Getting started a camming and forming a LLC/ S-corp
Hey ladies,
i just discovered this site a week ago and have gotten tons of information from reading other posts and would like some advice since I'm new to all this.
I'm in the medical field and hoping to go back to school in the spring to get my bachelors degree in nursing so I'm trying to avoid using my SSN if at all possible. I saw a lot of posts about forming a LLC/ S-group and would like to do that. I'm slightly confused though...when I apply to a camming site (Streammate or mygirlfund) will I still have to provide my ID and social? I currently live in California and would like to incorporate in a state that would best protect my identity (paper trail)...any idea which state that would be?
Has anyone used legalzoom to set everything up? Once I get everything set up, what would be involved in maintaining my company? Do I have to open a business acct? If so, does it have to be in the same state where my company is created?
Thanks in advance for all your help. I greatly appreciate it and really want to get started within the next week or 2.
Re: Getting started a camming and forming a LLC/ S-corp
Quote:
Originally Posted by
baby1127
..when I apply to a camming site (Streammate or mygirlfund) will I still have to provide my ID and social?
All sites will legally need a copy of your ID for their records.
Re: Getting started a camming and forming a LLC/ S-corp
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Maddie67
All sites will legally need a copy of your ID for their records.
Now I'm really confused....if I have to give them a copy of my ID how does having a LLC/S-Corp help?
I hope thay's not a dumb question...trying to sort that out and get the paperwork in order so I can start camming.
Re: Getting started a camming and forming a LLC/ S-corp
Know nothing about cam sites,but in a regular business asssuming you could get the cam site to pay the LLC or S corp, then all of your income would come from the LLC, not the cam site. So your employer would be 'The Legitimate Corp" for any future job applications etc. It would seem unlikely your name would com out unless there was a criminal investigation of the cam site. IF you set up a website and phone number for the legitimate corp doing something you know about or something plausible it would probably convince the average HR person. I mean no one knows who the customers of my LLC are unless I tell them, or they subpoenaed my bank records
Downside is it is pretty much on the books taxable money, but you will have a ton of legitimate writeoffs
Re: Getting started a camming and forming a LLC/ S-corp
Thank you for your response. That clears things up quite nicely. When applying to the cam site I would still submit my ID as proof of my age, but I would provide my EIN and make checks payable to my LLC and not myself right? Hoping to get all that paperwork in order and start soon!
Re: Getting started a camming and forming a LLC/ S-corp
Quote:
Originally Posted by
oldster
Downside is it is pretty much on the books taxable money, but you will have a ton of legitimate writeoffs
All camming money is on the books taxable money anyway. Nearly all legit cam sites send a 1099 and report to the IRS.
Re: Getting started a camming and forming a LLC/ S-corp
You are trying to get around having a paper trail that will protect your future endeavors. The camming companies have to protect their asses from fraud & under age models getting hired on. Guess what? Cause they can lose their billing companies & go to jail, they will not settle for a LLC & such. The money you will make for them isn't worth risking the millions they make for your ass.
You are risking your future. It is a job that will turn up on your credit report which almost all companies pull before hiring a new employee. There is no real anonymity on the web, just the perception of it. Especially since anyone can use google with your pic to find other pics of you. You to your real life, cause surely you don't have a facebook page with all kinds of pictures on it & tagged in them.
Someone will recognize you or you won't be able to keep quiet & tell your best friend who will tell her husband or mother & such. Then it won't be a secret. There are no secrets with the internet.
Good Luck,
Sam
Re: Getting started a camming and forming a LLC/ S-corp
Sam, so true! Whenever girls approach me on escorting,porn and webcamming I tell them DON'T DO IT! Once you do one or the other it's too late to really do much else. I'd love to be a nurse or a teacher but it's too late cause of my stint in the adult entertainment world. Sorry to get off subject Sam but you really hit the nail on the head! xox
Re: Getting started a camming and forming a LLC/ S-corp
trying to summarize a few different points ...
- indeed, Section 2257 requires that all adult content providers creating or 'delivering' adult content to US customers must maintain compliance files proving that all models are age 18+. This requires that the adult content provider be given real names, real SS#'s etc. However, while these Section 2257 compliance files are available to 'qualified' persons ( generally assumed to be law enforcement ), these files are all separately maintained. Thus there is no central database, no direct linkage between model proof of age info and model payment info etc.
- When a US girl is paid for webcam work, for dancing etc., the business making the payment must track such payments. At the end of the year, that business must issue a 1099 form to the IRS ( with copy to the girl ) which shows the name and 'employer' ID of the paying business, the name and SS# / EI# of the 'payee' etc. These 1099 forms do become part of a central database via the IRS. By requiring a would-be job applicant to complete a form 4506-T IRS records release form, potential future employers, state professional licensing boards etc. can easily access the girl's past years tax returns and 1099's ... IF those 1099's were issued using the girl's SS# and directly appeared as business income on her personal tax return, they will be made available to the prospective employer and/or state professional licensing agency that filed the 4506-T request with the IRS.
- However, if the girl has first established an S-Corp with its own EI#, and sets up payments for webcam work, for dancing etc. such that the paying business issues payment in the name of the S-Corp using the EI#, then the execution of a form 4506-T at the request of a future employer or state professional licensing board will NOT result in an automatic disclosure of payments made using something other than the girls personal SS#. So if the girl has established an S-Corp, and has routed business payments such that all payments made under her own name and SS# only originate from her S-Corp, then the result of a form 4506-T IRS permission form will only turn up personal tax returns and 1099's issued by her own S-Corp. It is then left to the girl to explain the role of her S-Corp ... but this is far less difficult than attempting to explain 1099's issued to her own SS# bearing the business names of well known webcam hosts, well known strip club chains etc.
- Sam38g has actually hit on a point which may warrant the greatest degree of future concern ... the growing availability of facial recognition software. Where girls pursuing a college degree are concerned, it doesn't matter so much as to what sort of 'paper trail' exists today that might link the girl's tax records to the fact that she has worked in the adult industry. What matters far more is what sort of future 'paper trail' ( or should I say 'photo trail' ) may exist 4 years down the road when the girl completes her college education and subsequently seeks a professional license and/or a 'straight' job. And while facial recognition software has more or less been confined to the FBI and high level law enforcement in the past, it is now rapidly moving into the 'private sector' ... see . Thus it's quite reasonable to assume that, 4 years from now, a BSN graduate seeking her state professional nursing license may be subjected to an internet based facial recognition scan ... with a distinct probability that the facial photo submitted with her state professional license application may return matching faces in images appearing on adult tube sites, on customer upload sites, etc. that in turn make her past history of adult industry work impossible to obscure.
- Sam is also correct that some strip clubs, some webcam host sites, etc. may not be willing and/or able to route payments for a particular girl in the name of an S-Corp using an EI# instead of using the girl's real name and SS#. But even if this 'layer of separation' can be successfully set up today, it does nothing to reduce future risk of a facial recognition match being turned up in the future.
- As stated in other threads, having a PAST history of adult industry work cannot be used as grounds to deny a girl a professional license. However, if the state professional licensing agency includes the girl's past history of adult industry work in her professional license file ... which must be checked by every potential 'professional' employer, this could definitely limit future options regarding her opportunities for 'professional' employment. But, as christyminx pointed out, in the real world this may mean that, after having her resume' 'lost' by religious affiliated hospitals, by high profile suburban hospitals, etc. that her resume' will then be picked up by state prison hospitals, by inner city hospitals etc. instead.
- Having a CONCURRENT history of adult industry work while the girl holds a state professional license ( which can be turned up when the girl's state professional license comes up for renewal and a new background check is performed ) can result in a citation for 'unprofessional conduct' ... potentially resulting in heavy fines, a sentence to community service work, etc., as well as the state professional licensing agency informing the girl's current 'professional' employer and all potential future employers of the 'unprofessional conduct' charge ( and the underlying reasons ) by including the citation in her state professional license file. It then remains to be seen what action that 'professional' employer might choose to take after being made aware of a 'professional' employee's adult industry affiliation, or what 'limitations' might result if the girl were to then seek alternate 'professional' employment. Ultimately, coal mines, oil platforms, inner city clinics etc. will always need nurses I suppose.
In regard to establishing an LLC / S-Corp, a few states like Nevada, Delaware, Wyoming etc. are famous for their 'reluctance' to share details regarding state LLC's / S-Corps with the feds and/or other states. In fact, 'cottage industries' have sprung up in these states which allow a person residing in a different state to establish a new LLC / S-Corp in those states using a local address, a local agent, a locally established business bank account etc. to provide maximum 'anonymity' to the actual owner of the LLC / S-Corp. My own S-Corp is registered in Wyoming, mostly because they require the lowest 'overhead' costs to maintain the corporation ... see
In regard to choosing an LLC structure versus an S-Corp structure, the LLC is easier but the S-Corp is more 'anonymous'. This is particularly the case in regard to filing of personal tax returns, where in most cases a 'single owner' LLC's activities must be filed along with the owner's personal tax return ( thus making the LLC's tax documents potentially subject to a personal 4506-T disclosure form ). S-Corps are able to file their own separate federal tax return ( including any 1099's paid by well known strip club chains, webcam hosts etc. to the S-Corp ), with the 'single owner's' personal tax return then only showing net payments made between the S-Corp and her personal account. This distances all strip club and/or webcam host generated 1099's issued using the S-Corp's name and EI# beyond the scope / authority of any personal 4506-T disclosure form.
Also, from a financial standpoint, the S-Corp allows for the 'single owner' to be paid the net proceeds of all business activities in two separate 'categories' ... with one category being 'income' subject to self-employment taxes plus ordinary income tax rates, and with the other category being 'dividends' not subject to social security taxes plus taxed at lower 'capital gains' tax rates. This difference can result in significant tax savings, and particularly so if the 'single owner' actually resides in a state with relatively high state income tax rates.
In terms of a personal answer to the OP's real question, if this were 4 years ago I would definitely recommend forming an S-Corp ... based on the fact that the 'paper trail' of tax documents was the major means for future employers and/or state professional licensing boards to establish a linkage to work in the adult industry. However, with facial recognition technology now becoming far more widespread in the private sector, as well as being nearly ubiquitous in federal and state LE's 'toolbox', there is IMHO very real reason to believe that ... 4 years from now ... the paper trail 'anonymity' presently provided by an S-Corp may not be enough to keep future employers and/or state professional licensing boards from discovering a history of past work in the adult industry.
I truth, nobody really knows what sort of situation will exist vis a vis 'professionals' who have a history of adult industry work several years into the future. All that can be said with certainty is that the risk of past adult industry work being discovered by potential future 'professional' employers, by state professional licensing agencies etc. a few years from now is above zero ... and likely to rise relative to current risk due to improving background check technology. I'm actually living proof of this trend ... having originally obtained my Respiratory Therapy license in two states without incident, but being nailed for 'unprofessional conduct' when one of those states performed a new background check as part of my license renewal. Fortunately, I've managed to save and invest enough dancing and camming money over those years to never need to worry about working as a Respiratory Therapist again !
Re: Getting started a camming and forming a LLC/ S-corp
I was wondering about this LLC thing from a different point of view.
Since I'm not a US citizen/resident, I have issues with certain sites:
- some do not allow me to register, like Niteflirt
- some pay me less money - SM pays 30% not 35%
- some charge a lot to send money in a non-US bank account - C4S
I was wondering if I could incorporate in the US and then register on these sites with the company and be treated as a resident?
The second question would be, of course, if the costs of incorporation/maintaining the company are worth it?
I was looking at Delaware companies - the hype is that they would be the cheapest and the least taxes - did anyone try them? I will look at the website Melonie provided and also do some research, but it would be really nice to know if somebody in my situation actually applied this to webcam work.
Thanks
Re: Getting started a camming and forming a LLC/ S-corp
^^^ you're still going to have issues with Section 2257 'proof of age / identity' requirements wanting to see personal ID. If you have a US state driver's license showing a US address, however, this shouldn't be a problem. Several US states now allow 'foreign' nationals to obtain driver's licenses.
Re: Getting started a camming and forming a LLC/ S-corp
Quote:
Originally Posted by
bbwchristyminx
Sam, so true! Whenever girls approach me on escorting,porn and webcamming I tell them DON'T DO IT! Once you do one or the other it's too late to really do much else. I'd love to be a nurse or a teacher but it's too late cause of my stint in the adult entertainment world. Sorry to get off subject Sam but you really hit the nail on the head! xox
I love nursing but it has become highly competitive and more difficult to find a job. Have you applied to any nursing schools? After I began camming I was able to successfully renew my license and my background checks have come back fine, knock on wood. Also, many nurses have been strippers while in nursing school due to the high education costs and needing a job that was more congruent with hours and have successfully sat for boards and obtained employment, even some with high profile medical facilities. Do not limit your options. Working with kids, probably not going to happen, but nursing may be a good possibility. When applying or getting accepted, all sorts of background checks are required. Worse comes to worst something turns up and you can put those credit hours towards another major. Melonie is a great source of information, I was blowing her up with PM's when I first came to sw and continue to read whenever she chimes in.
Re: Getting started a camming and forming a LLC/ S-corp
Hm..that would be complicated since i'd have to get in the US and obtain the said license and have a US address for it...I was just thinking to make the account as a sort of studio account and supposedly a studio doesn't have to have models from the same country...probably, lol. Even if it's a studio with just one model
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Melonie
^^^ you're still going to have issues with Section 2257 'proof of age / identity' requirements wanting to see personal ID. If you have a US state driver's license showing a US address, however, this shouldn't be a problem. Several US states now allow 'foreign' nationals to obtain driver's licenses.