A limited liability company (LLC) cannot be a sole proprietor, but an individual can do business as an LLC. If you are a sole proprietor, you own and operate your own business, but it is not a corporation. A limited liability company is a business structure that is not a corporation and not a sole proprietorship. If you wish, you can register a business that you own and operate by yourself as a LLC, protecting you from business liabilities while still keeping the tax benefits of a sole proprietorship.
Sole Proprietor Basics
As its name implies, a sole proprietorship is a company owned and operated by a single person. If your business is not a corporation or limited company and you are the sole owner of your business, it is a sole proprietorship. As a sole proprietor, any business income you earn is considered personal income when you file your taxes. The downside of setting up your business this way is you are personally liable for any money your business owes and are personally vulnerable for any lawsuits filed against your business.
LLC Basics
An LLC is a hybrid business that marries some of the features of a corporation with some of the features of a sole proprietorship. Unlike a sole proprietorship, if you are registered with the government as an LLC, your business assets and liabilities are legally separated from your personal assets and liabilities. Moreover, unlike a corporation, income you earn from your LLC is treated as personal income, just like it is if you are a sole proprietor.
Read More: LLC Vs. SP
LLC Members
Owners of an LLC are considered members, not shareholders. An LLC can have an unlimited number of members. If an LLC has more than one member, profits and losses of the company are divided based on their membership percentages. Each member writes off their portion of losses and reports their portion of income on their personal tax returns. If you are the only member, you record all company profits and losses on your tax return in the same way as a sole proprietor.
Tax Benefit
Both sole proprietorships and LLCs have a tax advantage over corporations. Corporate profits are taxed and then corporate shareholders are taxed on dividends and capital gains they earn. This constitutes a form of double taxation. If you establish your business as an LLC or sole proprietorship, you avoid this double taxation as company profits are taxed only one time as personal income.
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Writer Bio
Donald Harder has been writing financial-related articles since 2000 when he founded the firm Securities Research Services. He has worked as a speech writer for the U.S. Department of Justice and written white papers and studies for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Harder holds a Master of Arts in international affairs from George Washington University.