How to form a California LLC without a lawyer
I have a California LLC and wish I didn&#x27;t. It has been nothing but an albatross around my neck. I am almost certain I will shut it down at the end of this year.<p>Look, if you&#x27;re reading articles like this one, don&#x27;t do it. Just don&#x27;t do it. Get competent legal and accounting advice first.<p>I formed my LLC four years ago when an interesting contracting project came my way. I&#x27;d worked as a 1099&#x2F;Schedule C contractor in the past, but this client wanted me to have an LLC. OK, no big deal.<p>Then it turned out they also required the LLC to be taxed as an S Corp. No big deal there either, it&#x27;s a simple IRS form to make that election.<p>Now guess what? You have to start filing 1120S corporate taxes plus the California equivalent. All the LLC&#x2F;S Corp income flows right through onto your personal tax return, but you also get to get to file 940 and 941 payroll tax forms and the state equivalents.<p>And whether your LLC is taxed as an S Corp or not, you have to pay the $800&#x2F;year California minimum tax on it. Yes, even though the LLC&#x2F;S Corp really has no net income of its own (as it all flows into your personal tax return), you will owe that $800&#x2F;year. Even if you create your LLC in another state.<p>Do <i>not</i> try to do this yourself. You <i>will</i> get it wrong and will pay many thousands of dollars in penalties as I have.<p>I finally realized I would be <i>much</i> better off just working for another company and letting them deal with all these headaches. They have an entire team to deal with it! If I had a time machine, I would have stuck with regular employment instead of thinking of myself as an independent business.<p>Forget about the fabled &quot;corporate veil&quot;. If the IRS and FTB decide they want their money, they are going to get it.<p>If you do think this still sounds like a good idea, you <i>must</i> use a payroll service to pay yourself. After my initial fiasco of trying to do it myself, I started using Gusto [1] and they are pretty great.<p>For filing the LLC itself, I used SunDoc Filings [2] and they are really good too. They helped me on very short notice when I made a mistake on my LLC filing that would have caused it to be rejected.<p>But really, think twice, or a dozen times, before you open this can of worms.<p>Sorry for all the <i>italics</i>. :-) But this is something where I have some painful experience, and if I can help steer people away from it I hope it will be helpful.<p>[1] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;gusto.com&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;gusto.com&#x2F;</a><p>[2] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.sundocumentfilings.com&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.sundocumentfilings.com&#x2F;</a>