Recently a young entrepreneur emailed me to the following question:
I am a 14-year old entrepreneur, and I had a simple question that you may have already answered but I may not have found: is it even legal for me to run a business (in the IT field). If so, am I allowed to keep it a sole-proprietorship, or even allowed to form an LLC? -Krish
Here was my response to Krish:
Krish,
Thank you for contacting me!
Yes, it’s legal for a teenager to run a business, even in IT!
Most teenagers form sole proprietorships and some obtain LLC status as well, but that depends on your state and age limits. The only teenager I know that obtained LLC protection for his sole proprietorship was 18 when he did it.
You can read more about the legal stuff in Running a Micro Business.
My advice on paying taxes is to read Money and Taxes in a Micro Business. Taxes are just too complex to cover in an email or blog post.
Carol Topp, CPA
