBM, GE, etc., are now available
to you for your small business, you have to be excited about the possibilities.
Why Incorporate?
The first reason to incorporate is to avoid personal liability.
The corporation was originally conceived to provide business owners with protection from
liability. The idea was to encourage people to create and grow businesses by eliminating
some of the risk of personal loss. Risk is something we all face in our businesses. The
proper analysis and reduction of risk allows us to prosper without fear of losing
everything. If you structure your affairs properly, you can make it virtually impossible
for any lawsuit to seriously hurt you.
The owners of the corporation are the shareholders. It doesn't
matter how many shares you own. Your percentage of the total shares issued by the
corporation determines your percentage of ownership.
Shareholders are not liable for corporate activities. If an employee
causes an accident, the victim can obtain a judgment against the corporation, but not
against the shareholder. If an employee becomes disgruntled, he can obtain a judgment
against the corporation, but not against the shareholder. If someone is injured on
corporate property, the result is the same.
If the corporation is sued, the corporate assets are at risk, but
the shareholders remain safe and secure. As long as the corporation is properly run, the
shareholders are not at risk.
The second reason to incorporate is the available tax advantages. As
the Internal Revenue Service and Congress developed the tax code, two methods of taxing
corporations were created. Depending on your choice of tax treatment as a "C"
corporation or an "S" corporation, you can alter the level and effect of
taxation. With proper tax planning, you can greatly reduce your income taxes and
dramatically increase your net income. Youll find a further explanation of tax
advantages below.
The third reason to incorporate is to lower your risk of audit by
the IRS. The audit rates of corporations have traditionally been lower than the audit
rates of individuals engaged in business.
How Do You Get Started?
The first step to incorporate is to choose the state of
incorporation. You have two basic choices the state in which you live or Nevada.
You will obviously be doing business in your home state. This alone
is usually a good reason to form your corporation in that state.
You should be aware, however, that more corporations are formed in
Nevada than in any other state. Nevadas laws provide more privacy and protection for
the shareholders than any other state. Some of the primary advantages of Nevada are:
1. Nevada does not levy any corporate or individual taxes. Most
other states have corporate income taxes, franchise fees or both.
2. Nevada does not require the shareholders to be disclosed. If the
shareholders names are not included in the filed information, then no person can
discover them from the public information.
3. Nevada allows the articles of incorporation to eliminate any
liability of the directors. In other states, the directors can be held liable to outside
parties and to the shareholders.
4. Nevada is the only state which does not have an information
sharing treaty with the Internal Revenue Service. Other states share your personal and
corporate income information with the Internal Revenue Service.
Many people choose to incorporate in Nevada to take advantage of
these laws. You can form your Nevada corporation without ever going to Nevada. You will
need a company to act as the required registered agent within Nevada. The usual fee for
this is $125 to $150.
After you have filed your incorporation papers, you will hold the
initial meetings of the shareholders and the directors. You will need to determine who
will serve as the officers and directors. The corporation is required to have three
officers a president, a secretary and a treasurer. In most states, one person (you)
can act as all three officers. You can also just have one director on the board of
directors in most states.
As the owners of the corporation, the shareholders elect the
directors to the board of directors. The directors then elect the officers. The directors
and officers serve a one year term or until their successors are elected.
In addition to electing the officers and directors, you will
authorize and approve the bylaws, articles of incorporation, stock certificates, and other
such matters at the initial meetings. Once you have completed these meetings and filed the
appropriate information in the corporate record book, you have finished the process of
incorporation.
Many people wonder if they can handle this task themselves or if
they should hire an attorney. An attorney will charge at least $1,000 to create and file
your corporation. If you have the right information available, you can file the correct
documents with the state and complete all the corporate documents yourself. Of course,
your cost would then be much less than $1,000.
You are required to hold annual meetings of the shareholders and
directors. An attorney will charge from $200 to $400 to complete the minutes of these
meetings. With the proper information, you can hold these meetings and complete the
records yourself in less than one hour per year. The cost to do-it-yourself is zero.
Forming and running your own corporation is fairly simple.
Certainly, you can handle all the required tasks yourself. Doing it yourself provides you
not only with a significant cost savings, but assures you that everything is done just the
way you want it.
What Are Your Tax Options?
The Internal Revenue Service automatically treats every
corporation as a Subchapter "C" corporation. The shareholders can unanimously
elect to be treated differently as a Subchapter "S" corporation.
A "C" corporation has no limits on the type of
shareholders, the number of shareholders or the classes or types of stock. An
"S" corporation can only have 75 shareholders. An "S" corporation can
only have one class of stock which must be common voting stock. All public companies are
"C" corporations.
A "C" corporation is a separate taxpayer. This means a
"C" corporation pays tax on its net income. If you are the owner of the
corporation and an employee, you can make certain that the corporation never pays taxes by
spending all the money each year. If profits are still undistributed as you approach the
end of your tax year, you can pay yourself those profits as a bonus. Because the
"C" corporation is a separate taxpayer, you will have a variety of tax planning
options available with the "C" corporation that are not available with an
"S" corporation.
You may have occasion to choose to leave profits in the
"C" corporation. Like you, the "C" corporation has tax brackets so the
tax rate increases as the income rises. Many people think corporate tax rates are very
high, much higher than individual tax rates. While this is true at the high income levels,
at lower income levels the corporate tax rates are quite reasonable. For example, the
first $50,000 of corporate net income is taxed at only a fifteen (15%) percent rate. This
rate is sometimes lower than your personal tax rate.
An "S" corporation files a tax return, but does not pay
taxes. The shareholders pay taxes on the net profits in accordance with their respective
shares of ownership. If the corporation has a net profit which it retains and does not
distribute, the shareholders pay taxes on the money anyway.
In one specific situation, an "S" corporation is
particularly useful when you are starting a business and expect to lose a
substantial amount of money for a few years. The losses will be reported on the
shareholders tax returns and can offset other income.
Can You Choose the Tax Year Of the
Corporation?
After the 1986 Tax Reform Act, an "S" corporation is
generally required to have the same tax year as the shareholders (you). An "S"
corporation will have a tax year which begins January 1st and ends December 31st.
A "C" corporation can choose from twelve (12) possible tax
years. The only requirement is the tax year must end on the last day of a month. Since
your tax year ends in December, you may want to choose a corporate tax year with a
different ending. A common choice is a tax year which begins July 1st and ends June 30th.
If you were doing business as a sole proprietor, a partnership or an
"S" corporation and you had (a) a large undistributed profit in December or (b)
a large of sum paid to you as profit in December, you would have no choice except to
recognize the income in the current year and pay taxes accordingly.
Another option would be to run your business as a "C"
corporation with a tax year ending on June 30th. If you have either situation (a) or (b)
above, then you dont have to worry about distributing the income until June 30th of
the following year. You have the right to shift the income from the current year to the
next year. When you set up your "C" corporation correctly, you will have the
opportunity to engage in this type of tax planning. Proper tax planning can provide
significant tax savings annually.
When the profit is still sitting in the corporation in December, you
have two (2) choices. The first is to leave the money in the corporation and deal with it
next year. The second is to pay the money out in expenses and bonuses to yourself, and pay
taxes in the current year. You will make this choice based upon your specific situation.
Your goal is to pay the least amount of income taxes and this setup will allow you to
adjust to changing situations.
If you leave the money in the corporation, you can then pay yourself
a salary on January 1st. You have now shifted the income and the tax to the next year, but
you have the money available to you personally now. You could also choose to leave the
money in the corporation until the end of the corporations fiscal year. You would
then determine how much money you should distribute to keep your income taxes as low as
possible.
How You Can Get the Best Employee
Benefits Available
When you go to work for your corporation, you want to provide
the best benefits available for the sole employee (you!). You can also provide some or all
of these benefits when you have additional employees. Please be advised that you can only
provide yourself with a limited amount of tax deductible benefits if you dont make
them available to the other employees.
The most important benefit you can provide is a Medical Expenses
Reimbursement Plan. This plan provides for the payment by the corporation of all
medical expenses for the employee, his spouse and his dependent children. The corporation
will pay for medical insurance, co-payments, deductibles, pharmaceutical drugs, and
expenses not covered by insurance, including elective surgery. While these are all
expenses you would be paying anyway, the corporation will get a tax deduction for each
expense. You personally dont get a tax deduction for medical expenses except for
that part which exceeds seven and one-half (7.5%) of your adjusted gross income.
If you are paying $5,000 annually for medical insurance and
expenses, wouldnt it be great to have the government give you a break and contribute
a little something to help?
To really understand the huge benefit to you, you have to realize
how pre-tax and post-tax incomes differ. When you personally are paid $100,000, you pay
about $30,000 in federal, state and local taxes on it. You have just $70,000 of post-tax
income left to pay your bills. Wouldnt it be a lot better if you could pay your
bills using the entire $100,000 instead of just $70,000? The corporation can and does use
the entire $100,000 as pre-tax income available to pay expenses. When the corporation
provides medical or other benefits to you, these benefits are tax deductible expenses to
the corporation. In other words, neither the corporation nor you will ever pay income tax
on the money used by the corporation to pay benefits on your behalf.
Since you are going to pay expenses such as medical and automobile
costs anyway, doesnt it make sense for you to allow your corporation to pay them on
your behalf and get the tax deduction?
The medical reimbursement plan requires special language and
documentation during the formation of the corporation. You must set up the plan correctly
to get the tax deduction. It is only available to you as an owner if your corporation is
treated as a "C" corporation. This does not apply to an "S"
corporation.
The corporation can provide additional insurance coverage for you.
It can pay for life insurance, disability insurance, long term care insurance,
catastrophic illness insurance and many other types of insurance.
How to Get Your Own Company Car
Most self-employed people need a car or truck to carry out the
work of the corporation. The corporation can pay the car payment, gas, oil, maintenance,
insurance and repairs. The employee can use the car for personal as well as business
reasons. The corporation will receive a tax deduction for the business use percentage of
all expenses. The Internal Revenue Service imposes limits on the price of the vehicle you
can purchase. If the price of the vehicle is greater than about $15,800, the corporation
may be limited in the depreciation deduction available in the first 5 years.
Education is not a tax deductible expense to the individual or the
corporation if the education is for the purposes of learning how to invest in anything or
for you to learn a new skill. Education is tax deductible for business purposes if you are
maintaining or improving your skill in your current business. Educational expense
deductions are readily available to corporations engaged in a particular business.
If, prior to incorporating, you incurred expenses such as education
to improve your skills in your chosen business, you should be certain to reimburse
yourself. The corporation will then receive a tax deduction for the expenses incurred.
If you work from your home, you have the opportunity to deduct the
portion of your homes expenses that correspond to the business use of your home. To
determine the percentage you can deduct, you first have to figure out how much space you
use which is solely used for your office. Your dining room table doesnt count. Your
living room table doesnt count. You must use the space solely for business.
For example, if you use an 8' by 8' foot room for your business, you
are using 64 square feet. You divide the 64 square feet into the total square footage of
your house (well use 1,800 square feet). You can use 3.55% of your house expenses as
a business deduction. Since you are already receiving a personal deduction for your home
mortgage interest and your real estate taxes, you will only be deducting expenses like
utilities.
For most people, the home office deduction is more trouble than
its worth. The home office deduction is also an item the Internal Revenue Service
will always look at closely. The Internal Revenue Service is so concerned with this
deduction because they know many people exaggerate the space they use for business and the
actual expenses.
Even if you dont take a deduction for the home office, you can
deduct the actual expenses associated with your business. These include the usual business
expenses as well as alterations or improvements necessary for your business such as
telephone or electric outlets.
If you purchase expensive pieces of equipment such as a computer
system, you usually cant take a deduction for the full amount of the expense. You
are required to amortize the cost of the asset over its useful life (normally 3 to 5
years). An important exception to these rules is contained in Section 179 of the tax code
which allows your corporation to deduct the full cost of any equipment purchases up to an
annual total of $24,000 (as of 2001). In other words, the tax code allows you to do the
obvious get a tax deduction in full when you spend money now.
Travel the World in Tax Deductible Style
As part of your business, you may be required to travel to
various places both inside and outside of the United States. Your costs of travel,
including meals, are tax deductible for business purposes.
You can use this tax deduction to your advantage in several ways.
You might, for instance, desire to travel to a particular city on a regular basis. You
might be visiting your son at college. You might just be hanging out at the beach. If you
combine business with pleasure, the corporation can pay for the entire trip and get a tax
deduction for it.
First, you must have a business purpose for the trip. If youre
a real estate investor, you could own one or more properties near the location in which
youre interested. You are visiting the properties for a business purpose so the trip
is tax deductible. If you are making sales calls on businesses in that area, the trip is
tax deductible.
If you are going to combine business with pleasure, make sure you
keep complete and accurate records of your business activities and the time you spent.
When you put it all together, you can easily understand why your
business should be incorporated. You can benefit in so many ways from the tremendous tax
deductible benefits you receive to the liability protection you enjoy.
Frankly, its foolish to engage in business without a
corporation. I want to warn you right now, though, that some accountants and attorneys
will tell you not to incorporate. Theyll tell you it costs too much money or that
you dont make enough money to incorporate.
They are absolutely and unequivocally wrong. You should incorporate
as soon as possible. If you are just starting your business, you should incorporate
immediately even if you are losing money. When you start to make a profit, you will use
the previous loss to reduce the profit.
In plain English, this means you will take tax deductions now for
expenses you are paying anyway like medical and automobile bills. These tax deductions
will pile up and you will use them to offset future income. You can do it now or you can
waste thousands of dollars of deductions and pay huge amounts of unnecessary taxes.
Whats Your First Step?
You have a couple of options for forming your own corporation.
You could call an attorney and spend more than a thousand dollars just to get the
corporation formed. Then, you can call with him questions and pay him $3 or more for
every minute youre on the phone or in his office.
Or, you can form your own corporation like tens of thousands of
people have done. Creating your own corporation is not that difficult once you learn the
simple rules. My home study course, "How to Create and Use Corporations", will
provide you with step-by-step instructions. Thousands have followed these steps and formed
their own corporation. Now, you can do it, too!
By the way, even though I'm a lawyer, this course is not written
in "legalese." Instead, I've used plain English that anyone can follow and
understand the first time through.
But, thats only the beginning. The most important part of
using your new corporation is what you do with it after youve formed it. Just like
you have an owners manual for your new car, you need an owners manual for your new
corporation.
"How to Create and Use Corporations" will show you
exactly:
- the 5 step process for forming your own corporation
- the most common mistakes (avoiding these will save you thousands
of dollars!)
- how to maximize your tax deductions (5 pages of single-spaced items
so you dont miss any chance to save)
- what paperwork is necessary so you can win an audit from the IRS
- the 7 best ways to get the most benefits for you and your family
- how to save hundreds of dollars in attorneys fees by holding
your own annual meetings (and do it better and faster than they can anyway)
- the difference between subchapters "C" and "S"
and which tax status is right for you
- the truth about Nevada corporations and when theyre right for
you
- how to turn all your travel into tax deductible business travel -
and have a lot of fun doing it!
As an attorney, I represented many small business owners and dealt
daily with their problems and concerns. Since 1992, I have been traveling the country
teaching small business owners how to maximize their business benefits and minimize their
risks.
Ive been called, "The attorney whos taught
thousands of people how to save millions of dollars." I continue to share this
valuable information with thousands of business owners each year in my exclusive 3 day
workshops that cost $3,000 to attend.
"How to Create and Use Corporations" contains mountains of
valuable information. The course manual is over 200 pages long. The cassette tapes contain
several hours of in-depth education about your corporation and getting the most bang for
your buck. Remember, just getting incorporated is not enough . . . it's what you do
with your corporation that makes the difference.
The course contains a complete set of forms for every move
youll ever make as a corporation. You can copy these forms and easily fill them in
by following the simple instructions. More importantly, the course features a computer
disk containing all the forms in both Microsoft Word and text formats so you can use them
with any word processor.
Even better - all the forms have already been filled out for you.
You don't have to guess what goes in any blank. All you have to do is follow the
directions on the completed forms.
By now, youre probably expecting Ill charge more for
this course than the most expensive attorney because it costs you nothing extra to listen
the tapes again and again. Thats not going to happen. I want to make this
information affordable for everyone so they get incorporated right away.
Your investment for "How to Create and Use Corporations"
would normally be at least $497 if you bought it at one of my live seminars. But, Joshua
at MLMSuccessTips has twisted my arm and obtained a special discount of $100 for you.
During this special promotion, well save you $100 off this
price so your investment is only $397! But, you must order by midnight on .
SPECIAL BONUS: I want
everyone who reads this report to realize the incredible value of creating and using his
or her own corporation. Unfortunately, not all of you will. For those that choose to take
advantage of my course and get started right away, Im offering you this Special
Bonus:
I know you're going to have questions. That's inevitable. Everyone
has questions. Here's the good news . . . I have answers and you can get them free!
If you order today,
I and my staff will provide one full year of support by email.
If you have questions related to the course material or forming your
corporation, Ill do my best to provide the answers. You'll normally receive an
answer within one business day. Ill even review your corporate documents after you
complete them. Youll receive my contact information under separate cover along with
a code to identify you as one of my customers. The value of this support obviously far
exceeds your investment in the course.
Click
here to place your order using our secure server.
This course makes the process of forming and using a corporation so
easy that I guarantee anyone can do it! Heres the guarantee:
Shawn Caseys Complete Satisfaction Guarantee: I guarantee you will be completely satisfied with "How to Create and Use
Corporations". Keep the course for 90 full days. Listen to the tapes. Read the
manual. Use the forms to file and create your own corporation. If youre not
completely satisfied, then simply return the course in good condition for a full refund of
your money no arguments, no disputes, no questions asked. I guarantee youll
be completely satisfied.
Click
here to place your order using our secure server.
The choice is simple and it's yours to make:
- Just keep fooling around, keep wasting money you could be putting in
your pocket and keep risking your personal assets every day; or
- Get serious about your business and get incorporated like you know
you should.
Click
here to place your order using our secure server.
Yours in success,
Shawn M. Casey, J.D.
P.S.
I can understand your hesitation, but let's look at this simply.
If you do nothing, you gain nothing. You get no tax savings. You get
no protection from liability. What a waste!
If you get incorporated, you gain tremendous tax advantages and
protect you and your family from liability.
I absolutely guarantee that "How To Create and Use
Corporations" will improve your tax situation and protect you from liability. But,
what if I'm wrong? Then you get all your money back.
You have no risk if you invest in the course. It's
guaranteed to work. Of course, you have a lot of risk if choose to do nothing right now.
Do the right thing for you and your family.
Click
here to place your order using our secure server.
Copyright 2001 Success Management Corporation
Questions or comments may be addressed to support@mininggold.com.