A C corp is a great business entity to form because it is legally independent from its owners. This means that the owners of the entity are not personally liable for any of the taxes that are owed by the C corp, nor are they liable for any debts or liabilities that are incurred by the corporation.
Another good thing about a C Corp is that forming this type of entity is not that difficult if you know what to do. To form a C corp you will need to fill out and file the articles of incorporation with the state in which you will conduct business . When filling out the articles of incorporation you want to make sure you include all of the required information, such as names and addresses of incorporators and any stock information. After filing the articles of incorporation, you will receive a certificate of incorporation, if your incorporation request was approved. The certificate of incorporation gives you the go ahead to start doing business under the laws of this great entity.
Before you can open your doors, you will need to hold a board of directors meeting for your corporation. At this meeting, you will need to adopt the bylaws that your corporation drafted when they were preparing the articles of incorporation. During this meeting, it is also a good idea to discuss the benefits of having and using a corporate seal.
Once the meeting is over and the bylaws have been adopted you are one-step closer to being able to do business. Now technically, you could do business before all these steps have been completed but you will not have the liability protection, tax advantages, etc, etc that a corporation offers. The next thing that you will need to do is obtain your federal employer identification number from the IRS. After obtaining this information, the last thing that you need to do is obtain a local business license for the city or county in which you are doing business.
This list is not all inclusive but if you complete these steps, you will be 95% of the way to full compliance.
