Should i open an LLC or dba [Real Research]

Last updated : Sept 6, 2022

Written by : Antonia Sonderegger

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Is it better to have an LLC or DBA?

Generally, a DBA is less costly to maintain, but an LLC offers better benefits and protection. Expanding and selling a business, as well as generating funding, is also easier with an LLC. Also, a business owner does not receive personal liability protection from a DBA.

Whats cheaper a DBA or LLC?

There is a much lower cost for doing business as a DBA vs. LLC. A DBA has only two fees: a registration fee and a renewal fee, which is generally necessary every five years, depending on the state. However, an LLC, in most cases, requires the payment of state taxes (often a flat fee).

What are the pros and cons of a DBA vs LLC?

The main difference between a DBA and LLC is whether or not you require limited liability protection. This is because an LLC is considered to be a separate legal entity. In comparison, when registering a DBA, there is no distinction between the business assets and your personal assets as an owner.

What is the downside to an LLC?

Disadvantages of creating an LLC States charge an initial formation fee. Many states also impose ongoing fees, such as annual report and/or franchise tax fees. Check with your Secretary of State's office. Transferable ownership. Ownership in an LLC is often harder to transfer than with a corporation.

What can I write off as a DBA?

Office Space. DO deduct for a designated home office if you don't also have another office you frequent.
Banking and Insurance Fees.
Transportation.
Client Appreciation.
Business Travel.
Professional Development.

Can you switch from DBA to LLC?

Turning your DBA into an LLC (limited liability company) is a fairly easy process that can be done yourself or with the help of an attorney or business formation service. Converting your business to an LLC separates your personal assets from your business assets, providing you personal liability protection.

What are the benefits of getting a DBA?

Increased Flexibility.
Privacy Protection.
Targeted Branding.
Easy Legal Compliance.
Fewer Tax Benefits.
Fewer Liability Protections.
No Exclusive Rights to the Business Name.
Maintenance.

What is the purpose of having a DBA?

The purpose of registering a DBA name is to notify the public that a particular person or business entity is conducting business under a name other than its legal name. Assumed name (DBA) laws are consumer protection laws.

How much does an LLC cost?

You can file the LLC filing documents online, by mail, or in-person when visiting the local SOS office. The filing costs usually vary from $50 to $150 which is a single-time fee. If you plan to form your company in another state, then you might have to provide additional documentation and pay a higher formation fee.

Can U Get business Credit with DBA?

Can you build business credit with a DBA? If you're incorporated, then yes! A DBA adds professional cachet to a one-person operation.

How does a DBA affect taxes?

If you're a sole proprietor registering a DBA, nothing is going to change in terms of your tax situation. All earnings made from your DBA will still appear on your personal return and will be subject to regular income taxes and self-employment taxes. Self-employment taxes are where sole proprietors get hit the hardest.

Can I open a business account with a DBA?

Yes, you can open a business bank account as a sole proprietor using a DBA. A sole proprietorship is a business owned by one person where there is no legal separation between the owner and the business.

At what point do I need an LLC?

If you have business partners or employees, an LLC protects you from personal liability for your co-owners' or employees' actions. An LLC gives you a structure for operating your business, including making decisions, dividing profits and losses, and dealing with new or departing owners. An LLC offers taxation options.

Why an LLC is the best option?

An LLC lets you take advantage of the benefits of both the corporation and partnership business structures. LLCs protect you from personal liability in most instances, your personal assets â€” like your vehicle, house, and savings accounts â€” won't be at risk in case your LLC faces bankruptcy or lawsuits.

Why are LLC so popular?

Limited Liability The key advantage of an LLC for small business is it protects business owners' personal assets from a company's debts, as would a corporation.

Can you write off car payments for LLC?

Can my LLC deduct the cost of a car? Yes. A Section 179 deduction allows you to deduct part of or the entire cost of your LLC's vehicle.

How much can an LLC write off?

If you have $50,000 or less in startup costs and are in your first year of business, the IRS allows you to deduct $5,000 in startup costs and $5,000 in organization costs from your taxes. If your startup expenses exceed $50,000, the total deduction will be reduced by however much your expenses exceed $50,000.

How do I pay myself from my business?

Salary: You pay yourself a regular salary just as you would an employee of the company, withholding taxes from your paycheck.
Owner's draw: You draw money (in cash or in kind) from the profits of your business on an as-needed basis.

Can I change my ein from sole proprietor to LLC?

Can I change my EIN from a sole proprietorship to an LLC? Yes, you can change the EIN from a sole proprietorship to an LLC. The Employer Identification Number (EIN) is a number issued by the IRS for tax purposes only. It is vital to note that each party is limited to one EIN.

What is a sole proprietorship vs LLC?

An LLC exists separately from its ownersâ€”known as members. However, members are not personally responsible for business debts and liabilities. Instead, the LLC is responsible. A sole proprietorship is an unincorporated business owned and run by one person.

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Comment by Theo Nerpio

in this video we're gonna talk about the difference between a DBA and an LLC what's the difference and which one is better hey guys this is Samuel ie I'm a business lawyer for entrepreneurs I help entrepreneurs start and grow their business if you haven't subscribed yet go ahead and subscribe now so why is understanding the difference between a DBA and an LLC important understanding the difference between a DBA versus an LLC helps you understand your level of legal protection and I'll explain this a little bit further so what's a DBA and what's an LLC d/b/a it's short for doing business as is a fictitious business set up by someone who wants to conduct a business under a different business name without having to create a separate business entity on the other hand a LLC which is short for a limited library a liability company is a business entity separate from its owner the number one reason to form an LLC is for personal asset protection by forming an LLC you will have you will create a protective wall between your business and your personal assets so if your business is sued then your personal bank account home cars properties or anything that you're personally owned will be safe and secure as there will be not be considered a part of the business so somebody if you have an LLC and somebody Sue's your LLC by having LLC you're protecting your putting creating a protective barrier around your personal assets so if you have a personal bank account that would be separate from your business and only your business will be liable for the lawsuit now you yourself personally that's the whole point of an LLC without forming an LLC your personal assets are at risk if your business is sued when beginning your business it's important to consider which entity type who would be most suitable for your business so what are the benefits of a DBA versus an LLC let's get again let's get into this so here's the benefits the two main primary benefits of a DBA one it's less expensive to start and maintain to essentially allows you to make assume a different business name again very easy excessive to start and also allows you to do your business under a different business name what's the benefits of an LLC so as we talked about an LLC offers personal liability protection what this means again if you if your business gets sued then only your LLC is responsible and liable for that lawsuit and the other benefit of an LLC is that it helps you gain credibility with potential customers vendors and partners typically vendors and partners and customers want to work with the registered business as an LLC so it kind of gives you some credibility by having an LLC the sole purpose of a DBA is that it allows you to operate your business under different business name and to ensure transparency and the identity of the owners of the business so while a DBA is cheaper to form DBA does not provide the valuable benefits of personal library protection that an LLC provides so if you're serious about your business and you want to protect your personal assets from being sued when your business gets sued you should definitely consider an LLC and not at DBA and if you just want to operate your business under a different business name you should consider a DBA you have any questions comment below if you haven't subscribed yet go ahead and subscribe I'll be happy to answer any comment below look forward to seeing you in the next video you

Thanks for your comment Theo Nerpio, have a nice day.
- Antonia Sonderegger, Staff Member

Comment by Ozella

should you create a second llc or use a dba that's the question i'm answering today one of our subscribers asked a question he said i'm looking at expanding into a new area it's an area unrelated to my first business should i create a second llc for that new business or use a dba well first off congratulations it's a great problem to have that the first business is going well you're a serial entrepreneur you're looking at launching a second business let's talk through some of the issues that arise when determining is it better to use a dba or create a whole new business entity now i'm going to use llc here for purposes of the conversation but this would equally apply to an s corporation or even a c corporation if that's what you had i'm aaron hall i'm a business attorney in minnesota i've answered a number of similar questions like should my spouse and i own llc together would a sports and fitness trainer benefit from an llc and what's the difference between an llc s corporation and sole proprietorship today we're talking about the specific scenario of you have a good business running and you're trying to decide do i now open a second business entity or use a dba dba stands for doing business as so you might for example have john smith electronics doing business as smitty electronics or doing business as smitty's pool service or doing business as smitty's camera shop as you can see a dba is just essentially an alias or a nickname for an existing business and every state has a process where you can set up a dba sometimes called an assumed name or an alias so that you can legally use a different name for the same business entity all right what are the benefits of setting up a second business entity or a second llc first you have separated the liability so if a problem happens in your first business the second business isn't liable or if a problem happens in your second business the first business isn't liable you've separated out that liability so now not only are you not personally liable as the owner for what happens in these companies they're not liable for each other i'll give you a common example many times people will set up a separate llc for each rental property because if something happens with one they don't want the other they don't want to risk losing both rental properties that's a simple example so that's the benefit of setting up a separate llc you isolate the liability to the entity where the problem happened and the other business isn't exposed to that liability what are the disadvantages of a second llc well first off you're gonna have separate accounting for both of those llc's you'll have separate payroll maybe a separate payroll company you'll have to do separate tax returns it's just kind of a pain to have to keep the formalities if you will of having a second llc so there are costs associated with that cpa costs probably attorneys costs so that's the big difference there it's just another llc or corporation to maintain what are the alternatives to a second llc well we talked about one in the beginning you could do a dba or an assumed name the problem with that again is that the liabilities are all in the same entity so if one business has a problem both businesses can go down because they're all in the same entity even though they have separate names or separate aliases separate dbas another option is to keep them all in the same entity use dbas but get insurance to limit your liability so for example you might get a million dollar insurance policy that covers a significant number of the lawsuits or risks that you might encounter so insurance is a way to minimize risk rather than setting up a separate llc another alternative to a second llc is available in some states it's called a serial llc a serial llc is a llc that is set up with uh under a specific state statute that allows you to have as many many llc's underneath it so you have one llc but then you essentially have to keep separate records for each llc within it technically they're not many llc's they're just a part of that serial llc so you kind of have a parent serial llc and then each division or each segment of that llc has um isolation from the liability of the others it's like having two or three or ten llcs but you're not having to pay the costs and have totally separate llcs let's talk about when can one llc be liable to another llc by the way this again applies to s corporations or c corporations the general rule is it's when they co-mingle assets that's the biggest issue that they basically you're having everything going to the same bank account you're keeping the books and records for both llc's and the same quickbooks file you're buying things and selling things you're treating it like one company even though they have two separate names often courts will say look one llc is the alter ego of another you're not distinguishing between the differences in the two llc's the court's not going to either and that means that if there is a lawsuit against one llc the plaintiff who initiated the lawsuit the party who sued your business may be able to pierce the veil and go after the second llc to learn more you can uh check out my video on piercing the corporate veil or piercing the llc veil it's an important legal doctrine that talks about when entities can be liable for each other can i use the same ein number for both llc's no so let's break that apart ein stands for employer identification number it is the tax id number that's given to a business you as an individual as a as a citizen of the united states you have a tax id number we call it social security number but businesses don't have social security numbers they have a different type of tax id and e i n employer identification number that is how the irs tracks all of your bank accounts your tax liability and all that you need to use a separate ein for each business that you have so if you have two llc's you get two eins they're free you set them up with the irs you want the irs to be distinguishing to between the two businesses all right so we talked about the benefits of a second llc isolating liability we talked about the disadvantages of a second llc you have to treat that as as a separate business separate payroll separate accounting we talked about the alternatives of a second llc and that would be an insurance policy a dba perhaps a serial llc if it's permitted in your state we talked about when can an llc be liable to another for another llc and that goes to the piercing the corporate veil doctrine it's basically when you co-mingle assets that's the big one and then can you use the same ein for an l for both llc's the answer is no so if you're a business owner you're successful uh you're you have one business doing well the next question to talk with your attorney about is will the new business have risks that i don't want to expose the old business to if the answer is yes set up a new llc or will the old business have risks that i don't want to set expose the new business to if the answer is yes set up a new llc you want to be able to isolate the risks by having two separate llcs so if i

Thanks Ozella your participation is very much appreciated
- Antonia Sonderegger

About the author

Antonia Sonderegger

I've studied felinology at Connecticut College in New London and I am an expert in financial econometrics. I usually feel mischievous. My previous job was massage therapist I held this position for 27 years, I love talking about airsoft and sewing. Huge fan of Winona Ryder I practice artistic swimming and collect bicycles.

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