Benefits of Forming an LLC in New York
The key benefit of running a limited liability company (LLC) in New York is limited liability protection.
Limited liability can protect your personal assets in the event your business is sued or cannot pay its debts.
Other New York LLC benefits include:
- Pass-through taxation
- Tax options
- Simplicity
- Ownership flexibility
- Increased credibility
- Name registration
Recommended: Visit our Should I Start an LLC or How to Choose a Business Structure pages for help with choosing the right structure for your small business.
Benefits of an LLC in New York
The main advantage of a New York LLC is that it offers limited liability protection like a corporation. But, unlike a corporation, LLCs are simple to run and maintain.
Other benefits of an LLC vs other business structures are:
- Pass-through taxation
- Tax options
- Simplicity
- Ownership flexibility
- Increased credibility
- Name registration
Limited Liability Protection
When a business owner has limited liability protection, they can't be held personally responsible if the business suffers a loss. This means personal assets (car, house, and bank account) are protected.
In order to have limited liablity protection, the LLC must maintain its corporate veil.
Pass-Through Taxation
A New York LLC’s profits go directly to its owners, who then report their share of the profits on their individual tax returns. The business is not taxed directly and profits are only taxed once. This is known as pass-through taxation.
In a New York C corporation, profits are subject to "double taxation". This means profits are taxed before being distributed to owners and taxed again when owners report their share of profits on their individual tax returns.
Tax Options
A limited liability company can choose among three different ways of paying income tax. One option is to be taxed as an S corporation. Technically an S corp is a tax designation, not its own type of business entity.
You can learn more about choosing the S corporation tax designation in our LLC vs S Corp guide.
Simplicity
Limited liability companies are relatively easy to form and maintain with little paperwork or expense. Unlike C corporations, New York LLCs aren’t required to assign formal officer roles, hold annual meetings, create bylaws, or record company minutes and resolutions.
Visit our Cost to Form an LLC in New York guide to learn more about the expenses for setting up and maintaining an LLC.
Ownership Flexibility
There are very few restrictions on how you can structure the ownership and management of a New York LLC:
- Your LLC can be single-member or multi-member
- A Multi-Member LLC can be managed by its members, termed as member-managed
- A Multi-Member LLC can be managed by a manager that is appointed by its members, termed as manager-managed
Learn more about LLC management in our member-managed vs manager-managed LLC guide.
Increased Credibility
Forming your business as a limited liability company brings added credibility. An LLC is recognized as a more formal business structure than a sole proprietorship or partnership.
Including LLC in your business name lets customers and partners know that you are a credible business.
Name Registration
When you form an LLC, you’ll choose a unique name that will be registered when the LLC is formed. By registering your name, no other businesses in New York will be able to use the name while your business is active.
A sole proprietorship or partnership must use the names of the owner(s) as the business name. A sole proprietor or partnership would need to register a doing business as name (DBA) in order to use something besides their personal name.
Disadvantages of Starting an LLC in New York
LLCs offer many benefits but there are some cases where it might make sense to form a New York corporation or sole proprietorship:
- Because LLCs are pass-through entities like a sole proprietorship, LLC owners are responsible for paying taxes on their share of the LLC's net profit, whether or not they receive a disbursement.
- Businesses that need to carry large amounts of profit from tax year to tax year should consider a corporation. Learn more in our LLC vs Corporation guide.
- If your business is more of a hobby, and carries zero risk, running a sole proprietorship might be less expensive.
Recommended: For a detailed guide on selecting the right structure for your small business, visit our Choosing a Business Structure guide.
How To Start An LLC in New York
Forming an LLC is easy. Our Start an LLC in New York guide streamlines the process into five easy steps.
You can hire one of these best llc services to form an LLC for you.
Five Basic Steps to Start an LLC in New York
Step 1: Name Your LLC
You will need to give your business a unique name that is distinguishable from all registered names in New York when you file your Articles of Organization.
Our Business Name Generator and our How to Name a Business in New York guide are free tools available to entrepreneurs that need help naming their business.
Step 2: Choose a Registered Agent
Your New York registered agent will accept legal documents and tax notices on your LLC's behalf. You will list your registered agent when you file your Certificate of Formation or the Secretary of State will act as your agent for service of process/registered agent.
Step 3: File the Articles of Organization
The Articles of Organization is the document you will file to officially register an LLC with the Secretary of State.
Step 4: Create an Operating Agreement
A New York operating agreement is a legal document that outlines the ownership and member duties of your LLC.
Our operating agreement tool is a free resource for business owners.
Step 5: Get an EIN
An Employer Identification Number (EIN) is a number that is used by the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to identify and tax businesses. It is essentially a Social Security number for a business.
EINs are free when you apply directly with the IRS. For more information about whether your LLC is required to obtain an EIN, visit our EIN for LLCs guide.
