Should You Incorporate Your Business?
For the vast majority of family child care providers the answer is “no”.
However, I continue to hear from family child care providers that they have been advised by their tax professional or a lawyer to incorporate their business.
Some have incorporated without understanding the consequences of their action.
Types of Business Structures
There are four basic types of business structures under which you can operate your business: sole proprietor (also known as self employed), partnership, a Limited Liability Company (LLC), and a corporation (S or C corporation). There are also a variety of types of LLC's including a single person LLC and a corporate LLC.
Once your start your business you are automatically treated as a sole proprietor. There are no forms to fill out. If you are going to consider operating under one of the other three options you should know that this can be a very complicated decision with both tax and legal complications. Therefore, before making this decision I strongly recommend that you consult with both a tax professional and an attorney that understand family child care.
There are two basic reasons why child care providers consider other business structures: lower taxes and personal liability protection.
Taxes
There are no tax savings if you form a partnership or single person LLC. There may be some tax savings if you operate as a corporation, but probably only if you have a profit of at least $30,000 each year. Also, beware that you will lose the ability to deduct house depreciation if you form a partnership or corporation.
Personal liability
If you form an LLC or incorporate your business you may get some personal liability protection. This means that your personal assets may be protected if you are sued. However, you should not assume that such protection is automatic.
Since you are using your home and your furniture and appliances for your business, the business portion (Time-Space percentage) of these items would not be protected in a lawsuit.
In addition, if you are negligent and a child is injured or if you are accused of child abuse – being incorporated or a single person LLC won’t protect you.
Perhaps the main disadvantage of incorporating is the many business formalities to follow as a corporation (separate business and personal records, stockholder meetings, following your bylaws, etc.) and if you fail to follow them all you could lose this protection. For many providers it is extremely difficult to pay business and personal expenses out of separate bank accounts.
Summary
Forming a LLC or a corporation is no substitute for having an adequate amount of business liability insurance. With this insurance you can protect yourself from most risks associated with your business. Check out my child care insurance directory.
Child care providers who have a large business profit each year (at least $30,000), have a significant amount of personal assets they wish to protect, don’t mind doing extra record keeping, and plan to be in business for a number of years may want to look into a business structure other than a sole proprietor. If this is you then you should seek out professional legal and tax assistance first.
But everyone else should keep operating as a sole proprietor.
I’ve written about the pros and cons these business structures at length in my book Family Child Care Legal & Insurance Guide.
Tom Copeland - www.tomcopelandblog.com
Image credit: https://www.thebluediamondgallery.com/legal06/i/incorporation.html
For more information, see my book Family Child Care Legal and Insurance Guide.
