As a company, you can log training and education costs as an expense (and therefore reduce your tax liability).

Dividends, specifically qualified dividends, are taxed at a lower rate than personal income. Therefore, if you set your business up to “pay yourself”, you can give that payment as a company dividend to get taxed at a lower dividend rate, rather than a personal income rate.

Note: A qualified dividend is a payment to owners with stock shares that meet the IRS criteria for taxation at the capital gains tax rate.

One of the biggest upsides to owning your own business is autonomy. This includes what title you give yourself! Now, some state have laws that require you to have a “Secretary”, “Treasurer”, and/or “Chairperson”, but those are mostly for government or public stock purposes.

You can add yourself as an officer or director with any primary or secondary titles you wish!

Things to remember when forming your Business

For new and aspiring US business owners, remember to be register your business on all the following levels:

• Local (county)
• State
• Federal

This ensures you pay any applicable taxes and adhere to the laws from the local government up through the federal government. Some businesses neglect registrations on the local/county level, since it’s not part of the regular state and federal incorporation registration process.