What business organization for website owners?

[Atown512]

I live in Texas, and I have been looking into purchasing some websites. I am not really sure what type of entity would be best for a self employed person who owns several websites. I have been searching for this information, but can't seem to find a clear answer on the best way to organize this.

From the advice of our attorney for a brewery startup I am working on, we are forming two LLCs DBA: whatever our brewery name is. Based on tax and liability issues, is this the best way for an individual to own multiple websites as well? Will I need an EIN if I am the sole operator? What about if I needed to hire someone?

Any suggestions or recommendations for where to find good information on this specific issue would be greatly appreciated.

 

[LordofBooks]

You can certainly own a website on your own. All you need to do is purchase the domain through any one of the many web hosting services out in the market today. For instance, you can try going to godaddy.com, but there are a whole lot more out there than just that one, so don't feel pigeon-holed to it.

The reason your lawyer told you to do it as a LLC is to protect you from personal liability should you be sued for something your companies did. This would be the best way to own the websites as it would help to show a clearly defined line separating your personal finances and your business expenses. This helps prevent potential plaintiffs from doing what's known in the legal world as "piercing the corporate veil." You can read more about that dandy little nightmare of a law here: http://www.legalmatch.com/law-library/article/liability-of-a-corporations-individual-members.html