#business-structure
Business Structure
Choose and optimize your business entity for tax and legal advantages
Corporate Minutes and Resolutions: How to Avoid Piercing the Corporate Veil
Courts pierce the corporate veil when owners can't show documented governance — meeting minutes, written resolutions, and clean separation of business and personal funds — so a folder of dated records plus consistent bookkeeping is the practical defense against personal liability.
The Mandatory Roth Catch-Up Rule: What Business Owners Over 50 Need to Know for 2026
Starting January 1, 2026, anyone whose 2025 FICA wages exceeded $150,000 must direct their entire 401(k) catch-up contribution — $8,000 standard or $11,250 for ages 60-63 — into a Roth account, with no pre-tax option and no opt-out.
Mobile IV Therapy Bookkeeping: Corporate Practice of Medicine, Medical Director Fees, and Nurse Classification
Mobile IV and wellness injection bars must structure ownership as a physician-owned PC plus an MSO to satisfy corporate-practice-of-medicine rules, pay medical directors a flat monthly fee rather than a percentage of revenue, and classify nurses as W-2 employees in ABC-test states — each decision maps directly to a different chart-of-accounts structure.
Makerspace and Hackerspace Bookkeeping: Membership Dues, Workshop Revenue, and Shared Equipment Costs
Makerspaces should recognize annual membership dues ratably over the term as a deferred-revenue liability rather than all at once, track workshop revenue separately from dues, capitalize equipment above a set threshold, and choose an LLC or 501(c)(3) structure based on whether their funding model relies on grants or dues.
Profits Interests, Explained: How LLCs Can Grant Equity Without Triggering a Tax Bill
A profits interest lets an LLC or partnership grant a service provider real equity with no tax at grant or vesting under Rev. Proc. 93-27 and 2001-43 — provided the distribution hurdle equals fair market value at grant, the interest is held two years, and the recipient accepts K-1 partner status. Here is how the safe harbor works, how the hurdle math is set, and the six mistakes that break the tax-free treatment.
Estonia e-Residency in 2026: The New 2% Board Fee Tax, VAT Substance Rules, and What Still Works
Estonia added a 2% surcharge on board member fees (24% total) from January 2026 and now denies VAT numbers to e-Resident companies without real economic ties — while 0% corporate tax on retained profits remains. Here's what changes for Estonian OÜ owners.
Missouri Just Eliminated Its Capital Gains Tax: What It Means for Business Owners Who Sell
Missouri's HB 594, signed July 10, 2025, made it the first state to fully exempt individuals from state capital gains tax — a 100% subtraction covering stocks, real estate, crypto, and pass-through business sales, with C corporations waiting on a 4.5% rate trigger. Here's who qualifies, what's excluded, and how it changes exit timing for business owners.
LLC vs. S-Corp vs. C-Corp: How to Choose (and Later Change) Your Business Structure
An LLC pays 15.3% self-employment tax on all profit; an S-Corp election (Form 2553) splits income into salary and distributions, typically saving $7,000+ once net profit clears $40,000–$60,000. Here's how all three structures compare — and how to switch later.
Ontario Cuts Its Small Business Tax Rate to 2.2%: What CCPC Owners Should Check Before Year-End
Effective July 1, 2026, Ontario cut its small business corporate tax rate from 3.2% to 2.2% and raised its eligible income limit from $500,000 to $600,000. Calendar-year CCPCs must prorate to a blended ~2.7% for 2026, and the unchanged $500,000 federal limit creates a new $100,000 band taxed at 17.2% — here's what to verify before your fiscal year closes.
Iowa's Captive Insurance Overhaul: What H.F. 2766's $100,000 Protected Cell Minimum Means for Small Businesses
Iowa's H.F. 2766, effective July 1, 2026, cuts the minimum capital for protected cell captives to $100,000, allows LLC and series LLC cells, and waives premium tax for captives that redomesticate. Here's when a captive pencils out for a small business — and how to spot abusive micro-captive tax shelters.
Iowa SF629: The New Expedited Business Filing Tiers, What They Cost, and When to Pay
Iowa Senate File 629, signed June 2, 2026 and effective July 1, 2026, writes four expedited business filing tiers into Iowa Code section 9.15 — one-hour ($200), same-day ($125), two-day ($50), and five-day ($15) surcharges on top of standard fees — covering formations, amendments, mergers, foreign qualifications, and dissolutions for every entity type.
Kansas Just Cut Business Filing Fees for the First Time Since 2008 — Here's What Changed
Kansas's 2026 fee overhaul — the first since 2008 — sets LLC, LLP, and LP formation at the same $90 online fee corporations pay, cuts PEO annual report fees from $1,000 to $250, and lowers biennial report fees, saving Kansas businesses over $3 million a year combined.