What form is best for your business? Should it be one of the corporate forms or one of those that is not a corporation? This text will give you the facts and the comparisons that will help you make that choice. It should at the very least, give you the basic information so you can understand the issues that affect that choice. In addition, this writing is intended to list the basic information about US business structures every attorney and CPA wishes his or her new client already understood when first seeking help turning a worthwhile business plan into a smooth running profit making machine. The table of contents lists the types of business legal structures available to the entrepreneur for doing business in the US. Note that business structures have either a ?corporate? and ?non-corporate? legal form. Take a ?quick look? at the comparison of business types appearing in Chapter 1: ?Business Entities Compared?. It is an easy to understand summary of the major considerations in choosing a form for a business. That page, for each type, lists the owner; personal liability; taxation and management features of each type. The later chapters of this writing discuss the details and the major issues that apply to each of business legal structure listed in that first chapter. All USA businesses are legal entities authorized defined, created, and registered according to the individual state laws of the state where the business is located. Although similar, there are important differences among the states. A great deal of ?shopping? for a favorable ?home? does in fact take place because of those differences. However, there is a requirement for all businesses to ?register? in any state where it has operations. That subject is the subject of Chapter 15: ?Doing Business in Other States?. The appendix provides links to all 50 state departments Involved in forming a business. It includes all state's secretary of state business records departments; state taxation departments; security departments; and corporate and business laws.
About the Author: T. Patterson J.D. received his Juris Doctorate degree from the Detroit College of Law (now The Michigan State University School of Law) in 1963. He has created, bought, and sold shell corporations for clients for over five decades. He authored numerous reports and studies about business organizations comparing state laws related to business legal structures, and state business taxes, privacy, personal liability, and related documentation. When he retired, he created and managed a web site used by entrepreneurs for the creation and filing of new business organizations throughout the US.