Do I need to register my fully online web design business in the state I live in?
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Do I need to register my fully online web design business in the state I live in?
It’s a fully online web design service business. There is no product and no store
front. There is no warehouse. Nothing. except for my website to cater my design
services to others.
I live in California and would like to register my business as an LLC in Nevada.
Asked on February 19, 2019 under Business Law, California
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 5 years ago | Contributor
You can create the LLC in any state you want: it doesn't have to be your home state: you may establish it anywhere you want. There is, for a small business, no effective difference in one state vs. another in terms of the laws affecting LLCs: no matter how states try to market themselves as more business friendly, there are no appreciable differences among states for purposes of where to create an LLC for small businesses.
There is a slight practical (not legal) advantage to registering it in your home state. You are, even if you sell everywhere by the internet, slighly more likely to be sued in your home state than elsewhere, since you could be sued by not just customers. Rather, vendors or service suppliers or contractors or utilities, etc. could end up suing you, and those other suits are somewhat more likely to be brought in your home state than elsewhere. That being the case, you may as well register in your home state, so that your attorney will be most conversant with the relevant statutory provisions and case law.
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