Legal Question in Business Law in California

Yes, I'd say that with Web-based businesses, the business is physically located where the owner's hand guides the mouse. The real question isn't where you live, it's where you perform the operations that constitute running the business -- and my advice would be to "bite the bullet" and set up as a California LLC rather than forming it under the laws of Nevada, Delaware, or wherever. If you are really running the business in California, you need to pay the California tax on your business entity. So why also pay NV or DE even if their charges are only a quarter or a tenth of the California franchise tax? Perhaps more significantly, why prepare and file complicated tax returns in far-away states?

Why form an LLC for a blog? Do you need liability protection? Do you need investors or co-owners? I agree with Mr. Whipple that you gain nothing by forming the LLC in another state, since you would be in violation of California law if you did not then register it as a foreign LLC doing business in California - which triggers the same taxes and filing fees as for a California LLC. But why do you need a business entity other than a sole proprietorship at all? And if so, why not a regular or Subchapter C corporation?

I think the above comments outline the reason why you need to discuss your business with an attorney. Depending on your business, you need to determine the correct structure. Blogs do leave you vulnerable for liability (copyright infringement, invasion of privacy, 1st amendment, etc.) so you likely need to form an LLC, C-corp, or S-corp. Bottom line, you need advice (this blog is not intended for legal advice).

A foreign LLC must register with the California Secretary of State if it enters into repeated and successive transactions that are considered intra-state business here. Thus, if the LLC has an office in California for which it pays rent, pays you in California, or does anything else that is a business transaction wholly within California on a regular basis, it would need to register here. I do not believe that simply writing a personal blog, without anything else, requires the registration of a foreign LLC here, because the writing of the blog in and of itself is not a commercial activity.

By the same token, if the blog does not have a commercial purpose and there is no related business, I do not see why you need to form an LLC. This is particularly true if you are the sole author of materials for the blog. I would engage legal counsel for a short period of time (less than one hour) to see if the LLC is really necessary, or if there are other, less expensive ways to achieve the goals you want to achieve with the LLC.

I would be happy to speak with you briefly regarding this matter, if you so desire. If necessary, I can help you form the LLC. I can also talk to you about the legal issues surrounding a blog that criticizes or discusses others, as well as intellectual property issues.

Best of luck to you.