I have a pretty complex situation that I hope someone has experienced or can provide some guidance around.
I recently decided to go off on my own and provide consulting services. I planned to start as a DBA as there was no reason to file anything right away. I am based in Buffalo, NY.
Based on some past relationships, I was able to land a major client in the Miami, FL area. Woohoo! As part of this, I am opening an office and have formed an LLC in South Florida. The office will have employees dedicated to this project.
I own a home in Buffalo and it is possible that I will permanently move here, but for the time being at least, I'm going to be spending a lot of time here, so I am going to rent an apartment locally. A former colleague is also going to relocate from Michigan to join me and work on the project in December. We are close, so he is going to stay in that apartment as well.
I may end up relocating, but that decision isn't going to be finalized until Q2 next year when we see how it's going and we see how hands on I am going to need to continue to be with the project (and what other projects we may take on - either in South Florida or elsewhere). I will be traveling back home regularly as I do have a family there.
Here are my questions...
1.) Can I have my LLC rent the apartment and pay rent as a place for relocating/traveling employees to stay? It will be me and one other in this case and as the project grows, it is likely that we will have others relocate as most of the people that I know well and can rely on are in Michigan or Buffalo.
2.) Is there any point in which I would no longer be considered someone who is traveling? Does my owning a home establish Buffalo as my primary residence?
3.) Anything else I need to know or watch out for? Obviously I want as much of this as possible to be an expense to the LLC and if I didn't rent an apartment, I would be paying for a hotel which would probably be pretty easy to deduct as a business expense. I'm going to rent simply because that's more convenient and less expensive.
Thanks for any help you can provide!
