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My favorite part of moving to the US was when I found out starting a sole proprietorship takes literally nothing. You just start and in your tax return you say

by Swizec 10y ago

My favorite part of moving to the US was when I found out starting a sole proprietorship takes literally nothing. You just start and in your tax return you say "self employed" or "partially self employed" and say how much of your income was from that. Then you get to deduct business expenses too. In Slovenia starting a sole proprietorship was a weird process of starting a corporation that doesn't bring any benefits of a corporation[1] and a bunch of complications with taxes and social transfers and such. [1] it's tied to you personally, uses your personal tax ID number, and gives zero liability protection

SanFranManDan 10y ago
A sole proprietorship doesn't give you the same protections as a corporation. You have unlimited personal liability for your business actions.
- Swizec 10y ago
  Exactly. And in Slovenia (potentially elsewhere in Europe) I have to do a bunch of bureaucracy to get a sole proprietorship. In the US, I don't. Hence why it's one of my fav things about moving to the US.
  - ajeet_dhaliwal 10y ago
    The UK is the same as the US in this respect. Something I'd taken for granted until now.
- cookiecaper 10y ago
  While this is true and it is valuable to at least register an LLC, it's a common myth that an LLC will shield its owners from all civil liability. LLCs don't provide protection from tort claims and the owners/directors (people who can't invoke respondeat superior) can be individually pursued for tort liability without having to pierce the corporate veil (which itself is more common/possible than many people believe). I understand you may already know this, but I think it's an important caveat that is frequently overlooked in such discussions, causing many small businesspeople surprise when they learn that they may be personally liable in the event of a lawsuit (which will probably name the publicly-listed owners as defendants by default). IANAL

by Swizec 10y ago

SanFranManDan 10y ago

A sole proprietorship doesn't give you the same protections as a corporation. You have unlimited personal liability for your business actions.

Swizec 10y ago
Exactly. And in Slovenia (potentially elsewhere in Europe) I have to do a bunch of bureaucracy to get a sole proprietorship. In the US, I don't. Hence why it's one of my fav things about moving to the US.
- ajeet_dhaliwal 10y ago
  The UK is the same as the US in this respect. Something I'd taken for granted until now.
cookiecaper 10y ago
While this is true and it is valuable to at least register an LLC, it's a common myth that an LLC will shield its owners from all civil liability. LLCs don't provide protection from tort claims and the owners/directors (people who can't invoke respondeat superior) can be individually pursued for tort liability without having to pierce the corporate veil (which itself is more common/possible than many people believe). I understand you may already know this, but I think it's an important caveat that is frequently overlooked in such discussions, causing many small businesspeople surprise when they learn that they may be personally liable in the event of a lawsuit (which will probably name the publicly-listed owners as defendants by default). IANAL