Blogging as a Business | Bloggers Lair | Yakezie Forums

How do you all handle your blogs and your finances?

Do you:

a.) Just collect ad money as an individual and pay taxes on it on your regular tax forms?

b.) Have an EIN and pay separate taxes.

c.) Register it (e.g., LLC) and have an EIN?

I am personally leaning towards #2.  Right now I have little income and no employees but I am thinking it might be wise to get prepared in case I want to grow.  I don't think I make enough money to justify an LLC yet.  What are your thoughts?

a) reporting as self employment income

I get 1099's from vendors and report it as self employment.  I honestly don't know if forming an LLC would have any real benefit.  As far as I know the only think LLCs really do is shield you from some liability.   I don't see any real worries about liability in a blog other than giving horrible advice or liable.  Either of those they'll just go straight after the writer and an LLC shouldn't protect you.   Just my opinion, IANAL.

I do it as an individual.

I have separate bank accounts. Checking is at my local bank and savings is at ING Direct. You can get an EIN by going to the IRS website. As a sole proprietor, you don't pay separate taxes. Everything gets listed on your personal tax return with one exception. If you think you'll owe $1,000 (I think this # is correct) or more in taxes from business operations, you'll need to start making estimated tax payments every few months to the IRS. Remember that being self-employed means you're responsible for both halves of payroll tax.

I blog as an LLC so I can take advantage of separate accounts and write-offs. Mind you, I could do the same thing individually, but it still costs money to do DBA, etc. so I just opted for an LLC.

Kay Lynn Akers said:

The financial cost in California between a DBA and a LLC is huge (LLC has $800 annual tax even if you don't make a dime).  So, I went with a DBA.  Two blogger lawyers told me LLC wouldn't really protect a sole proprietor from liability. 

Just make sure your current insurance policy is adequate.

Ouch, Florida LLC was roughly $125 and DBA would be $50. Once you add the County business taxes and everything else, it almost looks like the same $. 

Wojo, have you considered MI? $25 one time, $25 ongoing basis for annual report filings. easy to create and you can do it all online.  as a CPA, i can tell you that LLCs are perceived more cleaner than a sole proprietorship (potential co-mingling of assets and earnings/deductibles), and that is one reason (of many) they are less prone to audit.

Since the start-up/ongoing costs of a blog are pretty low, do you find that you have many write-offs to take advantage of?

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Wojo said:

I blog as an LLC so I can take advantage of separate accounts and write-offs. Mind you, I could do the same thing individually, but it still costs money to do DBA, etc. so I just opted for an LLC.

I have an article on blogger tax deductions:

http://freefrombroke.com/2011/…..tions.html

I do sole proprietor right now.  My accountant told be there aren't any real benefits to LLC yet (for my income).

Just remember to keep great records of all income and expenses!

it depends on how much you make as an individual and how much your blog makes.

I have an incorporatoin (for obvious reasons) but I think it is more paper and costs for most bloggers to have a LLC. I think that self employed income is better (and you can write off deductions at the same time)