Category: Delaware Crowdfunding

Perks of crowdfunding in Delaware state

Another Reason To Use Delaware for Crowdfunding

On By crowdfundattnyIn Delaware, Delaware Crowdfunding, IDCsLeave a comment

Long ago, I posted about the advantages of using a Delaware entity. If you’re Crowdfunding in the oil and gas industry, there’s another.

The U.S. tax code provides for special treatment of expenses associated with drilling wells, things like labor costs and site preparation, known as “intangible drilling costs,” or “IDCs.” Under general tax principles, a taxpayer would be required to capitalize IDCs and amortize them over time, just as you would depreciate the costs of building an industrial complex. But §263(c) of the code allows taxpayers to deduct IDCs right away, rather than amortize them over time. That’s a significant economic advantage.

Section 469 of the code goes one step farther. In general, §469 prevents investors from deducting losses incurred in a “passive activity,” like investing in an industrial complex, against wages or other income from other sources. But §469(c)(3)(A) provides:

The term “passive activity” shall not include any working interest in any oil or gas property which the taxpayer holds directly or through an entity which does not limit the liability of the taxpayer with respect to such interest.

Thus, §263(c) allows taxpayers to deduct IDCs immediately, and §469(c)(3)(A) allows even passive Crowdfunding investors to deduct their share provided they hold their interest through an entity that does not limit their liability.

This is where Delaware has the advantage.

In Delaware, as in every other state, the general rule is that the members of a limited liability company are not personally liable for obligations of the entity. Section 303(a) of the Delaware statute provides:

Except as otherwise provided by this chapter, the debts, obligations and liabilities of a limited liability company, whether arising in contract, tort or otherwise, shall be solely the debts, obligations and liabilities of the limited liability company, and no member or manager of a limited liability company shall be obligated personally for any such debt, obligation or liability of the limited liability company solely by reason of being a member or acting as a manager of the limited liability company.

Unlike other states, however, Delaware adds another statute immediately afterward, §303(b):

Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a) of this section, under a limited liability company agreement or under another agreement, a member or manager may agree to be obligated personally for any or all of the debts, obligations and liabilities of the limited liability company.

By contrast, Texas (where many oil and gas firms operate) includes a statute providing for the limited liability of members (§114) but does not explicitly allow that rule to be changed by an Operating Agreement. 

In my opinion, Delaware §303(b) makes it much easier to conclude that, with the right provisions in the Operating Agreement, a Delaware LLC can be “an entity which does not limit the liability of the taxpayer.” Under the Texas statute, it is probably possible to provide for personal liability, but the absence of an explicit statutory exception makes the argument under §469(c)(3)(A) much more difficult.

Let me know if you’d like to see the appropriate Operating Agreement provisions.

Questions? Let me know.

Don’t Use a Series LLC as a Crowdfunding Vehicle

On By crowdfundattnyIn Crowdfunding, Delaware CrowdfundingLeave a comment

At least one high-volume Crowdfunding portal is using a series LLC as a crowdfunding vehicle. It’s a terrible idea.

A “series LLC” is a relatively new concept. Rather than form a new limited liability company for a business, you can form a “series” of an existing limited liability company. Think of the parent LLC as a building and the series as a cubicle in the building. If you do everything right, the assets and liabilities of each series are segregated from the assets and liabilities of every other series.

EXAMPLE:  A company wants to conduct two businesses, one an asbestos business and the other an auto dealership. It creates Series X to conduct the asbestos business and Series Y to conduct the auto business. Under Delaware law, if the company does everything right, maintaining separate books and records, creditors of the asbestos business can’t get at the assets of the auto business and vice versa.

That’s great in theory. But there are two problems.

The first is that while Delaware law is clear, as far as I know the series structure has never been tested in a bankruptcy court. Bankruptcy courts have enormous power to achieve equitable results and often use that power aggressively. Suppose the asbestos company has caused 57 children to develop a rare but deadly form of cancer and the assets of the asbestos company aren’t sufficient to pay the economic damages. Will a bankruptcy court allow the parent company to walk away with the auto business intact? Maybe, maybe not.

The second problem is that some states simply disregard the Delaware law. Arizona is one of them. Its statute provides:

A foreign limited liability company, its members and managers and its foreign series, if any, have no greater rights and privileges than a domestic limited liability company and its members and managers with respect to transactions in this state and relationships with persons in this state that are not managers or members.  A foreign series is liable for the debts, obligations or other liabilities of the designating foreign company and of any other foreign series of that designating foreign company, arising out of transactions in this state or relationships with persons in this state and a designating foreign company is liable for such debts, obligations or other liabilities of each foreign series of that designating foreign company.

That means if the kids got sick is in Arizona, the court is going to ignore the series and take the assets of the auto business, no question.

Now let’s think about a crowdfunding vehicle.

Suppose the funding portal has created crowdfunding vehicles, or SPVs, for three issuers, Company A, Company B, and Company C. It’s created each crowdfunding vehicle as a series of one limited liability company.

Two years from now a bankruptcy court somewhere in the United States declines to respect the separateness of the series structure. Immediately, the crowdfunding vehicle of Company A is subject to all the liabilities of the crowdfunding vehicles of Company B and Company C, and vice versa nine different ways. When the investors in Company B lose all their money because of a lawsuit involving Company C they’re going to sue, and because Company B didn’t even tell investors about that risk, its founders are going to be sued personally – and successfully.

Now let’s say someone from Arizona invests in the crowdfunding vehicle of Company C. Later, it’s revealed that Company C failed to disclose material information in its offering. Under the Arizona law that investor can sue the crowdfunding vehicles of Company A and Company B. The investor wins that lawsuit and now investors in Company A and Company B have claims against their own company and their founders.

It’s a legal disaster.

And for what great benefit did the funding portal take that risk, using a series LLC rather than a separate LLC as the crowdfunding vehicle? To save about $150 in filing fees. Really.

That’s why using a series LLC as a crowdfunding vehicle is such a terrible idea. If a funding portal tells you to use a series LLC as your crowdfunding vehicle remember Nancy Reagan’s famous slogan:  Just Say No! And if you already have a crowdfunding vehicle formed as a series LLC, change it right away.

And for that matter, remember that you don’t need a crowdfunding vehicle in the first place.

Why Delaware?

On By crowdfundattnyIn Crowdfunding, Crowdfunding Portals, Delaware, Delaware Crowdfunding1 Comment

Why are most Crowdfunding entities formed in Delaware? Two reasons.

First, Delaware has very good business laws and a very good system for adjudicating business disputes. Here’s what I mean:

  • Delaware’s business laws – and by that I mean the laws governing limited liability companies and corporations – are very flexible. In the hands of a capable corporate lawyer, Delaware’s laws can be used to do just about anything you want to do, i.e., can implement just about any business deal.Delaware_CF State
  • For better or worse, Delaware’s laws are tilted in favor of management. That means those running the show – and those running the show pick where the entity is incorporated – can get more or less what they want. As an example, Delaware allows the manager of a limited liability company to disclaim all fiduciary responsibilities to the members. Most states do not.
  • Delaware has a whole court system devoted to adjudicating disputes among business entities and their owners and managers. In most states, the judge hearing a business dispute in the morning is hearing auto accident cases all afternoon and is probably a former personal injury lawyer herself. First among the country’s business-only courts, Delaware’s Court of Chancery enjoys a deserved reputation for professionalism.

Second, because Delaware entities are used so widely, lawyers across the country are familiar with Delaware law. If two real estate investments are offered on a Crowdfunding portal, one incorporated under Delaware law and the other incorporated under Missouri law, the Delaware company has a head start in attracting investors solely on the basis of familiarity, at least outside Missouri.

There is one important exception. Under Federal Rule 147, an entity raising money through the intrastate Crowdfunding exemption of State X must be incorporated in State X, not in Delaware.

Questions? Let me know.