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Question 

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Ken

    I remember you once advised whether it is best to conduct business as an LLC or a Corporation.  Can you post that again?  Also is it best to have an S Corp. or a C Corp.  Please explain the difference. Thank you, 

Ilene Triestman, 

Bounty Alarms

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Response
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    You're on the right track; you should be conducting your business through a legal entity and not in your name or an assumed name.  The reason is you want to insulate yourself from certain liabilities associated with the operation of the business.  Additionally there are some tax and employment benefits when you incorporate or form a limited liability company.

    Corporations come in two forms, subchapter C or subchapter S.  A subchapter C corp is taxed separately, which means it pays its own taxes on profits and retains its own losses.  It can operate on a cash or accrual basis, which means it can report its income and expense as collect and paid, or as incurred.  Which corporate chapter is best for you should be discussed with your accountant, however, if anything other than a Subchapter S electing a calendar year cash basis is recommended I would question that recommendation carefully and get other advice.  Thus - sub S with calendar year cash basis is my recommendation.  All corporations have to file their own tax return, though sub S corps report taxes the same way a partnership does, with pass through to the shareholders in percentage of ownership.

    Limited Liability Companies are also available and are taxes on a pass through basis.  One advantage of the LLC is that if it is a single member LLC there is no separate tax return; it's reported on the single member's personal return.      Down side is that LLC law is not a well developed as corporate law and the LLC usually costs more to form, requiring publication of its formation and an operating agreement.  

    My office is available to assist you with the formation of your legal entity and to prepare your stockholders agreement or operating agreement.  Call or contact our corporate department - Jennifer Kirschenbaum, Esq 516 747 6700 x 302 or Jennifer@Kirschenbaumesq.com

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New Haven, CT collecting subscriber names

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Ken

    Just received a letter on New Haven Ct. on their new false alarm reduction program partnered with a company to administer this as well as collecting fines. Subs would get billed $99. For non registration,   

They are also requiring any alarm / monitoring company to register and pay $200.00 and they want a spreadsheet with all of out customers within that town.  If this company gets their foot in the door in every town it would be expensive and a P.I.T.A. What's new is the $200.00 fee for the dealer and requiring a list of customers in the town.  Big concern is if we be required to do this for all towns we monitor. 

Glenn Shiffrin 

land and sea sec

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Response

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    Requiring registration and collecting names of subscriber is not unique to New Haven, CT.  I haven't heard about a problem with any of the third party companies brought in abusing the list of customers.  I would hope that the municipality requires confidentiality.  Of course its the alarm company that gets hurt if the list is made available in any way to others.

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Webinars

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December 4, 2013   12 noon EST  Register here: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/4919260455763006721

     Title:  10 Things Residential Security Alarm Companies should consider BEFORE entering the world of Commercial Engineered System Fire Alarms

      Presented by:  Bob Williams, President of Briscoe Protective Systems and his Management Team. 

Briscoe Protective Systems has been in the industry for 35 Years and has made the transition from a Residential Alarm Company in the late 70’s to a Engineered System Fire and Security Company that is an SDM Top 100 Company. Find us on the web at www.BriscoeProtective.com or on LinkedIn under Companies, Facebook and Twitter@BriscoeProSys 

      Description:  There is a big difference between installing Residential Fire Systems and Commercial Engineered Fire Systems and there are “Key Factors” that Security Company’s should consider before attempting to go into this lucrative but challenging market.

      Who should attend:  Alarm company owners and fire techs.  

 

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