Business Question

[rjwolfe3]

I know that every state is different but I am hoping for some general answers. I dabble in various small businesses. Like a jack of all trades. I have been thinking of putting them all under the same corporation. Is it possible to have different types of businesses under the same corporation? I know according to the IRS I can have different DBA's under the same EIN or that is what they told me when I called them. I know in Ohio I have to file for a vendor's license but I wasn't sure if I had to do that for different DBA's or not. Any thoughts on this? I am going to be checking with the local/state agencies but I thought I would ask here first. I am assuming there are other jacks of all trades on here.:biggrin:

 

[JimB]

I don't really know but I would think you can. The bigger question might be - Do you really want to? If all your businesses are under one name (Corporatation DBA) then if one business gets sued for some reason I would think the assets of all your businesses would be at risk.

I believe you can set up mulitple LLC's and then have one LLC own all the other LLC's. That way if one gets sued only that businesses assets are at risk.

What you really need to do is talk to a lawyer/accountant type person.

 

[jasonbowman]

Alot will depend on how the corporations are setup now. It is very possible for a "parent" corporation to own the stock of the smaller corporation and keep the insulation from liability(just because Suntrust Bank held a large share of Coca Cola stock for decades never subjected them to being at risk of being sued for anything related to Coke). Likewise, you would not have to do dba as the company is a separate entity. However, where you may find folly is when you try to keep the pass through status of the smaller corps (there are rules to be aware of such as rules against corp owned companies being "s" corps and the like). Of course, if you are just trying to consolidate into one company and continue using the names you've used up to this point, the above does not apply and we're on to another beast altogether (mergers and acquisitions, trade names, dba's, etc). Best advice is to check with an Ohio lawyer & CPA...

 

[rjwolfe3]

If I get rid of the idea of a corporation, is there a way of having one parent company and smaller departments of that parent company if I do business as a sole proprietor? I am trying to keep the record keeping separate but I was hoping not to have to get different checking accounts and other things. For instance, I would like the parent company to be named Wolfe's Enterprises but have Wolfe's Pens -N- Things or Wolfe's Garage as a separate companies of Wolfe's Enterprises. Does this make sense or am I making things to complicated for myself?

 

[titan2]

For instance, I would like the parent company to be named Wolfe's Enterprises but have Wolfe's Pens -N- Things or Wolfe's Garage as a separate companies of Wolfe's Enterprises. Does this make sense or am I making things to complicated for myself?

Looks like it's time for some consultation with an attorney, specializing in corporations! Would be money well spent!


Barney

 

[jasonbowman]

You do not have to get rid of the idea of a corporation. You just need to check with a CPA to see if you will suffer any negative tax consequences. You most definitely can have a parent corp own the smaller corps.