I recently bought a business. Our LLC paperwork took too long, so I bought it as a sole proprietor but then changed it to an LLC about a month later. Do I report as a sole proprietor for that time and then put I disposed of the business and got another? Do I say I sold to a family member? I am confused
No. If you are a single-member LLC, you file your taxes the same way. So, you can complete your Schedule C income for the entire time you owned the business. If the change to LLC included bringing on additional members, then the LLC will be reported as a multi-member LLC (generally a partnership on Form 1065) and the sole proprietorship earnings and expenses will be reported by you personally on your Schedule C. If this is the case, your value in the partnership is the value of the sole proprietorship to you when you brought on partners. Either way, you will not report that you sold the business.