Free tool
Which business structure fits you?
Five questions. You get a recommendation, the reasoning behind it, and the list of what you would actually have to file — not a verdict with no working shown.
Inputs
About your business
After expenses, before paying yourself.
Recommendation
Answer the questions and your recommendation appears here — with the reasoning, not just a verdict.
Questions
About entity structure
No. Non-resident aliens are not permitted to be S-corporation shareholders. This is a hard statutory rule, not a preference — which is why this tool closes off the S-corp path entirely once you indicate you live outside the U.S. Any calculator that offers a non-resident an S-corp is giving you an answer you cannot act on.
No — it is a tax election. An LLC can elect to be taxed as an S-corporation while remaining an LLC in every other respect. For most small businesses this means keeping the entity they already have and changing only how it is taxed.
Mainly when you are raising institutional investment. Venture investors expect a C-corporation because it can issue preferred stock and option pools. The cost is two layers of tax — the company pays on profit, you pay again on dividends — which is usually acceptable when profits are being reinvested rather than distributed.
Yes, and many businesses do — starting as an LLC and electing S-corp treatment once profit justifies it is a common and sensible path. Converting between entity types is also possible but has cost and tax consequences, so it is worth getting the starting point roughly right.
No. Five questions cannot capture partnership dynamics, state-specific rules, existing entities, or what you plan to do in three years. This gets you to an informed starting position so the conversation is faster and more useful.