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From sole proprietor to LLC

Asked by: Debbie  — 19 September, 2011

I recently closed my business (sole proprietor) and currently owe back sales tax and payroll taxes. I know these will have to eventually be paid, but for now can I form an LLC or incorporate and get a fresh start with new EIN, Sales Tax certificate etc. under the new name or will the old business effect this.

Answered by: admin  — 19 September, 2011

Debbie,

Technically you could form a new LLC and try to obtain EIN and Sales Tax ID for this new entity, which would be an entity separate from yourself.

With that being said I want to clarify one point – you can’t really “close” a sole proprietorship in a sense that its not a separate entity – its pretty much you. So if you owe taxes you would have to resolve it as soon as possible, simply because the authorities you owe your taxes to might choose not to issue your LLC the right permits (EIN, Sales Tax ID, etc.) if they manage to cross-reference the two companies.

Whether they do it or not is another question, but the risk does indeed exist.

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