I am a US citizen and sole proprietor. I am thinking of
incorporating. My business is an online business and I do not need an
office to operate. Therefore, I do not see what is to stop me from
incorporating anywhere in the world and running from a virtual office.
Here is what I want to want:
- pay as few taxes as possible (and if possible, none)
- not be personally liable for business mistakes, debts, lawsuits, etc.
- be as descreet as possible (ie: no public data to link me to the corporation)
Just to clarify, I am looking for the most beneficial countries or
states to incorporate in. No taxes, no liability, and anonymity would
make my happy. |
Request for Question Clarification by
richard-ga
on
31 Aug 2005 11:54 PDT
As a U.S. citizen, you are required to report your worldwide income on
your federal income tax return. And if you own a foreign corporation
(a 'controlled foreign corporation') you're required to report its
income on your personal return as well, plus there are additional tax
and treasury department forms that you're requited to file.
So unless you're planning to break the law, it's best to set up your
corporation (or maybe an LLC) in one of the U.S. states.
Will you accept an answer that explains the above and suggests which
U.S. state might be best?
Looking forward
Richard-ga
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Clarification of Question by
iluvhumvees-ga
on
31 Aug 2005 16:46 PDT
Yes,
I would accept an answer which outlines the best US state to
incorporate in. Also, I understand that LLCs have some tax benefits
over S-corps and S-corps have tax benefits over C-corps. However, for
a one person business which only expects to make $40k to maybe $75k
per year and about $8-15k per year in expenses, what would be the best
scenario? I have arrived at C-corp on my own, but would like some
additional guidance.
Before I completely let go of incorporating outside the US: say I
became a citizen of Canada and setup a Delaware corporation from
Canada. Would I still have to pay US federal income taxes?
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Clarification of Question by
iluvhumvees-ga
on
31 Aug 2005 17:10 PDT
Oh, and just to clarify the outside the US bit, I'm seriously thinking
about moving to Canada or another foreign country.
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Clarification of Question by
iluvhumvees-ga
on
01 Sep 2005 10:01 PDT
Thanks for the comments. They helped me in realizing that I have alot
more research and questions to ask.
Robert, I fear this may get out of hand and I may have a few more
clarifications to post before it gets resolved unless I reclarify the
entire question right now. If you feel I'm going to far with it, just
stop me and I'll cancel the question and repost it after I refine my
thoughts ;).
Basically where my questions are leading are in three directions:
taxes, liability, and secrecy. You can post links, that's no problem,
I just want some direction in order to narrow my options down to like
1-5 possibilities, then I will still seek professional legal and
accounting advice from my accountant and a lawyer. I just want to be
informed before I pay someone $100+ per hour to finish the advice.
Even then, I'll probably file all the necessary documents myself.
Hey, I'm a veteran, I'm used to piles and piles of paperwork ;).
I. TAXES: Within the taxes segment, I am most concerned with knowing
where I need to study to make an informed decision on whether to be an
LLC, C-corp, or S-corp based on a possible $40-75k per year income.
What are the guidelines for choosing between those based on income and
expenses and how I would want to prepare my taxes. Would I pay myself
from the corporate bank account and get taxed there, too? How could I
avoid double or triple taxation? Please provide good links that cover
how to manage my books and what the best option is for payments.
Also, if I pay myself quarterly would I pay less taxes? If I pay
myself very little money and then a big bonus at the end of the year?
II. LIABILITY: This is kind of easy. Pretty much any corp or LLC I
would imagine is going to help me here. But, please provide some
links with how to manage the business to make sure that I am not
personally liable for what the business does. Like, if I wrote off my
gas for my personal automobile to conduct business, would the
automobile then be up for grabs if someone sued me?
III. SECRECY: This is basically just something I would like to have
for piece of mind. While I'm at all this nonsense, I might as well be
anonymous, right? I mean, if anybody really wanted to figure out who
I was, they probably could, but I don't want to make it easy on them,
cause this whole incorporating thing isn't going to be easy on me.
So, please provide some links with how to make sure that I am really
secret and don't do something stupid to ruin the whole thing (aka:
gotchas).
Thanks
ps: again, if you feel like I've totally turned it upside down, just
tell me, i'll cancel and reform my question and ask it again.
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Request for Question Clarification by
richard-ga
on
01 Sep 2005 12:29 PDT
Frankly it's not economical for me to address all these issues as part
of a single answer. I think you should consider closing this question
(which will cost you 50 cents) and posting multiple questions in its
place.
I expect I could handle the taxation of corporation vs. LLC issue, the
choice-of-US-state issue, and maybe the expatriation issue and the
privacy issue. You could post your questions for my attention and
I'll let you know which I'm prepared to answer, or you can simply post
all the new questions without naming me so they'll be available to the
first Researcher who comes along and cares to address them at the
prices you choose to offer.
Google Answers Researcher
Richard-ga
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