Tag: 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.

Intrastate Crowdfunding After Title III

On By crowdfundattnyIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

CF WordclouldOn one hand, the SEC just proposed several changes to Rule 147 that will make intrastate Crowdfunding easier:

  • We used to worry, at least a little, about the language in Rule 147 saying that you couldn’t offer securities to anyone outside the state. How does this work when your offers are made with the Internet, we wondered? The SEC just proposed eliminating that requirement.
  • If you were doing an intrastate offering in Texas, Rule 147 used
    to require using a Texas entity – not Delaware, for example. No more.
  • If you’re doing an intrastate offering in Texas, you have to show you’re doing business in Texas. The new proposals would make that easier.
  • The new proposals would also simplify and rationalize the rules around (1) the “integration” of offerings (combining an intrastate offering with other offerings), (2) verifying that investors are residents of the state, and (3) re-sales of securities purchased in an intrastate offering.

All that is great, and should really help the intrastate Crowdfunding market (although I take to heart Anthony Zeoli’s excellent caveat here.)

On the other hand, the SEC also proposed a $5 million cap on intrastate offerings, which seems very important in light of Title III.

Title III Crowdfunding allows any issuer anywhere to raise up to $1 million from non-accredited investors who live anywhere in the world. With Title III Crowdfunding available, why would an issuer use intrastate Crowdfunding? There are only two possible reasons:

  • You’re allowed to raise more money in the intrastate offering
  • The process of the intrastate offering is faster/cheaper/easier

Once the hi-tech folks get their hands around Title III, I think we’re going to see the process becoming faster, cheaper, and easier than it looks now, making Title III comparable (maybe even superior) to intrastate Crowdfunding from that perspective.

Then it just comes down to how much you can raise. If I am a small issuer – raising less than $1 million, for example – why would I use the intrastate law of my state when I can use Title III instead and appeal to the whole universe of investors? Case in point:  New Jersey enacted an intrastate Crowdfunding law just this week – with a $1 million limit. Why would a New Jersey business use that law, with Title III on the books and the gold and silver of Manhattan right across the Hudson River?

And if I’m a software developer wondering what kind of platform to build, isn’t the scale tipped in favor of Title III?

The scales will tip further that way when Congress increases the limit of Title III from $1 million to something higher. Although the SEC can always raise the limit for intrastate Crowdfunding as well, the future probably belongs to Title III.

Questions? Let me know.