ADVANTAGES TO INCORPORATING IN FLORIDA

There are many advantages to incorporating and in particular, incorporating in the State of Florida. We are often asked, what are the advantages of incorporating in Florida?

Incorporating in Florida permits you to operate as a business and, in most situations be shielded from personal liability. This means that if the corporation or its employees commit a negligent act, or incur corporate debt, then the owner or owners are protected or otherwise shielded from having their personal assets risked by the endeavors of the corporation.

Another benefit of incorporating in Florida, is that a properly formed corporation receives a Federal Employee Identification Number (FEIN) which is the equivalent of a social security number of an individual. With the FEIN number, the corporation begins building up its own credit and credit worthiness. Although most lenders lending significant sums will require personal guarantees, most vendors wont. Additionally, once you build a strong enough credit, then personal guarantees are minimized as well.

Incorporating also gives many tax advantages where business expenses are more readily deductible. A corporation also facilitates the separation of assets from business to personal, thereby facilitating record keeping, bookkeeping, and asset transfers. Moreover, the entirety of a business can be sold by simply transferring shares or, when an asset sale is more preferable, to designate the business assets to be transferred.

The intangibles also favor incorporating in Florida. When companies and customers interact with a service provider or a product provider, it is often expected for the business to be incorporated. It adds legitimacy and credibility to the organization.

A company may be incorporated in any jurisdiction, even internationally so long as it is properly registered in the State where the company conducts business. Therefore, companies have many options as to where to incorporate. Traditionally, the place of choice to incorporate was Delaware. This Ste offered no State corporate taxation and a well established legal system of laws given corporate protections from liability, enforcement of non-compete clauses, and limitations on fiduciary responsibilities which is often favored by owners. In the past decade, however, both Nevada and Florida have developed very similar zero taxation models and developed their laws and corporate fees to make them very friendly for corporations to transact business and make it very attractive to be incorporated in these States. As such, currently, Florida ranks competitively (and arguably) as the number one place to be incorporated in. The State of Florida’s Division of Corporation, through the Florida Legislature, sets the yearly fees and incorporation fees. Currently, the incorporation fees ranges from $70 – $120 (price varies depending on type of corporate structure chosen). Yearly renewal fees are less than $150, and the mandatory corporate record keepings are minimal. Florida also offers flexibility privacy to companies that are not publicly traded. As for privacy, this means that ownership of a company can be kept private or internally within the corporation. It is flexible as one person or company can serve as all the officers of the corporation and as all the directors of the corporation. This makes it easy for the sole proprietor to incorporate.

There are of course certain processes which must be maintained such as a registered agent and documented yearly meetings, but these are easily and inexpensively done by corporate attorneys.

At Arcadier and Associates, we have developed an all inclusive program to cover all incorporation start up costs and for you to get direct legal advice from a licensed Florida attorney. The $750 price includes all filing fees, corporate kit, and a pre-incorporation consultation with an attorney. Additionally, once you receive your corporate kit, a post-incorporation consultation with the attorney is also included.