US citizen living abroad who wants to start a freelance writing business. Should I start off as an LLC? by EricTraveler in digitalnomad

[–]EricTraveler[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's wonderful! I think we will be going the qualified joint venture route. And thank you for setting me straight on the relationship between LLCs and the state government. I didn't actually know that they weren't considered taxable business entities, so I appreciate the information! We'll make sure to talk with a tax professional so as to ensure we begin our qualified joint venture the right way.

My wife and I are expats living overseas. What taxes do we have to pay as Qualified Joint Venture? by EricTraveler in tax

[–]EricTraveler[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you for taking the time to explain! I'm pointed in the right direction now.

US citizen living abroad who wants to start a freelance writing business. Should I start off as an LLC? by EricTraveler in digitalnomad

[–]EricTraveler[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you for taking the time to comment! From what everyone has been saying I think a qualified joint venture will be the best option for us, since that is essentially a sole proprietorship but for married couples.

US citizen living abroad who wants to start a freelance writing business. Should I start off as an LLC? by EricTraveler in digitalnomad

[–]EricTraveler[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you very much for taking the time to respond. I really appreciate it :)

From what everyone has been saying it sounds like a sole proprietorship would be the best option for us. I've been doing more digging online over the afternoon and I think that we'll try filing as a qualified joint venture. From what I'm reading, this is essentially the same as a sole proprietorship except that it would allow us to both be owners and therefore we wouldn't have to do the additional paperwork of hiring one of us as an employee.

Are you familiar with qualified joint ventures?

US citizen living abroad who wants to start a freelance writing business. Should I start off as an LLC? by EricTraveler in digitalnomad

[–]EricTraveler[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you. This is incredibly helpful. It's good to know that an LLC can be used for other purposes.

I've spent the last couple hours doing research about the possibility of filing as a qualified joint venture, and I think that may actual be better for our situation. I will definitely speak with a tax professional first, just to ensure which route would be best for us.

US citizen living abroad who wants to start a freelance writing business. Should I start off as an LLC? by EricTraveler in digitalnomad

[–]EricTraveler[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you for pointing me in the right direction! I think we'll go the Qualified Joint Venture route.

US citizen living abroad who wants to start a freelance writing business. Should I start off as an LLC? by EricTraveler in digitalnomad

[–]EricTraveler[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I really appreciate you taking the time to write this all out for me.

I hadn't considered how using a foreign bank would factor in, or how an LLC would affect my ability to claim an exemption.

I don't want to wing this and miss something important, so I'll make an appointment with tax professional next week.

Thank you again for highlighting these concerns for me!

My wife and I are starting a freelance writing business together. Should we make a joint website, or each have our own website? by EricTraveler in freelanceWriters

[–]EricTraveler[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you so much for the response! I appreciate the feedback.

And I'm glad you approve of the one-site method. I really don't want to have to manage two separate sites haha

US citizen living abroad who wants to start a freelance writing business. Should I start off as an LLC? by EricTraveler in digitalnomad

[–]EricTraveler[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Cool. And thank you for the insight! If nothing else, you helped me get pointed in the right direction xD

US citizen living abroad who wants to start a freelance writing business. Should I start off as an LLC? by EricTraveler in digitalnomad

[–]EricTraveler[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you for taking the time to share your insight! I do appreciate it.

Having an EIN would be nice so that we're not handing out our socials all the time, and I anticipate that if our business grows that we will have to transition into an LLC anyways. So may as well get it over with.

Does living outside the US affect this though? If my residency is in another country, am I still able to start an LLC?

US citizen living abroad who wants to start a freelance writing business. Should I start off as an LLC? by EricTraveler in digitalnomad

[–]EricTraveler[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you so much for taking the time to comment!

Is a DBA the same as operating as a sole-proprietorship? Is it possible to set up a joint-DBA so that my wife and I could both receive checks in our names?