Do you guys think I should file to be a legal company before my website starts...or can I get away with seeing how popular my website is before spendng the money to file a company?
You can operate a website without having to file for anything, it would be considered a sole-proprietorship. If you want to add protection to your company then yes. But wait until you see how it ends up.
One thing to take into consideration, once you file for a business license, you have to report and pay taxes quarterly even if you don't make any money.
@phpdoctor22 - not true. If you do not earn money you do not have to pay taxes. If you do not report anything because you have not earned any money your business eventually dissolves. ( This is true in my state ) Unless you renew your license every year. You also don't have to pay quarterly you just have to report it. If you don't make anything you don't have to do anything.
Obviously, if you didn't make any revenue you have no taxes to pay - that is true in all States. But you MUST file regardless, even if revenue was $0 - in all states, including yours. (just making sure they understand... your language could be intrepreted incorrectly). By not filing is considered tax evasion and even if a company is a company for 1 second you must file for that 1 second. The issue here isn't whether you made or didn't make any revenue... it's your statement of whether you made or didn't make any revenue. With that statement the IRS can then peer into your accounts and assets and review actual against reported and go after you when your statement appears fabricated. I'll concede, in most instances failed businesses or marginal ones almost never get audited. I'm a Canadian, with a Canadian business, and 2 US shelf companies; 1 in Delaware & 1 in Nevada... and I learned the hard way about audits.
If you didnt make money you do not have to pay taxes but you still have to file quarterly telling them your earnings even if it's $0.00