Teaching · For Tutors

Sole proprietor, LLC or S corporation, compared for a tutor.

Answer five questions about owners, liability, profit, hiring and paperwork. The summary shortlists the structures that fit, explains each in plain federal terms and gives you the questions to take to an accountant or attorney before you file anything.

Compare structuresWhat you get
$12one-time · every device you sign in on
Buy · $12

Included with Caveat Classroom and Whole-school licenses. Or get it in the Tutoring business kit, $69 for 64 items.

The comparison

One record per comparison, under your initials or a business code. The example is made up.

Loading the form. If nothing appears, turn on JavaScript.

What you get

Teaching · For Tutors$12 · included with Classroom and Whole-school licenses

What you finish with
A shortlist of business structures that fit your answers, a plain comparison in federal terms, and questions and next steps.
Who it is for
Tutors starting a business, and owners of small tutoring businesses thinking about changing structure.
Format
Browser guide. Several saved comparisons as your business grows; printed for a meeting with an accountant, or blank; CSV; export and import a file.
Access
$12 one-time, yours on every device you sign in on; the tool opens once you are signed in with it. Included with Caveat Classroom and Whole-school licenses. Also in the Tutoring business kit ($69) and the Teaching Suite pass ($199), and 1 more bundle. Everything you type stays in this browser; nothing is sent to Caveat.
Where it lives
The For Tutors space in Caveat Teaching.
Support
Questions about an order, access or a correction: team@caveatacademic.com.
112+1+owners, protection, paperwork
Drawn for this page. Each structure trades simplicity for separation and paperwork differently.

How to use it

  1. Start a record with your initials or a business code.
  2. Answer the five questions about your situation.
  3. Mark the steps you have done.
  4. Read the shortlist and the comparison.
  5. Take the questions to an accountant or attorney before you file.

Compare structures

What the guide is for

Liability is not insurance

An LLC or corporation generally keeps business debts away from personal assets if the business is run separately. It does not protect you from a claim about your own work with a student; professional liability insurance does that.

Tax is often the same at first

A single-member LLC is taxed like a sole proprietor unless it elects otherwise. An S corporation election can lower self-employment tax once profit is well above a reasonable salary, but it adds payroll, a separate return and costs.

What this is not

This guide explains general federal terms; it is not legal or tax advice. Formation, fees and liability rules come from your state.

Sources

  1. Internal Revenue Service, Business structures (sole proprietorships, partnerships, corporations, S corporations, limited liability companies).
  2. Internal Revenue Service, Publication 3402, Taxation of Limited Liability Companies.
  3. Internal Revenue Service, Instructions for Form 2553 and Form 1120-S, and guidance on reasonable compensation for S corporation officers.
  4. U.S. Small Business Administration, Choose a business structure.

The example business is made up. General federal terms; not legal or tax advice. Support: team@caveatacademic.com.