Mu husband is a principal in an ESOP owned business (architectural services); this is our primary source of income. He also does design review for a former client (with the business's knowledge) as a courtesy to the former client; he gets paid a fee for each review. I have had a sole proprietorship business, photography services, for several years. For 2019, I will have very little income due to a back injury. In addition, I had a loss in 2018 due to a stroke (I know, unfortunate, but I'm doing better...) Is it possible to combine our two businesses, for 2019, under a single header, as either a partnership or a sole proprietorship with a consultant, so that our income and costs balance out somewhat? Otherwise I will have a significant (to me, we're talking in the $10,000 range) loss, due to ongoing basic costs of maintaining a business presence. Each month that has passed I had hoped to be able to resume photography business activities, but now at the end of the year I've realized that's just not going to happen...I'm also considering variations to my previous types of photography services, which involved a good deal of physical activity, perhaps offering writing services to related businesses. I may or may not find that these activities fall under the previous heading of photography services. In previous years I have included a separate Schedule C for each of us. We are located in California, and file a joint 1040. I have considered forming an LLC but am unsure whether this is the most logical choice, or if that course of action would create unnecessary complications. Thank you for your input.
