3 ms·
A sole proprietorship doesn't give you the same protections as a corporation. You have unlimited personal liability for your business actions.
by 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 agoExactly. 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 agoThe UK is the same as the US in this respect. Something I'd taken for granted until now.
- cookiecaper 10y agoWhile 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