You’ve decided to startup a business in Virginia. Where do you start?

If you want to form a new business, whether it’s a Virginia LLC, fictitious name, or corporation, Click and Inc can help with your Virginia startup today! Take a look at the information below to decide what type of business is right for you, and then learn more about each entity type.

Virginia LLC

Limited Liability Companies can be thought of as a hybrid between a corporation and a partnership: they’re similar to a limited partnership, only without the general partner, and they are similar to a corporation in that the entity enjoys the same liability protection.

Take a look at more information about forming a Virginia LLC.

Virginia C Corporation

When you incorporate in Virginia, you will form a C Corporation—the default tax classification. This type of corporation is subject to corporate income tax. C Corporations are able to issue shares in multiple classes, and they may have an unlimited amount of shareholders. The owners of a C Corporation can be US citizens, non-citizens, or other business entities. This is the most flexibly structured type of corporation.

See how we can help you form your Virginia C Corporation.

Virginia S Corporation

A C Corporation is the default type of corporation, but once you’ve incorporated in Virginia you can simply submit an S Corporation election form to alert the IRS that you should be treated henceforth as an S Corporation.

S Corporations are treated by the IRS as pass-through entities; this means that owners can report gains and losses on their individual tax returns, avoiding the “double taxation” of a C Corporation. However, S Corporations are stricter in their allowed structure: owners are required to be individuals holding US citizenship, and the amount of shareholders cannot be greater than 100.

Take a look at some more information we’ve collected on forming a Virginia S Corporation.

Virginia Foreign Corporation

If you’ve registered your corporation in a state other than Virginia, but you find that you wish to do business in Virginia, you’ll probably find that you need to register as a Foreign Corporation. In order to do so, you’ll fill out something called the “Application by Foreign Corporation for Authorization to Transact Business in Virginia.”

Take a look at more information we’ve collected about forming a Virginia Foreign Corporation.

Virginia Nonprofit Corporation

When you incorporate in Virginia, you can do so as either a for-profit corporation or a non-profit corporation. The two types of for-profit corporations are discussed above.

There are several different types of nonprofit corporations, but the most common by far is the 501c3 Corporation. A 501c3 Corporation has specific tax breaks with the IRS. To form one, you must first register your nonprofit corporation at the state level. Then, you obtain the 501c3 status from the IRS.

Click and Inc has gathered more information on forming a Virginia Nonprofit Corporation.

Virginia DBA

Known as an Assumed or Fictitious Name in Virginia. Regardless of the type of entity forming it—individual person, partnership, LLC, corporation—it is filed at the state level and enables the filer to operate using a name other than their own legal name.

Click and Inc can help you form your Virginia DBA.