That’s the date your Annual Report — also called Franchise Tax Report — is due. Here’s what you need to know to ensure that you stay compliant with the state of Texas.

The Rules are Different For Your First Year

When you first incorporate in Texas or file an LLC, you have one year and 89 days from your start date to file your initial report. After that, your Annual Report is due May 15 each year.

What Goes on a Texas Annual Report

When you fill out this document, either online through the Texas Secretary of State website or on paper, you will fill out some basic information about your company. If anything has changed in the past year, it’s essential that you update that information in the report, whether your business changed addresses or you made any alterations to your Board of Directors.

You’ll also need to calculate what you owe in franchise taxes to the state of Texas. Both businesses incorporated and operating in Texas, as well as non-Texas corporations doing business in Texas, are responsible for paying this tax. However, neither professional associations or partnerships have to pay the franchise tax.

You’ll pay your franchise tax on net taxable capital or net taxable earned surplus for the previous calendar year — whichever is greater.

You’ll Pay More if You Miss the Deadline

If you don’t file your Annual Report and pay your franchise taxes by May 15, you’ll incur a 5% penalty fee on the taxes you owe. If you still haven’t paid those taxes 30 days after the due date (so June 15), you’ll pay an additional 5%. So it pays to pay on time!

When You Need to File a Final Franchise Tax Report

If your Texas corporation is no longer functioning as a business, you must file a Final Franchise Tax Report within 60 days of the end of operations of your business. This is part of the process to dissolve a business in Texas, and a necessary one.

Why add filing your Texas Annual Report to your task list? Let CorpNet handle it for you. We will file your Annual Report in the state of Texas starting at $89. Contact us to get started.

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First, What Is a Trademark?

You can consider a trademark any word, phrase, symbol, or design (or a combination of these) that identifies the source of a product or service and distinguishes it from competitors.

You can trademark your business name, logo, or slogan, as well as domain name (some of them, anyway) and social media usernames.

Why Trademarking Your Business Name is Worth Considering

If it’s important that you’re the only business with your name in the entire country, such as if you own a franchise in many states, or do business across borders and want to be unique, registering for US Federal Trademark protection is the best way to protect your name.

Do You Need to Register Your Trademark?

Technically, an unregistered trademark gives you “common law” rights whenever you use the ™ symbol with your business name, but registering it will give you an additional layer of protection, as you now have legal right to take action if anyone tries to use your business’ name. As long as your trademark is registered with the USPTO (US Patent and Trademark Office), you don’t have to worry.

Find Out if Anyone’s Using Your Business Name

If you’ve already incorporated, you know that no one else in your state is using your business name, because filing a corporation essentially stakes your claim for that name…but only in that state.

Now you need to conduct a free trademark search to see if the name is available at the federal level. Go one further step and conduct a comprehensive trademark search to ensure that there’s not someone out there who has an unregistered trademark with the same name.If it is available, snatch it up!

Benefits of Trademarking Your Business Name

Not only will trademarking ensure that you’re a unique entity in the business world, but it will also give you:

• Treble damages in some cases of infringement
• The right to use ® in your trademark
• A streamlined process for securing your domains and usernames on social sites like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube
• Significantly stronger protection than ‘common law’ (aka. unregistered) marks. This can make it much easier to recover your property, let’s say if someone happens to use your company name as their Twitter handle.

The post Trademarking a Business Name: Do You Need To? appeared first on CorpNet.

Now, I’m not sure why, but a lot of new small business owners assume that forming an LLC is a complicated thing. It’s not, actually. But it is one of the best things you can do to protect your personal assets and your business.

Let’s take a look at what it takes to set your business up as a Limited Liability Company.

1. Choose a Name

Your name will be the first thing people see or hear as it relates to your new business, so make it a good one (here you can find tips on coming up with a memorable name). Next, you want to make sure you’re the only one using that name. You can do that with a free corporate name search in your state.

2. Register the LLC and File Your Paperwork

If you’re doing the filing yourself, you need to download your state’s Articles of Organization paperwork and fill that out. If you’re letting a document filing service like CorpNet handle it,  you just need to provide basic contact information and a few details about your company. Easy peasy.

3. Get Your LLC’s Tax ID

Before you can start operating as an LLC, you need an Employer Identification Number. This is like a social security number for your business, and one you’ll need before opening a business bank account.

4. Create Your Operating Agreement

This document outlines the rights and obligations of the members of your LLC, as well as lists the distribution of income of the Limited Liability Company to its members. Your Operating Agreement doesn’t need to be filed with your state, you do need to keep one on premises, signed, if you have other shareholders.

5. File Business Licenses and Permits

Additionally, you should apply for any business licenses or permits you’ll need to operate your business. It’s best to do this before you start operating your business to avoid potential fees or issues down the road.

6. Keep Your LLC Compliant

Once you’re operating as an LLC, your work isn’t done for good. Each year, you will need to file your annual report. The due date for this annual report depends on where you filed your LLC. For example, if you filed it in Michigan, Delaware, North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, or Texas, there’s a specific date that your annual report is due. Other states, it’s due on the anniversary of when you filed your LLC.

7. Finally, Take Care of Loose Ends

Depending on where you’re based, you may need to publish your intent to form an LLC in a local newspaper. If you form an LLC in New York, for example, you are required to run that intent in an approved newspaper for 6 consecutive weeks.

Now see? Wasn’t forming an LLC practically painless? A lot of our customers like them because they require fewer formalities and less paperwork than the corporation, while still providing that protection of your personal assets, as well as tax benefits. If I can help you get started with your LLC paperwork, please contact me today.

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