Using Address for Corp

[abihitesh]

Hi,

I am on H1B visa, my green card is in process. One of my close friend has an LLC corp and he want to use my address for his company.

Are there any issue in that?

Please help.

Thanks

[morpheus12]

Tell him to get a mailbox at The UPS Store, formerly known as Mailboxes Etc.

Having his LLC address at your house could make it look like you are working for him outside the terms of your H1. I wouldn't risk it myself, unless there is some incredible upside for you that you haven't disclosed.

[senthilk]

Hi ****,
Could you please xplaine me something.

I would like to start a company in Delaware with a PO Box address since starting a company in Delaware is cheaper.
But I live and work in maryland. Is it OK to do that.
Will it be possible for me to get a PO BOx from USPS eventhough I live in a different state.
Is it legal to do so?

If it is Legal, Can I deduct my home rent in the expense.

Thanks in Advance.
Viking.

[saigc]

doesnt your close friend have an address. why is he/she wanted to use your address.

remember - if your friend indulge in any fraud or unlawful business practice then your home (if its not apartment) then the claimants will pierce into the corporate veil and seek monetary compensation out of "your" home also. there are various risks involved in conducting business from home. if you live in apartments then they may prohibit business practice. apartments are rented or leased for your living and not for business purposes. check with your lease agreements also.

at any cost, let your friend use his/her address for their business.

[saigc]

Hi ****,
Could you please xplaine me something.

I would like to start a company in Delaware with a PO Box address since starting a company in Delaware is cheaper. incorporating in delaware has many other advantages. not just for low filing fee.
But I live and work in maryland. Is it OK to do that. you can live in one state and incorporate in any other state as you wish. it is generally good idea to incorporate in the state where you reside and/or operate the business. for your situation if you incorporate in delaware then you have to incorporate in maryland (as a francise or foreign corporation) to do business in that state. this is even more expensive in filing fees in both the state and the tax filing etc.
Will it be possible for me to get a PO BOx from USPS eventhough I live in a different state. yes. but if you are starting a software consulting company and plan to hire h1 then expect all your petitions gets rejected as you dont run your business from proper address and due to prove the ability to pay clause.
Is it legal to do so?

If it is Legal, Can I deduct my home rent in the expense. question not clear. what type of corporation structure you are going choose? generally you cannot and should not mingle your personal accounts or assets with business. either it is not allowed and end in risky disputes later. check with your cpa.

kind advise for you is to learn bit more about forming and managing business.

Thanks in Advance.
Viking.

[morpheus12]

Originally posted by ****

Having a PO Box as business address is a very bad idea. It just screams "fly-by-night" operation.

You can get a private mailbox from Mailboxes Etc/The UPS Store that doesn't look like a a PO Box e.g.

123 Main St
Suite 433
Beverly Hills CA 90210

Unless someone is motivated to visit or investigate the address, they will never know it isn't an office. They will even accept UPS, Fedex packages for you as well.

I agree that a USPS PO Box is a bad idea for an address, but a PMB is actually a good idea for a small consulting business. It certainly looks a lot less 'fly by night' than using a residential address.

[Octa Viva]

Generally, while starting a business, you will have lots of other more important issues to think about than arriving at a "perfect" address to use.

In general, unless you are not doing a business like renting DVDs by post or something, you will hardly have one business envelop per day in post. For the same reason, practically, it hardly matters if your landlord/town/whatever allows it or not to use your home address as the business address. Did you know that it's not allowed to drive more than 65mph on most interstates? I bet you over-speed and hence do an illegal act every time you are on the freeway!

I see a post earlier where there is a debate whether it's legal to use Suite instead of # or Apt. It's silly. Who on earth has time to investigate your petty business details, when it hardly matters. Let's say IRS finds out that you used a Suite instead of #, what do you expect them to do? Fine you? Hang you?

The last item I want to comment about is the extreme scepticism lot of guys have about doing things the "right" and "legal" way. If you use your home address as the business address, it just means that it's the business address. The way you can't deduct your home rent towards business (if it doesn't make sense), if the company makes a loss, IRS is not going to take away your home just because it's the business address. It's just a address - nothing more!