When you start a business, one of the most important choices you’ll have to make is what kind of company you want to be. The terms “limited liability company” (LLC) and “public limited company” (PLC) are surely familiar to you. It is very important to know the difference between these two types of things.
An LLC: What Is It?
LLCs are becoming more and more popular for new businesses because they protect against risk and give more freedom than companies, especially when it comes to taxes. Taxes are not paid by the LLC. As a “pass-through” company, the business owner or owners report the income on their own tax forms. A limited liability company (LLC) is made when you file paperwork with your state and spend money.
A limited liability company (LLC) gives its owners, who are called people, a lot of flexibility in choosing the leaders. You can choose your management and functional structure and decide how you want to be weighed down. Your LLC can have one or more members, and if you can’t pay your business bills or are sued, none of them will be held personally responsible.
LLCs are the most common type of business organization in the United States and the United Kingdom (UK).
What Is a PLC and How Could It be Unique in relation to a LLC?
A PLC is a public company in the United Kingdom. This is like a business in the United States. A PLC must have “PLC” in its business name, just like a US company must have “Inc.” in its name. A PLC is not at all like an LLC. It is a company that has given shares of stock to the public and whose owners have limited private liability.
A PLC is run by a group of directors and must follow UK laws. It must also hold annual meetings and send periodic reports to its owners. In the United States, this does not affect LLCs, but it does affect companies. In spite of this, PLC rules are much tighter than company rules.
PLCs must have at least two owners and at least £50,000 in cash.
Every company that trades on the London Stock Exchange is a PLC.
Tax Collection Contrasts Among PLCs and LLCs
Tax Collection Is Different Among PLCs and LLCs
Under UK law, PLCs pay their business costs at a rate of 20% per year. The owners of the PLC may also have to pay taxes on the income they get. In the US, this is pretty much the same as a partnership.
LLCs are different from other businesses when it comes to taxes because the owners can choose how the company will be treated. An LLC is treated like a sole proprietorship if it only has one member, and like a partnership if it has more than one person.
In both cases, business pay “goes through” to the people, who then fill out their own government forms to report rewards and problems. Since the LLC itself is not taxed, the process will be easy for the members. Members can also subtract business losses and running costs from their own taxes. Members pay taxes at their personal tax rate, but owners may also have to pay self-employment taxes.
Note that a multi-member LLC should also file form 1065, which is the U.S. Return of Organization Pay, with the IRS. This will have a form K-1 for each person that shows their share of the business’s income.
But LLC owners can choose to be treated like companies if they want to. To do this, the LLC should file a report with the IRS, which is called a “political race.” After that, the LLC has to decide whether it wants to be treated as a C company or a S corporation.
C-Corp profits are taxed at the current rate for corporations, which is 21 percent as of early 2022. This is much lower than the rate for the average person user. But keep in mind that C-Corp owners, which can include people, must also pay taxes on their dividends (but not independent work fees). Because of this, the C-Corp is subject to what is sometimes called “double taxation.”
Under S-Corp taxes, the LLC is treated like a pass-through company, just like a sole proprietorship or a partnership. This means that the business makes money for the people who own the LLC. At this point, everyone’s taxes are being taken out at the same amount.
S-Corps report their expenses on Form 1120S, which is also used to report the pay, losses, and gains of S-Corp owners. The main benefit of S-Corp standing over sole proprietorships or partnerships is that owners do not have to pay taxes on self-employment.
An S-Corp tax structure can help business owners avoid self-employment taxes if their business is successful enough to pay them a salary and at least $10,000 a year in payments. Running an S-Corp costs more than running an LLC because you have to pay more for things like salary and accounting. So, for an S-Corp position to look like it makes sense, the tax savings should be more than the extra costs.
To Conclude:
To sum up, LLCs and PLCs are very different from each other. If you run a business in the United States, you can’t choose a PLC. However, you can choose an LLC. LLCs are useful in many ways and are easy to set up.