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Is Delaware the cheapest place to incorporate?

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Re: Is Delaware the cheapest place to incorporate?

#101

Post by dataflow »

KieranMac wrote: post #38

I'm an attorney. Delaware is definitely not the cheapest or even in contention for the cheapest. Still, if you want to raise capital, the correct answer is DE C Corp. If you're not looking for external funding, any state will do. If you care about anonymity, do Nevada or Wyoming. If you don't care about anonymity, Colorado is actually a very good choice. Very simple, intuitive online filing system that accepts filing…

What happens if you move your home to a different state after incorporation? Do you potentially have to register the business in the new state as well as the old one it's already registered in?

Re: Is Delaware the cheapest place to incorporate?

#102

Post by lannisterstark »

dataflow wrote: post #101
KieranMac wrote: post #38

I'm an attorney. Delaware is definitely not the cheapest or even in contention for the cheapest. Still, if you want to raise capital, the correct answer is DE C Corp. If you're not looking for external funding, any state will do. If you care about anonymity, do Nevada or Wyoming. If you don't care about anonymity, Colorado is actually a very good choice. Very simple, intuitive online filing system that accepts filing…

What happens if you move your home to a different state after incorporation? Do you potentially have to register the business in the new state as well as the old one it's already registered in?

You don't in theory, have to live in the state you incorporate in, depending on type of 'corporation' and/or depending on agency availability.

Re: Is Delaware the cheapest place to incorporate?

#103

Post by lannisterstark »

Mystery-Machine wrote: post #90
throwaheyy wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I assume ”non-resident” in this context means not a permanent resident, but still a SSN-holding resident otherwise. For example a TN or H1-B visa. These visas don’t authorize you to work for a company other than the one officially sponsoring the visa, but you are allowed to own your own business. Perhaps that is the motivation for wanting to open an LLC, but I’m not sure what an LLC gets you in this situation that si…

You're wrong. Non-resident alien means the person is at-best a tourist. Most likely the person is outside of the US and _maybe_ visits occasionally.

In the United States, non-resident alien is someone who does not have a LPR or US citizenship. Students on F1 Visas and J1 visas for example, are categorized as Nonresident aliens.

H1B is a dual purpose visa on the other hand. LPRs and Citizens are obviously categorized as residents.

Re: Is Delaware the cheapest place to incorporate?

#104

Post by lannisterstark »

csomar wrote: post #84
iambateman wrote: post #66

If you choose Delaware, make sure to look at the costs in year 2 and beyond. I did a Delaware C Corp as a bootstrapper. The first year cost $1,000 in total incorporating cost and the second year was going to be several hundred just to stay in good standing. This is compared to an LLC costing $100 one time in South Carolina. If you’re bootstrapping, it’s worth thinking about the costs.

There are no maintenance costs or reporting for a South Carolina LLC?

In many states you just file a one time fee. Arizona for example, is a one time $50 fee with no maintenance or annual fee after. Pretty sure NM and Ohio are the same.

Re: Is Delaware the cheapest place to incorporate?

#105

Post by brudgers »

ghaff wrote: post #83
brudgers wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

YAGNI…without customers and forming an LLC can happen as contracts are being written…but if you think your first potential customer is likely to sue before there’s a contract, walk away and find a different first customer. It seems like what Paul Graham called “playing house.” Forming an LLC feels like progress but it’s not. http://www.paulgraham.com/before.html What I mean is as I have been thinking about my opinion…

It's not so much about the legal liability. But a lot of companies want to deal with other companies and you can deal with that by just making up a name, doing a DBA with your town or whatever for probably tens of dollars, or making an LLC for hundreds of dollars. It probably doesn't really matter for small-time stuff. It may also be worth spending a small amount of money in advance to put some structure in place. I…

spending a small amount of money in advance

If you have cash in hand, you can form an LLC if one is needed.

If an LLC is not needed, the cash in hand can be spent on something that is needed.

Re: Is Delaware the cheapest place to incorporate?

#107

Post by unixhero »

KieranMac wrote: post #38

I'm an attorney. Delaware is definitely not the cheapest or even in contention for the cheapest. Still, if you want to raise capital, the correct answer is DE C Corp. If you're not looking for external funding, any state will do. If you care about anonymity, do Nevada or Wyoming. If you don't care about anonymity, Colorado is actually a very good choice. Very simple, intuitive online filing system that accepts filing…

I was told that Delaware also has the best abonymity? Has Delaware been dethroned by Nevada and Wyoming in this aspect?

Re: Is Delaware the cheapest place to incorporate?

#109

Post by bstarynk »

You could consider France. We have a "micro-entrepreneur" status. But I (Basile Starynkevitch) am not a lawyer, and not your lawyer, but a French open source software developer and living near Paris.

My pet open source project is the RefPerSys open source inference engine (for future expert systems). See amateur website http://refpersys.org/ and serious C++ code (GPLv3+ for Linux, still buggy in mid-november 2023) on https://github.com/RefPerSys/RefPerSys/

I am seeking applications and contributors for it.

If interested by RefPerSys, contact me (Basile Starynkevitch, in France near Paris) by email to basile@starynkevitch.net or by SMS or whatsapp to +33 6 8501 2359

Re: Is Delaware the cheapest place to incorporate?

#110

Post by [deleted] »

jawns wrote: post #65
adastra22 wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mean it is because everyone else is doing it. Because everyone else incorporated in Delaware, that's where the case law is well established, all existing contracts are written in terms of DE corporate case law, etc. etc. We all could have picked Road Island or New York instead. But for historical reasons it was Delaware.

Yes, that's correct. Companies originally flocked to Delaware because it was relatively easy to incorporate there, and then the volume of registrations begat the volume of case law, which begat more registrations because of the favorable legal environment. My point was that it's not just because it's trendy or a matter of conformity. It is a risk-management strategy.

[deleted]
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