Incorporation in Wisconsin

Find the right Business Incorporation attorney in Milwaukee, WI

By Wisconsin law, a business that has incorporated is recognized thereafter as its own legal entity. As a separate entity from the owners, the business is then considered to be acting on its own when it buys and sells property, assents to contracts and exercises legal rights. To incorporate in Wisconsin, a business must file with the Secretary of State in compliance with specific guidelines.

Benefits of Incorporation in Wisconsin

There are distinct benefits to incorporating a business. Most importantly, liabilities the business accrues may be satisfied only by assets that the owners have specifically invested in it. Without incorporation, the personal property of business owners is at stake should the company become unable to pay its debts. A corporation also allows creditors in the Milwaukee area to assess the credit worthiness of the business as a whole rather than that of its owners, allowing the business to receive loans more easily. Lastly, the ownership stake in a corporation can be apportioned into uniform slices, known as "shares" of stock. This makes it possible to sell ownership investments in more manageable slices.

Costs of Incorporation

Along with a possible fee to file for incorporation in Wisconsin, there are other costs that corporations incur. The most important is that a corporation is taxed as its own entity. Disbursements to the owners of the corporation are also taxed as individual income, so this means earnings may be taxed twice. But this double taxation can be avoided with proper planning and help from a local Milwaukee lawyer.

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Life in Milwaukee

Milwaukee, Wisconsin is the largest city in that state. It has a population of over 600,000 people.

The area now known as Milwaukee was populated by various Native American tribes for thousands of years before the arrival of European settlers. In the 1840s, a large wave of German immigrants, fleeing the 1848 revolution, sought the freedom and inexpensive land that the Milwaukee area offered. They contributed to the city's German character, which persists to this day. Beginning in the early 20th Century, Milwaukee became a major center for the socialist movement in the U.S., and elected 3 mayors from the Socialist Party.

Today, 13 companies in the Fortune 1000 have their headquarters in Milwaukee. Health care is one of the largest sectors of Milwaukee's economy, comprising about 27% of the jobs in the city. About 2/3 of the Milwaukee workforce is employed in manufacturing of some sort, which is one of the highest percentages in the U.S. - it seems clear that Milwaukee's manufacturing sector has survived the rash of factory closings and outsourcing that ravaged so many other Midwestern cities in the last few decades.

Milwaukee, Wisconsin has a thriving legal community. If you live in the Milwaukee area, and need legal services, a Milwaukee, Wisconsin lawyer can help.

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