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Help Understanding Business Structure
I filed to an LLC in May 2016 in Florida.
The company is a full-service marketing/creative agency. i.e. graphic
design, web design, etc We also will begin publishing a digital sports
magazine. I am trying to understand if I need to file a separate DBA for the
magazine name or if filing and business purposes are under the main LLC
name.
All payroll, checks, income and expenses are listed through the parent LLC
company.
Any information would be greatly appreciated
Asked on December 30, 2016 under Business Law, Florida
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 7 years ago | Contributor
A DBA is a diffent name that a company or person chooses to do business under; but you don't have to choose to have a different name for the magazine if you don't want to--you can legally conduct it under the LLC name. So decide whether or not you want to do the magazine under a different name; if you do (if you think it advantageous), the LLC can file a DBA for the chosen name, for the magazine business. You can find instructions for doing so from the secretary of state for the state in which your LLC was formed.
Bear in mind that a DBA is nothing but a name--the liability, the obligations, the profit, the losses, the taxes, the contracts, etc will be of/for/belong to the LLC. Having a DBA would be like if you had a garage band and played gigs under the name "Noddy Comet" instead of your actual name--your fans would know you as Noddy Comet, but the IRS would still know you (and you'd file your taxes) as your real name, which is also the name for signing contract and doing banking.
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