Register in Wyoming for website

[Los-Angeles]

What is the name of your state? California
I live in California, where it's absurdly expensive to start a corporation. Since I'm only looking to run a website, I figured maybe I could register in another state, such as Wyoming, with a registered agent in that state. In order to protect from someone piercing the corporate veil, would I need to have more presence in Wyoming, such as opening a Wyoming bank account and having the web space provider be in Wyoming?
I would not be selling anything. Just comedy articles with ad revenue.

 

[Just Blue]

Please review Px Hx before advising this member.

 

[quincy]

Here is an article on starting an LLC, written by FreeAdvice Managing Editor, Jeffrey Johnson.
https://business-law.freeadvice.com/business-law/llcs/llc-organization-2.htm

And here is a link to FreeAdvice staff written frequently asked questions on corporations:
https://business-law.freeadvice.com/business-law/corporations/45/

You can find a wealth of additional information by entering “starting an LLC in a different state” into your search bar.

You would be smart to consult at some point with a business law attorney in your area, to go over your website plans, for help in setting up your LLC, and to help you draft a legal terms and conditions and/or disclaimer for your site. You can speak to your insurance agent about liability insurance for your site, as well.

Here is one additional link, to the Knight Community News Network, where you can scroll to find the Featured Learning Module titled Limiting Legal Risk. Although the site is designed for journalists, it talks about the areas of legal concern for anyone writing online and operating a website: http://kcnn.org

Good luck.

 

[Taxing Matters]

What is the name of your state? California
I live in California, where it's absurdly expensive to start a corporation.

It's not very expensive to start a corporation in California. You can start by filing the articles of incorporation for $100. What can get expensive is operating and maintaining the corporation, including the annual franchise tax, which is a minimum of $800/year.

Since I'm only looking to run a website, I figured maybe I could register in another state, such as Wyoming, with a registered agent in that state. In order to protect from someone piercing the corporate veil, would I need to have more presence in Wyoming, such as opening a Wyoming bank account and having the web space provider be in Wyoming?

I would not be selling anything. Just comedy articles with ad revenue.

Three things. First, your website will be a business earning revenue from ads. That business will apparently be managed and controlled by you from California. That being the case, California will require your corporation to either incorporate there or, if incorporated in another state, register as a foreign corporation in California. Either way, your corporation will still get stuck paying all the taxes and fees that California imposes, including that franchise tax. If you organize it in Wyoming, then you are paying fees to both Wyoming and California. That's not cost productive for you unless you are doing business in Wyoming too, such that you have to register there anyway. In most cases, there is no benefit for a small business to organize in a state in which it will not conduct business.

Second, piercing the corporate veil is a doctrine that allows a creditor of a limited liability entity (LLC, corporation, etc) to go after the owners personally for the debt when the owners fail to keep the business sufficiently separate from their own personal finances and affairs. It's not a matter of presence in any particular state but rather whether you run the corporation as a truly separate entity from yourself. You'd want to get advice from a business attorney to understand how to properly run the corporation to ensure that you don't open the door to a successful attack by a creditor invoking the doctrine.

Third, why a corporation? In general most small businesses benefit most as a LLC starting out rather than as a corporation. You get more flexibility that way and may get better tax treatment too.

 

[quincy]

Just a brief (posting) history lesson:

2016: https://forum.freeadvice.com/threads/incorporate-or-rely-on-personal-umbrella-policy-for-best-protection-against-libel.628165/

2019: https://forum.freeadvice.com/threads/using-congress-persons-likeness-in-movie.655646/

2019:
https://forum.freeadvice.com/threads/partial-mention-hints-of-cable-news-network.655697/

Los-Angeles, you apparently have been working on a website for several years. Why the renewed interest in incorporating now? Most of what you were told in 2016 is applicable today.