Legal Question in Tax Law in Illinois

DBA is the default if you do nothing to affirmatively elect some other form of business. Incorporation will limit your personal liability but set up filing requirements for corporation income tax returns. Establishing yourself as an LLC will give you limited liability and if you are the only LLC member, you will not have to file income tax returns for the LLC, your LLC will be considered, for tax purposes, as a DBA. Whatever form of organization you choose, if you have employees, be careful to understand your obligations for workman's comp insurance, and state and federal payroll tax returns, and if you are going to sell tangible personal property, your sales tax requirements. You need a bookkeeping system in place before you get rolling: having an effective system of record keeping (that you feel comfortable with and will maintain currently) will help you grow your business and stay out of trouble with compliance issues. Depending on what kind of activity you engage in and were you are located, you may have municipal license requirements to review.