Business Structures: Understanding How a Business Begins

LLC or PLLC? Should you elect S corporation status? What do you file, and when? This guide walks through every common business structure, helps you choose with a set of simple questions, and takes you step by step through forming each one. Updated for 2026 with corrected IRS filing tables, the new $2,000 1099 threshold, the end of beneficial ownership reporting for U.S. companies, and a new section on where AI can help.