Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

Hi,

I am not sure if you've found the answer to your question, yet.  So, here is some information on this topic.

The single owner LLC would pay himself through the equity account "owners draws".  This essentially will keep an accurate record of what you pay yourself from the current year's profit without inaccurately decreasing the amount of profit that will show on your financial reports at the end of the year.

I hope I was clear.  If not, or if you have further questions, please feel free to message me.

TLloyd

For IRS purposes. a single member LLC is a disregarded entity. Ultimately when you file your 1040, you will have to report all profits from the consulting whether the funds stay in your business bank account or not.

On the 1040, you will file a Schedule C (no different than a sole proprietor) and will have to include applicable social security taxes there.

You will still want to have an idea of how much money you are taking out of the business, but that has no bearing on how much income you must declare.

Ed Baloga, CPA / MBA
Principal CFO
Baloga Associates
ebaloga@baloga-associates.com
www.twitter.com/edbaloga

in all honest your are going to want to speak with a local accountant to get a clear picture. here is a link to an FAQ where they cover single member LLCs single member LLC faq

Did you submit form 8832 to the IRS? otherwise you're still a sole prop in their eyes.

This is great information,I like this forum,,

_________________

Emaly

fast money

I do recommend speaking to an accountant you trust as there are many factors to think about.  How you have elected to be taxed, your cash flow projections, your need for capital later on and your overall financial goals and tax situation all need to be addressed.  But it is always good to go into these conversations with a little knowledge…

If you elected to be taxed as a “disregard entity” - OR you simply did not formally make an election with the IRS - you will be taxed as a sole proprietor.  That means that ALL business profit flows to your schedule C.  There is really no need to pay yourself a salary.  The best thing to do is to write a check to yourself as cash flow allows, tracking that in a ‘draw’ account.

You could also elect to be treated as a corporation – you must complete form 8832 to do this.  In this case, you should draw a salary (because you are an employee of the corporation) and maybe take dividends.  This gets tricky is the IRS is concerned about leaving the ratio of how much salary vs. dividends mostly because of the application of SS and Medicare taxes AND the different tax rates for the two types of income at the shareholder level.   There is no hard and fast rule about the correct ratio as the IRS looks at the ‘facts and circumstances’ in each case although most accountants will advise for dividends not to be over 50% of the compensation to shareholder (owner).

Don't forget that you have to pay Self-Employment tax!

-Chris

The best way to figure out how to pay yourself is to speak to your CPA to figure out the Entity Classification Election for the LLC (what tax forms you will be preparing on). One that determination is made, you can then figure out how to pay yourself.