Legal Question in Business Law in New York

Re: Want to start an Ecommerce company, do I need to register?

If you want to "start a company" then yes, you must "register" -- i.e. file formation documents consistent with a particular jurisdiction's requirements. This can be a foreign jurisdiction. If a foreign jurisdiction is chosen, then the resulting company will need to file for foreign corporation status if it locates itself within a particular jurisdiction in the US (generally speaking).

Re: Want to start an Ecommerce company, do I need to register?

You need to do a number of things:

1) you must decide on type of business form to use to engage in business (corporation, partnership, limited liability company, etc.);

2) you need to copyright your products;

3) if you do not have a work permit from INS, then you can only be an investor/owner;

4) a corporation is the fastest business form to establish that provides individual protection (approximately one week). The cost of establishing a corporation is $700. It would be necessary to review the details of your business with you to determine the cost of other items. A one hour consultation will cost $350.

You may call us at 212-267-7000 to arrange for an appointment.

Re: Want to start an Ecommerce company, do I need to register?

1. If you want to form a company (a corporation or a limited liability company (LLC)), there is a simple process of registering it with the New York Department of State and, later, with tax authorities. You could conceivably be a sole proprietor (for which no filings are necessary unless you use a name other than your own) or, if there are several partners, form a partnership. The main advantage of a corporation and LLC is limited liability of its shareholders/members, but there are tax considerations as well.

2. Regardless of the size of your business, if you select a corporation or LLC, there are registration requirements to be met.

3. Feel free to call me if you want to discuss your options in forming a U.S. company. In New York, the registration process can be as quick as a few hours once all appropriate documents are prepared.

4. Just to be an owner of a U.S. company, you generally do not have to have any particular immigration status or visa. However, if you plan to be physically in the U.S. or actively manage the company from the U.S., you would need to qualify for the appropriate visa. The choice of visa would depend on the length of your stay and the nature of your activities in the U.S.

5. The registration process can be as short as a few hours or a day (for an additional surcharge that the Department of State imposes; this varies from $25 for 24 hour turnaround to $75 for the same day filing to $150 for 2-hour processing -- all this in addition to the minimum fee of $135 for the filing for a corporation or $200 plus publication fees for an LLC, which are also charged by the Department of State). The first step is to clear the corporate name you want to use. Then a Certificate of Incorporation needs to be prepared and filed. Subsequently, you will need bylaws, organizational minutes and other corporate documents to be prepared in order to maintain the company in good standing. You will also need to apply for a federal tax number in order to open a bank account and may need to make additional filings. Theoretically, you could start operating as a sole proprietor and then transfer your business to a newly-created company, but in practice this may be difficult to accomplish.