83 B Election The "83 B election" is one of those small tasks that startups (especially closely held companies) need to think about, but which is often also easily forgotten or ignored. The failure to take advantage of the election can be costly: a large tax bill for a shareholder years...
Employees and Independent Contractors New companies often want to classify any new workers as independent contractors instead of employees, in order to limit the company's costs. Costs attributable to hiring and retaining employees can be quite substantial, and include workers' compensation, unemployment insurance tax, social security tax, and withholding and local...
Transferring Copyrights As I mentioned in one of my earlier posts, "Copyright Laws," copyrights give their owners a bundle of exclusive rights -- to copy, distribute and perform. Owners can voluntarily transfer any or all of these rights in a variety of unique ways, including by wholly transferring copyrights all together,...
Choosing A Corporate Entity Choosing a corporate entity should be one of the first decisions you’ll make when starting up your new business. It may seem easy to skip this step, and instead forge ahead as a sole proprietor, but this rarely makes sense. An entity protects your personal assets from...
Establishing a TrademarkTrademarks are often one of the most valuable pieces of intellectual property a business can own since they identify and set a business apart from its competitors. As a result, establishing a trademark can be one of the most important steps in growing a business's brand.Many businesses view...
Copyright Laws A copyright is extremely easy to obtain. Under federal copyright laws, an author need only come up with an original work and then "fix it in a tangible medium of expression." That's it -- you've automatically got a copyright in your new work, and the copyright lasts for your...