Tracey,

When forming most types of businesses, you have the choice between registering your Nebraska company as an LLC or a Corporation. While there are many differences between the two entity types, there are a few basic angles to consider in making the choice to best fit your business plan.

In general, a corporation is designed for a larger body of owners who plan to sell stock and have investors/shareholders to help grow the business. Corporations require a lot of maintenance, such as mandatory meetings, recording the meeting minutes and drafting the corporate bylaws. One of the largest significant differences is that a corporation first pays taxes on it’s income (corporate tax), then the shareholders are paid dividends from the profits, where they would pay personal taxes. This is commonly referred to as ‘double taxation’.

LLC’s, on the contrary, are very flexible and require much less maintenance. There are no meeting requirements, and the Operating Agreement is typically much easier and cost-effective to draft than corporate bylaws. This entity type is a ‘pass-through’ entity, which means that the income of the business is passed through the company directly to the owners’ personal income, where you will only pay your personal income taxes. With the help of a licensed accountant, you will be able to write many of your business expenses off of your taxes. LLC’s are generally a better fit for smaller businesses.

You may elect to have your corporation taxed as an S-Corp as well. This is a tax-structure similar to an LLC as a pass-through entity, with certain limitations and certain self-employment advantages. We have a research article titled ‘Choosing business entity‘, which I believe you would find very informative.