loku do you have another minute??

hi loku and thanks again for your answer in my other post. maybe you can help me with this. i have alot of things to think about re: our partnership (my finace's and mine). remember i asked you about the checking account and his past irs debts? well how else can we set up this business without him being a partner? i just want to get him off of any checking accounts. how can we "restructure"? i'll be darned if the irs is taking away the little cash we have for a past debt out of the business I, with no problems with them, helped create! sorry had to vent. we are very small...just he and i at this time. we only grossed under 38k in 2000! should he be an employee? or what? can you also answer why, with just he and i, we would need a dba# anyway? i thought that was for if you had employees. our previous (yep shes fired!) accountant told us we had to get one. do we have to? well thanks again. hope you are getting the gist of what i am asking.

If you own the business, and he is only an employee, then the IRS can not take the business assets for his past debts. However, the IRS can look into the true situation and ignore the formalities you use unless you truly own the business and his is actually an employee.

A “DBQ” is actually called registering under the fictitious name statute. If you have a business with a name other than your own, you must register the fictitious name with your county clerk. It is easy and inexpensive and you can do it yourself.

hhmmmm

well once again thanks for the great reply. but let me chatter on some more. yes we have a dba with our county clerk already. is that what you meant? i wasnt sure if a dbq was a diff thing. also, basically it wouldnt be an "untruth", re: me the boss, him the employee. even though we set it up as a partnership (he has no problem with not being the boss...he's really a sweet guy..sorry ....i make all the decisions, handle all the money, well all the things the boss/manager does. but what would that business structure have to be? not a partnership anymore right? and if he was an employee i would have to pay half of his taxes and supply him with a 1099 at years end? sheesh i think i am getting a headache. well thanks again for anything to help with this situation. appreciate the time and effort.

I agree, the form of business can not be a partnership, but depending on the nature of the business and your needs in it, it could be a corporation, limited liability company, or simply a sole proprietorship. I suggest you look at our material on starting a business at http://business-law.freeadvice.com/starting_a_business/