A limited liability company (LLC) is a business structure for private companies in the United States, which combines aspects of partnerships and corporations. Limited liability companies benefit from the flexibility and flow of taxation through partnerships and sole proprietorships, while maintaining the limited liability status of corporations. In this article we will tell you about LLC FULL FORM. If you want to know in detail about LLC Full Form, then read it completely.
LLC Full Form
A limited liability company (LLC) is a business structure for private companies in the United States.
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Benefits of LLC
Limited liability companies provide flexibility and protection. This makes the corporate structure attractive to business owners. Instead of shareholders, business owners of limited liability companies are referred to as members.
1. Flexibility
An LLC can choose between different tax treatments. They may choose to adopt the tax arrangements of sole proprietorships, partnerships, S corporations, or C corporations. This provides the option to treat the company as a flow-through entity, unless it chooses to be treated as a C corporation.
Limited Liability Company – Tax Regime
The income of the flow-through entity is treated as the income of its owners.
This means that LLC owners are able to avoid double taxation. With double taxation, income is taxed at the corporate level as well as when distributed as dividends to owners.
With an LLC, income is taxed only at the individual member level, rather than at the company level.
If the company chooses to be taxed as a partnership,
So its income can be allocated among the members in ways other than ownership percentage.
Members agree to this in the operating agreement.
A company's operating agreement functions similar to a corporation's bylaws. Below is a comparison of terms between LLC and corporation:
Limited Liability Company – LLC vs Corporation Terms
The document governs the company's finances, organization, structure, and operations.
Unlike corporations that are required to appoint officers or a board of directors, an LLC is more flexible with its management structure.
This is also stipulated and stated in the operating agreement.
2. Security
Limited liability companies additionally enjoy the benefits of corporations.
The biggest advantage is the limited liability status of the company. The company exists as its own legal entity.
This protects the members and owners from being personally liable for the operations and debts of the business.
A simple example would be if a company employee is found to be conducting illegal environmental activities.
Legal action may be threatened against the company to compensate for the loss.
The court can go after the assets of the firm, but not the owners, to pay for damages. The exception would be if the owner knew about illegal activities and allowed them to continue to occur.
Disadvantages of LLC
The main disadvantages of limited liability companies are the fees and taxes associated with the business structure.
However, as LLCs are governed differently by each state,
The rules also become a disadvantage.
1. Duties and Taxes
Although the owners of a limited liability company benefit by avoiding double taxation,
They are required to pay self-employment taxes.
These taxes are paid twice because the owner is both an employee and an employer.
Some states also require an annual fee for the limited liability benefits that LLCs provide to their members. This fee is sometimes referred to as a franchise tax. For example, the state of California charges an $800 annual fee that increases with net income for limited liability companies.
2. Regulations
As mentioned earlier, an LLC is governed by state law, which can drastically change the way the company behaves in different scenarios. For example, some states may dissolve the company when a member of a limited liability company dies. In other states, the company continues to exist and the deceased member's membership shares pass to his executor.
These cases show the default resolution set by the state. The members of the LLC can decide how they want the company to proceed in the above situations, and note it in the operating agreement. As you can see, the Operating Agreement is an important document that members should not ignore when forming a company.
It is also important to consider how the company might operate in international markets.
For example, a US LLC may be treated as a corporation in Canada,
Because in Canada the difference between the two is not recognized.