Tuesday, March 4, 2008

What Else You Should Know about Limited Liability Company

In simple terms a Limited Liability Company, abbreviated as LLC, offers limited liabilities to its owner. It belongs to many states of United States articulating a legal structure of business company. Akin to a corporation, it offers a supple form of ownership, particularly apposite for small companies consisting of a limited number of owners. Contrary to the concept of regular corporation, a limited liability company may consist of one single member, while it can be treated an overlooked entity. On the other hand, a limited liability company may comprise of multiple members and in a typical condition, the new entity puts application for a US federal taxpayer ID, it is treated for US federal taxation functions in effect of a partnership, either in the form of C Corporation or S Corporation.

Formation and Operating Agreement
Essentially a limited liability company can elect to be directed either by ‘member’ or by ‘manager’. If the option of member management is selected, it executes either flat member condition or partnership structure. This type of option selection regulates the likelihood to create a two-fold management structure possibly switching into a corporation, additionally with the assistant tax corollaries. Limited Liability Company is formed with a specification of documentation, known as ‘articles of organization’ or ‘rules of organization’, which is precisely made public within and by the State.


The operating agreement in turn is a declaration among the members of LLC that specializes in governing the membership, administration, action, and circulation of income of the company. Commonly it is seen that an operating agreement is confidentially specified by all the members under the organization. Managing members refer to the group of individuals that administer, maintain and manage the issues related to the management of Limited Liability Company. In most of the states of US, managers provide their function as a particular team and report at the prudence of the members. Specific responsibilities of the managers are articulated in the documentation of operating agreement.


Precisely, members hold the owner rights of a Limited Liability Company, unless articulated otherwise in the operating agreement. Members enjoy the proportion to their tenure interest within the company. However, in case of LLC form of partnership, submission of dully-filled US Federal partnership tax form may become necessary.


Advantages
There are a wide variety of advantages associated with the formation of Limited Liability Company. First of all, it does not necessitate the need to organize annual general meeting for the shareholders. There is no loss of power entitled to a board of directors. It includes fewer efforts in management because it needs less administrative paper works and data management compared to a typical corporation. There is no question of double taxation, unless the LLC has been elected as a corporation. Members of the LLC are exempted from the liability for acts and debts concerned with the LLC itself. The default tax classification system entails the management of profits in such an effective fashion that the profits are only taxed at member’s level, but not in LLC level. LLC offers the flexibility to assign membership interests. Additionally, the financial benefits derived from those interests can be segregated and assigned separately. Till LLC is taxed as a corporation, the earning of LLC holds its character in the access of the members.


Disadvantages
Although there are apparent benefits associated with the formation and management of Limited Liability Company, there are few remarkable disadvantages as well. Many states like Alabama, New York and many others toll a franchise tax or capital value tax. In such cases, tax is privileged as a ‘fee’ deliverable to the State and applicable to the assistance of limited liability. The franchise tax is determined with the analysis of revenue generation, profit generation, number of owners, or analysis of the capital employed in the State. Raising financial capital for LLC is a difficult option. It is mainly due to the fact that the investors are typically comfortable with the notion of investing into corporate sectors. The formation of LLC is quite a new concept, so it is not treated in many states with its fullest potential as it is done with corporations. In many cases, a group functioning as a LLC may be treated no better than general partnership, which contrasts with the notion of LLC in the first place. Some principals of LLC are quite contradictory and confusing. Hence, the difficulty rises with the determination of the authoritative figure and their corresponding orders.

No comments: