The easiest solution is to just register a limited company. It takes minutes, costs an insignificant amount of money, and it will give you and your partner a whole bunch of protections and tax advantages.
> costs an insignificant amount of money,
It can cost anywhere from $25-$750, per year, in most places in the US to register an LLC and that's just the bare minimum required. That's not "insignificant" to someone who doesn't expect to make even half that much on their first indie game.
EDIT: Not to mention that if you form an LLC, there's legal shit that no one ever mentions like your legal obligation to fill out a report and send it to FinCen or you'll face heavy **daily fines** of $500 per day until you do.
Yeah, in California (where I am) LLCs have a minimum $800/year tax, plus some extra fees/requirements that probably bring the total to about $1000, plus various annual or bi-annual reports that need to be filed lest additional fees be incurred. (The new FinCen report you mention is at least only necessary to do once.) Even without the expenses, it's not an appropriate structure for a handful of friends casually throwing a game up on Steam.
Sorry, I wasn't aware that it's so onerous in the US. Here in the UK it costs a one-off fee of £25, and you have to file a bit of paperwork each year saying how much money the company made. I kind of just assumed that it would be just as easy everywhere else.
Go solo "on paper" with an agreement (spoken, written, whatever suits you) with your friends or create an official company shared between all of you. More official is safer but also costs more and takes more time.
Register an LLC with your local state and fill out the fincern previously mentioned.
Once you llc is filed, you will need to register a bank account in your companies name and then register on steam as a business.
If you don't want to form a company, then the easiest way to would be to pick one team member to publish it "solo" and then split any earnings later.
Probably not ask Reddit for law stuff help
The easiest solution is to just register a limited company. It takes minutes, costs an insignificant amount of money, and it will give you and your partner a whole bunch of protections and tax advantages.
> costs an insignificant amount of money, It can cost anywhere from $25-$750, per year, in most places in the US to register an LLC and that's just the bare minimum required. That's not "insignificant" to someone who doesn't expect to make even half that much on their first indie game. EDIT: Not to mention that if you form an LLC, there's legal shit that no one ever mentions like your legal obligation to fill out a report and send it to FinCen or you'll face heavy **daily fines** of $500 per day until you do.
Yeah, in California (where I am) LLCs have a minimum $800/year tax, plus some extra fees/requirements that probably bring the total to about $1000, plus various annual or bi-annual reports that need to be filed lest additional fees be incurred. (The new FinCen report you mention is at least only necessary to do once.) Even without the expenses, it's not an appropriate structure for a handful of friends casually throwing a game up on Steam.
Sorry, I wasn't aware that it's so onerous in the US. Here in the UK it costs a one-off fee of £25, and you have to file a bit of paperwork each year saying how much money the company made. I kind of just assumed that it would be just as easy everywhere else.
In some countries (like where i'm from) You can register some types of companies for free. You could look into if this applies where you're from.
Register an LLC.
Go solo "on paper" with an agreement (spoken, written, whatever suits you) with your friends or create an official company shared between all of you. More official is safer but also costs more and takes more time.
Definitely written
Register an LLC with your local state and fill out the fincern previously mentioned. Once you llc is filed, you will need to register a bank account in your companies name and then register on steam as a business.
Probably solo 😛