For tax reasons I would like to register a business (to be able to deduct my expenses for hosting, computers, books, copywriting ...) from my income. What form of business should I register. I am new to this, any advice is appreciated.
While I am no legal expert, a popular business type is an LLC. What country do you live in? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limited_liability_company
You might want to consult an accountant or a lawyer as your local tax laws may allow for different deductions.
Are you in the US? You should consult with a CPA regarding your specific needs and circumstance. Based on the info I provided my CPA, he recommended an S-corporation (no double taxation that way and I get the same deductions as a C-corp). Some may recommend an LLC, but unless you need a holding shell for real estate or intellectual property, that may not be the best option for you. Overall, it cost me $135 for my CPA to advise me and then set up my corporation and another $55 to register it with my state. Worth every penny.
Yes I am a USA resident. Thanks for the info. I am not sure I should spend the money on professionals. Currently I make some money but I could completely write it off (100%) since I have kept spending more than I made. I just want to avoid being taxed on the income, since I am re-investing it anyways.
One thing I've learned (the hard way) is that I don't know everything about everything and that it's money well spent to get good advice from professionals who know tons more about the ins and outs of that kind of stuff. Trust me I set up corporations before I got professional advice and since I didn't know what I didn't know, I made plenty of mistakes that cost me much more than I saved by not paying a pro. Still it's a free country and all...
You make an excellent point ! I will take your advice under serious consideration. How much money are we talking about to get professional help?
Put together a list of questions beforehand that you would like to ask the CPA and then you should be able to get all the answers you need in about one hour's time. My CPA charges me $75 and hour and then I had another $60 fee for him to put together the paperwork to form the corporation. All you have to pay after that is the annual state corp registration fee (whatever that amount is in your state--hopefully you're not in California; that's expensive).