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Forming an LLC Articles and Resources

Black Swan Events and Force Majeure Clauses

by | Mar 1, 2020 | , , ,

Force Majeure is a French term meaning superior force. It is also a contract clause that relieves parties from performance when an extraordinary event occurs. Such challenges, known as ‘black swan’ events or generically ‘Acts of God’, may be mitigated by a force majeure clause acknowledging that contracts can’t be fulfilled when issues are outside of everyone’s control.

Did the Coronavirus arise from bat soup in a filthy, fetid wild animal market? Or was it accidentally leaked from China’s national biology lab in Wuhan? It doesn’t really matter. It is a superior force that was not foreseeable. (Although some would argue that with so many novel infectious diseases arising over the last 20 years, epidemics should now be expected).

With that last thought in mind, going forward, you should work with your attorney to include specific force majeure provisions in your contracts. A well drafted clause may excuse performance during events that are beyond the reasonable control of the parties. These can include acts of terrorism, labor shortages and strikes, new government regulations, fire and floods. Events such as epidemics, pandemics, biological outbreaks and wide spread illness should now also be incorporated into force majeure clauses.

What if your current contract does not include such language or the event doesn’t trigger a force majeure clause? Your fall back position is the doctrine of “frustration of purpose.” This doctrine can excuse contractual performance if events have now made it impossible to perform, or the central purpose of the contract has been frustrated due to unforeseeable events. However, Courts do not favor upending contracts under this doctrine. You are better off relying on a well drafted force majeure clause.

It is interesting to note that a Chinese agency is issuing force majeure certificates to local companies unable to perform on their contracts due to the Coronavirus challenge. It would be nice to just wave a certificate and make all the issues go away. But in the United States and other common law countries, force majeure is a question of fact for the Court. Was the event reasonably foreseeable? Were any notice provisions complied with? Does prior case law shed any light on the current situation? These are all facts to be considered. A government certificate won’t work here.

Still, your Chinese counterpart is probably struggling even more than you are. Is litigation even advisable? And if so, could you even collect?

The bigger issue for everyone is to understand the nature and need for force majeure clauses in your contracts. Well, that and the need for alternate sources of supply outside of China.

10 Rules for Asset Protection Planning

by | Dec 1, 2019 | , , , ,

Asset protection planning defends your assets from future creditors, divorce, lawsuits or judgments. How can you best plan to protect your personal and business assets? Here are some guidelines to implement strong asset protection.

  1. Plan Your Asset Protection Strategy BEFORE You’re Sued
    Once a lawsuit has arrived, it’s too late to put protections in place and there is little you can do. Take action before a claim or liability arises. In fact, a strong asset protection structure can discourage lawsuits because the better protected your assets are, the stronger a deterrent it is.
  2. Keep Your Personal and Business Assets Separate
    If you don’t insulate your own assets from those of your business, you could be in trouble. If you operate your business in the form of a sole proprietorship or as a general partnership, these businesses are not registered entities, which means that your personal assets are not insulated from those of your business.
  3. It’s Risky to Be A Sole Proprietor
    As an example, if you’re a sole proprietor and an angry customer sues you, any assets you own such as your house or car are not protected. Nor are financial assets such as your bank account. These can all be taken should a judgment be found against you.
  4. A Two-Man Partnership is Double the Risk
    Maybe you have thought about forming two-man partnership with your friend. This may perhaps be an even worse idea than operating as a sole proprietorship. What this means is that you are as liable for your friend’s errors as you are for your own. You are also liable for anything purchased in the name of your partnership. Remember that one partner’s signature is enough to bind both partners to a debt or other type of obligation. Again, this leaves you unprotected and without any recourse should something happen; you could be left holding the bag.
  5. Use a Registered Corporate Entity for Asset Protection
    To protect yourself, use a registered corporate entity. Most people don’t realize there’s a risk in keeping assets and property in your name, which also means keeping the liability and the risk. To succeed in business, to protect your assets and to limit your liability, you want to select from one of the good entities / structures that are truly separate legal beings. They are:
    • C Corporations
    • S Corporations
    • Limited Liability Companies (LLCs)
    • Limited Partnerships (LPs)

    Each one has it’s own advantages and specific uses. Each one is utilized by the rich and knowledgeable in their business and personal financial affairs. And, depending on your state’s fees, each one can be formed for $800 or less so that you can achieve the same benefits and protections that sophisticated business people have enjoyed for centuries.

  6. Meet Annual Requirements so That Legal Protection Remains Intact
    You’ll need to keep your company’s registration up-to-date, hold annual meetings and keep annual minutes, keep business funds separate from your own, and avoid signing any business-related documentation in your name. This is known as maintaining the corporate veil and we provide this service to many of our clients. This keeps your own assets separate from those of your business. By the same token, you are also protected from any debts or disasters incurred by your business.
  7. Protect Your Business Assets in a Business Entity
    You need to protect your business and real estate assets from yourself. A limited liability company is an excellent way to help protect key assets. (Learn how to become incorporated now.) For example, if you have a rental property, you should hold assets either in a limited partnership or in an LLC. These protect you from personal liability if anything should happen on the property and it also provides you another advantage. Should someone become injured on your property, you are protected from being sued directly by the tenant. Remember that the business’s assets are still at risk of suit should the tenant decide to sue. However, if you have adequate insurance, you can help protect yourself from having the claimant lay claim to your assets so as to satisfy your obligation. This strategy comes with a caveat though.
  8. Ensure You Have a Comprehensive Commercial Insurance Policy
    A comprehensive commercial insurance policy can help you keep the property instead of having it end up as a part of a court-ordered settlement. What should you look for?
    • The liability insurance should cover injuries to third parties on your property.
    • It should cover trespassing, especially if you have undeveloped or vacant land.
    • If you have people working on your property as your employees, you should also have Worker’s Compensation insurance.
    • The insurance should also have “increased cost of construction” additions if your building should become damaged or require reconstruction. That means you’ll be covered at today’s construction prices instead of those of previous years.
    • If you are a landlord, “loss of rents” riders can help you recover costs in the event your building is damaged and uninhabitable so that you can pay relocation costs or receive income from the property while it’s being rebuilt to offset right losses.
    • A final consideration is a “higher limits” rider, so that you have extra protection in the event a catastrophic claim is filed in one of these categories.
  9. Use Entities as a Second Line of Defense
    It is extremely important to carry adequate and proper insurance coverage, but as we know, insurance companies have an economic incentive to avoid covering all claims. They find reasons to deny coverage. So while you will have insurance you will use entities as a second line of defense to protect your personal assets from your business claims.
  10. Avoid Incorporation Scams
    You need to know that there are a number of other corporate information scams in the marketplace. A popular one is the $99 incorporation. For just $99, they claim you will be bulletproofed and asset-protected. “C’mon down. We’ll set you right up”, they say.

    We have tested such services to see how they could possibly do all the work necessary to completely and properly form and document a corporation or LLC for just $99. These providers fall into two camps.

    1. The first camp does the minimal work needed to form an entity. They file the articles. That’s it. Once you pay the $99 they will no longer take your phone calls or questions. Eventually you will be sent a document with a state seal on it indicating that you are incorporated. But you will not be sent the minutes, the bylaws, or any issued stock – all of the other components necessary to be a complete corporation. Of course, if you hadn’t read this article, you would probably think in your blissful ignorance that for just $99 you were protected. You are not.
    2. The second camp uses the $99 as a come-on. They offer an a la carte menu in which the $99 is just for the filing of the articles. The bylaws are another $350. The meeting minutes are $250, and so on. By the time you are done they have gained your confidence and that $99 has ballooned up to $2,000 to $3,000 for just one entity.

Ultimate Guide to Vetting a Business Partner

by | Apr 1, 2019 | , ,

By Gerri Detweiler

After surviving several tumultuous business partnerships, Susan Nilon has learned to be more skeptical and cautious. In the past, she admits she was so excited about business possibilities that she “didn’t pay attention to red flags.”

She and her current business partner in a legal research firm, De Novo Law Services, not only have a formal partnership agreement, they’ve taken it one step further. She created an addendum to the agreement “writing out 10 steps on how to survive our partnership,” she says. This document spells out the things that are not normally called out in a contract, like how to handle disputes and what to do when the other partner is not pulling their weight.

Business partnerships can bring together individuals whose complementary skills and experience can help the venture succeed. And sometimes a partner can contribute valuable resources — including money — to help fund the business. But these arrangements can also result in headaches or heartache.

Here are nine ways to vet a potential business partner and (hopefully) avoid those headaches:

Do Your Own Recon

Spend some time researching your prospective partner online. Review their social media accounts. Do their tweets or Facebook posts jive with the person you think you’ll be working with? Do you want to be professionally associated with them? Be sure to go back a while in their timeline: there may be older information they forgot about that provides valuable insight into their thinking and character. And don’t overlook a social media platform just because you don’t use it yourself.

Similarly, when you conduct your online search into their background, don’t stick to one search engine. Dig a little deeper. “Different articles will be highlighted on different search engines,” says Nilon.

Have ‘The Talk’

“What do you really want out of this relationship?” It’s that awkward question that often comes up when dating. That question, along with “What do you really want out of this business?” can be just as awkward. But it’s essential you have that conversation.

It’s “truly like a marriage,” Nilon points out. Avoiding these difficult conversations can have long-term consequences. She compares it to a relationship where “you don’t talk about wanting children before you get married. If you find out your partner doesn’t want kids and you do, the relationship might not survive.” She adds: “Knowing how you see the future and communicating that to the other is a key step to avoiding disappointments.”

With more than twenty years of experience in human resources, Ben Martinez knows as well as anyone how crucial it is to find the right people to work with. But even he learned the hard way how challenging that can be. He runs two very different businesses — STS Talent (an HR and recruiting firm for high tech businesses) and Sumato Coffee Company.

When he founded Sumato Coffee, he brought in a business partner he had worked with in the past. She was smart and capable, but he discovered she was in a different phase of her life than he. It was soon apparent that she wanted to devote more time to building her corporate career. “We had to part ways,” he says. In hindsight, he wishes he had asked more questions about what she wanted out of the business and her life.

Another partner he brought in later loved the product but he discovered she wasn’t as excited about all the work that goes into building a business. “She was mainly in it for the money,” he observed. “She was passionate about coffee and ecommerce but the work ethic wasn’t there.” He parted ways with her, too.

Have a Money Talk

Figure out how to handle money up front. What do each of you bring the the table and how do you value that? How much do each of you get paid, and how long can each of you go without receiving a steady paycheck?

“In an LLC you can provide profits based not on the percentage of ownership but on the amount of time spent in the business,” explains Sutton. “And even with an S corp you could have a salary or bonus based on the amount of hours put in. The person that doesn’t contribute wouldn’t receive as much compensation. Then buy sell agreement could allow a partner to buy back the shares at low value” if one partner wants to get out.

Check Credit

You can check business credit on any business, so if your future partner is an entrepreneur, consider at least running a commercial credit check on their businesses. (This guide explains how to check business credit on another business.)

While there are dozens of places you can check your own credit for free, it’s not as easy to check someone else’s personal credit, and you’ll first need to get permission from your future business partner. In fact, unless your run a business that already obtains credit reports on job applicants, they will likely have to get their own report and share it with you.

Run a Background Check

Your local courthouse can be a source of information about lawsuits or other public record information. However, keep in mind this information will be limited to actions taken in that jurisdiction. And it may even be inaccurate. It’s not unusual for people with similar names to be mistaken for one another for example. (Millions of court judgments have been removed from credit reports recently because they couldn’t be thoroughly matched to the right person.) “Courts do not conduct criminal background checks,” warns the National Center for State Courts on its website.

For those reasons, purchasing a full background check that you both agree to review together may be a better bet. A background check that includes credit, criminal proceedings and other details will likely require the permission of the person on whom you request the report so be upfront with your request.

Every business owner interviewed for this article agreed that background checks can be useful. “Certain crimes could prevent you from raising money or obtaining government licenses,” points out Caton Hanson, cofounder and chief legal officer of Nav. And “IRS or states taxing authority problems could get you entangled with their problems,” he warns.

If you’re serious about the business and willing to spend the money, you may even want to hire a private investigator who can dig up more than you can likely find out on your own.

Do a Compatibility Check

Even if your partner is squeaky clean that doesn’t mean the two of you will work well together. Different personal and working styles can quickly drive a wedge in the relationship.

One big wedge driver: a partner who feels entitled because they came up with the idea for the business. “People put too much value on whose idea it was,” says Hanson. “Ideas are a dime a dozen. There are two things that matter: money and work. You can’t have a successful business without them.”

Hanson’s business partner Levi King and he have developed something they call the “St. George test.” It basically means asking themselves to imagine a 3-4 hour drive from Salt Lake City, where Nav’s primary office is based, to St. George, Utah with that person. “Could you do it and not go crazy?” Hanson laughs. “You need to really like your business partner.”

You can also use more formal assessments such as personality or work style tests. Consider springing to get them professionally administered and reviewed by an HR professional or someone trained to analyze and help interpret the results.

Hanson says King had him take a sales aptitude test and a personality quiz to “make sure we didn’t clash.” Martinez says these types of tools can be helpful to raise awareness of your partner’s styles or to find complementary work styles but it’s important to “get clear on what you are using it for.”

Try a Practice Run

If one of you has an existing business, consider hiring the other person for a project or limited period of time to see whether you work well together. It’s not foolproof, though, as Martinez learned. It’s probably more like dating than marriage — with both partners trying to make a good impression — but you will be able to get a better sense of how you might work together.

That’s what Hanson and King did. King hired him to work for him in a different company before they founded Nav together. “The work we did was almost like working together like business partners,” Hanson says. It gave them confidence that they could indeed succeed as partners.

Get it in Writing

If you’ve decided to proceed with a partnership, spring for a formal partnership agreement written by an attorney. Hanson shared the story of a business he knows that won an award that earned them a lot of attention, and eventually they were able to raise venture capital. The partners had no written partnership agreement, however.

“One of the partners was sitting at home playing video games,” he says. But because he owned shares in the company, the partners had to buy him out.

Even though you may still be in the starry-eyed stage, think through some worse case scenarios.

What happens if the partner dies, becomes incapacitated or needs to get a full-time job to support themselves or their family, for example. “You can create a buy sell agreement that says if one person abandons the projects they lose all their shares,” explains Sutton. “If they commit fraud they are out of the business. If they get divorced, only the person you entered the deal with can be an owner — the spouse can’t be granted those shares. A good attorney can prepare a buy sell agreement that can cover all these contingencies,” he advises.

About the Author — Gerri Detweiler serves as Head of Market Education for Nav, which provides business owners with simple tools to build business credit and access to lending options based on their credit scores and needs. She develops educational programs and content for small business owners, and works on advocacy initiatives. A prolific writer, her articles have been featured on popular websites such as Yahoo!, MSN Money, ABCNews.com, CBSNews.com, NBCNews.com, Forbes, The Today Show website and many others.

Protect What’s Yours: The Top 10 Benefits of Incorporating Your Business

by | Jan 1, 2019 | , , , ,

Starting your business from scratch is a big deal. There are a million details to take care of, and the list of demands can seem endless. Small business owners have to hire employees, worry about taxes, and find ways to maximize profits while keeping costs as low as possible.

Every smart business owner should consider the benefits of incorporating. This is an important decision that has a significant financial impact.

Let’s take a look at the reasons why this is a smart move by helping you understand a few of the benefits.

Protect What’s Yours: The Top 10 Benefits of Incorporating Your Business

Have you heard about business incorporation but aren’t sure why it’s worthwhile? Read on to learn the top 10 benefits of incorporating your business.

1. It Protects Your Personal Assets from Lawsuits

Incorporating creates a safety barrier between you and your business. This is important because believe it or not, if you don’t incorporate your business, you run the risk of losing your personal assets when sued. Incorporating protects your personal assets if a lawsuit is filed against you.

2. It Protects Personal Assets From Creditors

Incorporating also protects your personal assets from creditors wanting to collect on business debts. This is accomplished by forming an LLC, or a C or S Corporation that protects your personal property in the event that your business falls on hard times.

When not incorporated, your personal property will be automatically linked to your business, including your home, investment accounts, cars, as well as future assets.

3. It Makes It Easier to Transfer the Business

Someday you may wish to sell your business or pass it on to a member of your family. Or perhaps you will get sick and no longer have the energy to continue running things. This is something many people don’t think about until they are near retirement.

When you are running a sole proprietorship, all of your personal property is linked to your business, making it very difficult to value the business or transfer it to someone else. Incorporating makes this process much easier.

4. It Allows Your Business to Grow Long After You’re Gone

The reality is that you won’t be around forever. Despite this, you will likely wish for your business to flourish long after you’ve passed away. When you are incorporated, probate won’t touch the business directly. The business will simply go directly to the new owner assuming you have the proper documentation in place.

5. It Has Huge Tax Benefits

Incorporating also offers massive tax benefits, such as the ability to deduct travel expenses and Social Security taxes that you’re paying into the system, deduct business losses, and claim some daily expenses required to operate the business.

Keep in mind that when you make the transition from being a partnership or a sole proprietor to an LLC or similar business structure, there are a multitude of deductions available to you that weren’t at your disposal as an individual.

6. It Makes It Easier to Raise Investment Capital

Another significant advantage of incorporating your business is the access it gives you to raising vital capital. The ability to borrow money is very important to any business, and being incorporated adds a legitimacy that helps when applying for loans.

It also allows you to open bank accounts and establish lines of credit that will make it easier and more efficient to operate your business.

7. It Makes it Easier to Sell Your Business

Incorporating also adds legitimacy to your business in other ways. Sole proprietors simply aren’t as attractive to potential buyers.

This is due to the fact that corporations are easier to track and manage, and they tend to be more stable. These are things that are of the utmost importance from an investor’s perspective.

Being incorporated also gives you a leg up when there are competing businesses that a buyer might be interested in.

8. It Helps Protect Your Brand

When it comes to owning a business, branding is everything. Keep in mind that if you don’t take the necessary steps to protect your brand, it’s possible for someone to swoop in and steal it.

That’s why incorporating is also important for protecting your brand. This includes everything from your business name, slogans, logos, and colors that represent your brand, to trademarks and any designs that distinguish your business from everyone else. Not sure if you’ve got a brand worth protecting? There are some tweaks you can do immediately to improve your brand.

9. It Makes Establishing Retirement Accounts Easier

When you own a business, you want to make sure that you and your employees are taken care of beyond a basic paycheck. Many companies provide health savings accounts and retirement accounts to help employees plan for the future.

Incorporating makes this process less expensive due to tax-advantages, and there is far less red tape involved in setting these types of accounts as a corporation compared to a sole proprietorship.

And even if you don’t have employees, there are still plenty of advantages to setting up accounts for yourself by incorporating your business.

10. It Helps Protect Your Privacy

One of the biggest benefits of incorporating your small business is something you might not have considered.

When your business is incorporated, you’re better able to keep your personal information hidden. This is especially vital for companies who need to closely protect trade secrets. For many companies, this level of privacy is what helps them maintain an edge on the competition.

Incorporating allows you to keep all of your business affairs private, and they will be kept completely confidential unless you make the decision to disclose them.

Taking Your Business to the Next Level

When you take the time to consider the benefits of incorporating, it really doesn’t make sense not to. After all, the advantages of incorporation not only include ways to save money, they also provide brand protection and allow you to more effectively manage the long-term needs of your employees.

As you can see, there are plenty of good reasons to incorporate, and far fewer reasons not to. So take your business to the next level by incorporating!

Five Steps for Real Estate Asset Protection

by | May 1, 2018 | ,

When purchasing real estate, it’s critical to protect ourselves and our possessions from lawsuits. We live in the most sue-happy society, in one of the most litigious times, and you need to protect yourself. One way to help prevent people from obtaining all your assets is to take precautions and think ahead, in order to ensure all your life treasures are secure. When a lawsuit is filed against you or your business, all your personal assets like you car, house, equity in your house, and bank accounts are at risk to be taken away. Here are a few ways to help ensure your real estate and personal possessions will be protected and secure.

1. Set Up Your LLC to Hold Your Real Estate

Let’s imagine you are purchasing 4-plex for an investment and will be renting it out for profit. When setting up your entity, make sure it is structured properly to hold the title of the real estate. An excellent entity for real estate is a Limited Liability Company (LLC). When you set up your LLC be sure that is it holding the title of your 4-plex. This structure also helps protect all your personal assets. For example, if a tenant of that 4-plex sues for falling on the property and wins the court case, they are not able to acquire all your personal assets like your bank account, the equity in your home, and all your other assets because the 4-plex is owned by the LLC. They are only able to access the assets in the LLC.

However, if you personally owned the 4-plex and did not set up an LLC to keep your assets separate, you could be vulnerable to unlimited personal liability, and you could be personally responsible for paying back whatever the court awards to the tenant for compensation. For some, that could mean bankruptcy. This is why it’s valuable to set up LLCs for protection.

2. Properly Maintain Your LLC

In order for your LLC to protect you from claims, you must maintain it much like taking care of a garden. Taking care of your garden by watering and feeding it properly is the best way for it to survive and keep it producing food for you. In order for your LLC to survive and keep protecting you, you must pay the annual fee to the state, ensure that minutes are being kept at meetings, and there needs to be a resident agent to accept service of process, or notice of a lawsuit. If you do not follow these easy steps, your business entity will lose its good standing, it will not be able to protect you as you could be vulnerable to piercing the corporate veil, and all your business and personal assets could be taken if a legal decision is decided against you. However, if you follow these steps you will be properly protected.

3. Segregate Your Assets

When creating your LLC, it is important to keep in mind that people are still capable of obtaining all your assets within that LLC. So why put all eggs in one basket? Instead separate your assets into different LLCs to act as a safety net, and ensure they aren’t able to obtain all of your real estate investments or company assets.

4. Get a Wyoming LLC to Hold Your Other LLCs

Certain states have different regulations on LLCs that can offer more protection, so why not take advantage of that? Wyoming is special in that it has great asset protection, great charging order protection, and it doesn’t list your name on the internet. Wyoming LLCs can own other LLCs established in other states. Not only does it have these great benefits, but it also has one of the most affordable state fees. Corporate Direct has also identified a way to ensure that the more preferable protections of Wyoming’s state laws take precedence over other state laws. This is a service we offer through our copyrighted legal language that is not available from any other company or law firm. We call it Armor8® . Learn more about our ultimate Wyoming LLC protection.

5. Use Equity Stripping

Another method of protecting assets is ‘equity stripping,’ sometimes called equity transfer.  With equity stripping you protect your equity by encumbering the property itself. Debt is a form of asset protection. The more debt, the less equity, the lesser chance of litigation. Since debt is asset protection, why not create the debt yourself? This can be done several ways such as spousal transfers, using your property as collateral, obtaining a secured line of credit, and a technique called cross-collateralization. Cross-collateralization is a term used when the collateral for one loan is also used as collateral for another loan. If a person has borrowed from the same bank a home loan secured by the house, a car loan secured by the car, and so on, these assets can be used as cross-collaterals for all the loans.

State Franchise Fees: Beware of Delaware’s New Rules

by | Apr 1, 2018 | ,

Delaware’s New Rules Are a Cost To Consider When Forming Your Entity

Delaware recently increased the various fees assessed by their Secretary of State as Annual Franchise Tax Fees for Delaware corporations. While the changes do not apply to Limited Liability Companies (LLCs) or Limited Partnerships (LPs), and religious and charitable non-stock corporations remain exempt from the tax, the increased fees for corporations must be considered when forming an entity.

All corporations incorporated in the State of Delaware, irrespective of whether they actually do business in the State of Delaware, must file an Annual Franchise Tax Report and pay an Annual Franchise Tax. The Annual Franchise Tax is calculated on capital stock, and it is levied on corporations even if they are not producing any income.

The changes in the new law are fourfold: (1) the Franchise Tax Cap has been increased; (2) the Authorized Shares Method for calculating the Annual Franchise Tax has been modified; (3) the Assumed Par Value Capital Method for calculating the Annual Franchise Tax has been modified; and (4) the Late Penalty has been modified.

1. Franchise Tax Cap

Effective for Fiscal Year 2018, the Franchise Tax Cap has been increased to from $180,000 to $200,000 per year ($250,000 per year for some large corporate filers). It should be noted that LLCs and partnerships only pay $300 per year. But corporations with a large number of shares must take note.

2. Authorized Shares Method

There are two ways to calculate what you owe Delaware each year. The first focuses on how many shares you have authorized.

Under this method, the rate presently is $175 for a corporation with 5,000 authorized shares or less; $250 for a corporation with 5,001 to 10,000 authorized shares; and $75 for each additional 10,000 shares or portion thereof. Effective for fiscal year 2018, HB 175 has increased this rate from $75 to $85 for each additional 10,000 shares of portion thereof. For example, a corporation with 1,000,000 authorized shares now will owe $250 for the first 10,000 shares, plus an additional $8,415 ($85 times 99), for a total due of $8,665, plus $50 for the Annual Report Fee. These thousands of dollars compare with Wyoming’s annual fee of just $50.

3. Assumed Par Value Capital Method

Delaware also employs an alternative method for calculating the Annual Franchise Tax. This method is denominated as the Assumed Par Value Capital Method, and a taxpayer is free to use either method, and use whichever amount is less. The Assumed Par Value Capital Method is difficult to compare to the Authorized Shares Method because it necessarily makes certain assumptions about total gross assets. It is also difficult to calculate, period. Here is an example of how it works:

To use this method, you must give figures for all issued shares (including treasury shares) and total gross assets in the space provided in your Annual Franchise Tax Report. Total Gross Assets shall be those “total assets” reported on the U.S. Form 1120, Schedule L (Federal Return) relative to the company’s fiscal year ending the calendar year of the report. The tax rate under this method is $400 per million or portion of a million. If the assumed par value capital is less than $1,000,000, the tax is calculated by dividing the assumed par value capital by $1,000,000 then multiplying that result by $400.

The example cited below is for a corporation having 1,000,000 shares of stock with a par value of $1.00 and 250,000 shares of stock with a par value of $5.00, gross assets of $1,000,000.00 and issued shares totaling 485,000.

  1.  Divide your total gross assets by your total issued shares carrying to 6 decimal places. The result is your “assumed par.” Example: $1,000,000 assets, 485,000 issued shares = $2.061856 assumed par.
  2.  Multiply the assumed par by the number of authorized shares having a par value of less than the assumed par. Example: $2.061856 assumed par, 1,000,000 shares = $2,061,856.
  3.  Multiply the number of authorized shares with a par value greater than the assumed par by their respective par value. Example: 250,000 shares $5.00 par value – $1,250,000.
  4.  Add the results of #2 and #3 above.  The result is your assumed par value capital.  Example: $2,061,856 plus $1,250,000 = $3,311,856 assumed par value capital.
  5.  Figure your tax by dividing the assumed par value capital, rounded up to the next million if it is over $1,000,000, by 1,000,000 and then multiply by $400.00. Example: 4 x $400.00 = $1,600.00.
  6.  The minimum tax for the Assumed Par Value Capital Method of calculation is $400.00.

As you can see, the calculation is pretty complicated. Be sure to work with your tax advisor to get it right. Or maybe incorporate in another state without such rules and fees.

The new law increased the minimum amount of Annual Franchise Tax that is due and payable by a Delaware corporation under this alternative method. The minimum amount of Annual Franchise Tax for a Delaware corporation now is $400 per year, effective for fiscal year 2018.

4. Late Penalty

The new law has increased the Late Penalty from $125 to $250.

A COMPARISON

As noted above, the minimum amount of Annual Franchise Tax now payable by a Delaware corporation is $450 per year, effective for fiscal year 2018. It is informative to compare this $450 per year minimum amount of Annual Franchise Tax to similar taxes and fees in the States of California, Nevada and Wyoming.

1. California

California has taxes: corporate and personal income tax, California Alternative Minimum Tax, and California Franchise Tax. California Franchise Tax applies to LPs, LLPs, S and C corporations, and LLCs. All pay a minimum amount of $800 per year. But then other taxes kick in depending upon entity type. For S corporations, the California Franchise Tax is 1.5% of the S corporation’s net income, along with the minimum tax of $800 per year. For California LLCs, California Tax is a flat fee, based upon California gross income, plus an Annual Franchise Tax of $800 per year, regardless of income, calculated, as follows:

  • Gross income less than $250,000 – $0 + $800 = $800
  • Gross income from $250,00 to $499,999 – $900 + $800 = $1,700
  • Gross income from $500,000 to $999,999 – $2,500 + $800 = $3,300
  • Gross income from $1,000,000 to $4,999,999 – $6,000 + $800 = $6,800
  • Gross income over $5,000,000 – $11,790 + 800 = $12,590

California C corporations and LLCs electing to be treated as C corporations are subject to the $800 minimum fee plus the California State Corporate Tax of 8.84%, based upon California net income. As well, they are subject to a 6.65% California Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT), based on the Federal AMT, with modifications. If you do business in California, expect to pay some of the highest taxes in the nation.

2. Nevada

Nevada no corporate or personal income tax, and there is no franchise tax for corporations or LLCs; however, there are initial filing fees, renewal filing fees, and a business license fee.

The initial filing fee for a Nevada for-profit corporation is based upon the value of the total number of authorized shares, as follows:

  • $75,000 or less – $75.00
  • Over $75,000 and not over $200,000 – $175.00
  • Over $200,000 and not over $500,000 – $275.00
  • Over $500,000 and not over $1,000,000 – $375.00
  • Over $1,000,000
    • For the first $1,000,000 – $375.00
    • For each additional $500,000, or fraction thereof – $275.00
    • Maximum fee – $35,000.00

To get around these fees you can establish a value of $.001 per share. With 20 million shares at $.001 per share the value of the shares is just $20,000, well under the $75,000 threshold for increased fees. In Delaware you would pay much more every year for that many shares.

The renewal filing fee for a Nevada for-profit corporation is $650, calculated, as follows: (1) Annual List of Officers and Directors – $150; and (2) Business License Fee – $500. Nevada how also has a gross receipts tax on monies generated within Nevada. The tax starts on monies earned at $4 million per year and is dependent on what industry or business you are involved with. Work with your tax advisor to see if this tax would apply to you.

The initial filing fee for a Nevada LLC is $425, calculated, as follows: (1) Articles of Organization – $75; (2) Initial List of Managers of Members – $150; and (3) Business License Fee – $200.

3. Wyoming

Likewise, Wyoming has no personal or corporate income tax. Unlike Nevada, the Equality State has no gross receipts tax. Wyoming does have an Initial Filing Fee of $100, and an Annual Report License Tax for Wyoming for-profit corporations and LLCs, which is either $50 or two-tenths of one mill per dollar of assets ($.0002), whichever is greater, based upon the company’s assets located and employed in the State of Wyoming. For example, a Wyoming for-profit corporation or LLC with $1,000,000 in assets in Wyoming would pay an Initial Filing Fee of $100, a Registered Agent Fee of $25 per year, and $200 per year in Annual Report License Tax ($1,000,000 x 0.0002). For most of our clients the annual Wyoming fee for corporations and LLC’s is just $50 per year.

CONCLUSION

As demonstrated, the number of authorized shares greatly impacts the amount of Annual Franchise Tax for Delaware corporations. Small- and medium-sized Delaware corporations may wish to consider either recapitalizing, and thereby reducing their number of authorized but unneeded shares, or else changing from a corporation to an LLC or an LP.

As well, Delaware corporations can be ‘continued’ into Wyoming. Your original incorporation date and EIN remain the same, as if you had set up in Wyoming in the first place. 

In terms of starting a new corporation, the states of Nevada and Wyoming will generally offer much lower annual franchise fees than will Delaware.