Which state is the best for forming an LLC

Getting an address in a different state is not really a big deal. Sublease an apartment for some months to get that physical presense. But my kids goto school here, I don’t want to uproot that.

Honestly, for many months, but my job isn’t remote. Hopefully I can find another one that allows remote work and I can take my CA salary and move out…

A coworker of mine lived here (Northern CA) for a while. His dad owns a GM dealership in Montana so he used to drive a lot of the used car trade ins. He would keep the Montana plates on. He was pulled over at least once a month and let go after he showed them it was a dealer vehicle. Apparently, they crack down hard on the LLC cars here.

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The school thing is what kills your whole idea. look up “california residency audit”

I guess it just how much trouble you are going to do if and when you get audited. Probably easier/better to be super “aggressive” on write offs with the blessing of a CPA and pay extra if and when you get audited

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Like I said earlier, Im not trying to skip any laws. Just trying to understand what is legally available to me to pay as minimum as possible.

On a side note, I don’t understand where the CA taxes are going. High income tax, sales tax etc. Shit roads, underfunded schools…

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It’s all a big gray area.

As for taxes. It’s going to someone’s election campaign. Nothing else matters to them

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Going back to this for a second. I just found out EVs in NJ don’t have sales tax. Is there anything for NY? I have a legal residence in NY as well

EV rebate from NY dealers. Move to Jersey, I heard the mutz is better

Can’t move to Jersey… lol. Althu I have an aunt there…

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would having a LLC with a registered agent in NJ be enough to qualify for this or would you need a physical address?

From an asset protection standpoint a majority of those are created in Wyoming and Nevada due to charging order protection.

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This whole thread shows the barriers govt imposes to compete with large corporations. Regulation after regulation that the common person can’t possibly afford to navigate alone without having large sums of startup money. Self employment is one of the best ways to become wealthy yet the initial risks keep many very capable people stuck in corporate servitude.

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Conglomerates can afford some very powerful friends.

Simple economics.

I’ve no clue, but NJ might be the best bet yet

Starting a legitimate business is as easy as taking money from people and reporting it on your personal taxes (Sole Proprietor), which the IRS and all 50 states recognize.

IIRC probably 2 hours of 200-level business courses in college sorted 90% of what I needed to start a business. I’ve meet LeaseHackrs in person who are interested in this, and we’re sorted out their needs over dinner, and they followed up with a pro because everyone’s personal financial situation (which affects this) is different, and all the states have differences.

The startup costs on my first one were probably $10k, on my second it was closer to $1000 (and these are not tax shields, they’re doing businesses). The payback period was short because they were supported by a business case.

It’s easier than ever to set up any of these, but making an uninformed choice can be very expensive. In our beloved free market system these options all exist to enable different kinds of commerce, not as barriers to entry — they aren’t for everyone.

It keeps coming back to “I don’t want to pay taxes or worry about registration and I heard LLC is the way to go” - they were created to solve a specific business problem and don’t exist to the IRS, they’re a state entity that elects another existing types of taxation.

Continues to be the theme here.

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On the contrary, any advice given should always be within legal boundaries. For me, I am literally trying to understand what is the legal for me to do so without getting into trouble and paying the absolute minimum that I have to.

This is America, we shouldn’t be paying a cent more in taxes than we are legally liable for

Honestly you need to sit down with a CPA and potentially an attorney and run the business idea by them and they will advise you on the best way to do this while minimizing your taxes.

Out of curiousity what is your native country and what was the tax structure?

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Yes, thats my plan for the business.

I’d rather not say, just that, we don’t have a tax structure. No one pays taxes. In fact, its better for you to NOT pay taxes. Why ? Because if you do file taxes, the authorities harass you and threaten you because they have you on file. If you don’t file taxes, no one comes after you… Its an over simplification but yeah, thats the gist of it

But more importantly, cars are taxed ONCE at the initial purchase. Its automatically built into the price of the vehicle. Reselling the car doesn’t require paying tax again, unlike America. Also, car’s don’t loose value when they become used and they don’t annually depreciate ( You can buy a car today, and sell it the next day for zero cost)

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Sure, which is why my CPA does my personal and corporate returns, and talks to my financial planner.

There isn’t one tax code, they exist at Federal/State/County/Local levels. I pay less tax in CA than Ohio because I happen to have fewer hands in my pocket (some hands take more than their Ohio counterpart).

An LLC is not designed to save on taxes, it’s a rain poncho to shield some (not all) liability for other trade-offs. Using it to evade taxes is an off-label application.

There is a line between minimizing your taxes and evading your taxes, the latter being a crime. Every time I’ve had a foul called on me for being too close to the line, I can call in the pro who knew ahead of time what I was doing and told me that it was OK (which isn’t an excuse either). So far, we’ve sorted every one out.

But to say that the various types of legal entities designed to do business are barriers to entry seems to miss the point – they exist to enable commerce.

Now if we didn’t have states or local municipalities, and we had one single tax code, different story.

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So I can sell cars, food etc just by doing this simple sole proprietor you speak of? Haha. A lot more regulations than that to enter most markets.

Applying for and obtaining many licenses/permits to do commerce take forever and have many complexities involved. You also have to navigate many govt agencies as well in the process.

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