An LLC can be treated as an S-Corporation for tax purposes if it makes an S-Corporation election as long as the entity meets the IRS criteria to be taxed as an S-Corp, files an S-Corp election and gets approved by the IRS to be taxed as an S-Corporation. Without an S-Corporation election, single member LLCs…

In order to be classified as an S-Corporation, a company must: be domestic, have no more than 100 shareholders, have one class of stock, all shareholders must be individuals, decedents’ estates, bankruptcy estates, trusts or tax-exempt charitable organizations, or wholly owned by another S corporation, and all shareholders must be residents of the United States…

Many small business owners incorporate their businesses not only for legal protection, but also to reduce owners’ payroll taxes through S-Corp tax election with the IRS. One advantage of an S-Corp is that it gives business owners the ability to reduce their self-employment taxes. Any small business owner who has not made an S-Corp election…

On September 1, 2009, the Government of the United Kingdom implemented the New Offshore Disclosure Opportunity (“NDO”). The NDO allows those individuals with unpaid UK taxes relating to previously undisclosed income and/or capital gains linked to offshore accounts and/or assets to settle related tax liabilities at a favorable 10% penalty rate.  Ordinarily, penalties are charged…

If you are a company with operations in both the United States and Israel, you should be aware of several very important U.S. and Israeli Tax issues when you engage in cross border operations. I have set forth below several of the main issues. This list is not exhaustive and only reflects briefly the main…

The IRS has now implemented a special approved penalty framework for resolving the civil side of offshore voluntary disclosures and this approved penalty framework is effective till September 23, 2009 at which time the IRS intends to re-evaluate the approved penalty framework. Under the approved penalty framework, the taxpayer has to file correct or amended…

In a pass-through (or flow-through) entity, the entity’s income and expenses “pass through” the entity and are treated as the income and expenses of its owners. LLCs and S-Corporations are pass-through entities. This differs from a C-Corpoartion (which is the default form of corporation) which is taxed a corporate income tax at the end of…

If your business only has a few investors and you do not anticipate receiving outside financing in the near future, an LLC is probably best for you because of its flexibility, simplicity, and pass-through taxation (see blog entry on pass-through taxation). However, if you want a board of directors that is distinct from the officers and/or…

A limited liability entity (a corporation or an LLC) provides both financial and liability benefits. The financial benefits include the ability to deduct more business expenses from annual revenue when calculating taxable income than would be possible without an entity. Forming a limited liability entity also helps protect your personal assets in the event of…