Entity Choice for the Entrepreneur

Blue-Eyed Beauty Supply is the talk of the town. When Elaine started her business, she had no idea it would evolve to be the number-one supplier of cosmetology products in the region. While her business has been successfully operating as a sole proprietorship for many years, her legal counsel has urged her to form a separate legal entity for a variety of nontax reasons. Elaine has come to you for advice on the tax implications of her decision. You have loaded her tax data, based upon provided assumptions, into a model based on the following facts:

• Elaine is single and her sole source of income is from her business activities.
• It is expected that her business meets the definition of a trade or business for Qualified Business Income deduction purposes.
• Elaine is assuming a reasonable compensation amount of $50,000.
• As a C Corporation, the business will dividend out all earnings to Elaine.

Elaine wants to minimize her overall tax burden while protecting her assets. Blue-Eyed Beauty Supply is in an industry enjoying a period of growth and investment, and Elaine wants to grow her business to take advantage of the expanding market. Using 2019 income tax rules, you have created the following Tableau visualization for the current tax year to help Elaine make a decision. Mouse over the graphs to reveal specific amounts for use in answering the following questions.

How might Elaine minimize the tax implication of C Corporation status?

What advice would you give to Elaine in choosing her business entity form?