[extropy-chat] Futurist priorities was ex-tropical

[Brian Alexander Lee]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Harvey Newstrom" <mail at harveynewstrom.com>
To: "'ExI chat list'" <extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org>
Sent: Tuesday, March 02, 2004 6:20 PM
Subject: RE: [extropy-chat] Futurist priorities was ex-tropical


> Rafal Smigrodzki wrote,
> > The Avantguardian wrote:
> > >      The real problem facing our country is that we
> > > give companies (not individuals) way too much freedom. Special
> > > interest controlled politicians are taking away individual
> > > liberties and yet giving corporations rights that put them
> > > above the law.
> >
> > ### You sound like somebody who never ran a business.
>
> As someone who does run my own business, I agree with The Avantguardian.
I
> run a small S-corp.  It basically does nothing beside my personal
consulting
> work.  Its primary representative is me.  All the hours billed to the
client
> are mine.  So why do I do business as an S-corp instead of as an
individual?
> Because corporations have many more rights and protections than
individuals.
> I would make less money, pay more taxes, and have more liabilities as an
> individual than as an S-corp.  I run the S-corp because it increases my
> profits and lowers my limitations.  It is a simple business decision.  My
> S-corp has more rights and freedoms than I do in many cases.

Note that this only applies to individuals doing consulting work. If you
were an employee of a large corporation you would pay less taxes (no 8% SSN,
Medicare), get more benefits (401k, healthcare, etc) than a single employee
S-Corp.

The only main benefit to an S-Corp over a sole proprietorship is that you
get to deduct your healthcare expenses (assuming you claim all your profits
as income as a good little single employee s-corp should). As for limiting
liability, if you go into a client site as Harvey Newstrom and fuck up their
system then they will sue you and your s-corp. The s-corp only protects you
from stuff like someone slipping and falling on Newstrom Inc's office floor
(which you probably don't have anyway).

So you don't have any great rights or privileges as an s-corp that everybody
else out there doesn't have.