Converting a Corporation to an LLC in Mississippi

If you're thinking of converting the legal form of your small business from a Mississippi corporation to a Mississippi LLC, you should be aware of some basic facts regarding the state's business-entity conversion process. In general, the tax consequences associated with merging your corporation into an LLC will be complicated. Therefore, for any kind of corporation-into-LLC merger, you should consult with an experienced tax adviser.

Statutory Conversions vs. Statutory Mergers

As an initial point, be aware that there is a distinction between a "conversion" and a "merger," and more specifically between a "statutory conversion" and a "statutory merger." A statutory conversion is a cheaper, quicker way to convert a corporation to an LLC—largely because you do not have to form a separate LLC before the conversion can occur. However, Mississippi is one of only about ten states that do not allow statutory conversions of corporations to LLCs; instead, Mississippi only allows statutory mergers. Unlike statutory conversions, statutory mergers do require you to form a separate LLC before you can convert—or, more accurately, merge—your business.

Notwithstanding the distinction between statutory conversions and statutory mergers, "conversion" is a more general term that can include mergers; in this article, we'll use "conversion" and "merger" somewhat interchangeably, sometimes speaking broadly about "conversions" and "converting" your business, even though, more narrowly and technically, we'll be talking about a merger.

All of the paperwork and procedural steps to start a limited liability company in Mississippi can be done online using Nolo's Mississippi Online LLC Formation application.

Variable Elements of Conversions

Before looking at the specific steps for converting your business, let's be clear that there is not just one kind of corporation or one tax status for an LLC. On the contrary, there are:

• C corporations and S corporations
• for-profit corporations and non-profit corporations
• corporations formed under Mississippi law and corporations formed under other states' laws
• multi-member LLCs and single-member LLCs; and
• LLCs taxed as partnerships, LLCs taxed as corporations, and LLCs taxed as "disregarded entities."

We won't be looking at every possible combination of these variables. Instead, we'll try to keep matters as simple as possible, focusing mainly on the general rules of Mississippi's merger statutes as they apply to closely-held, for-profit Mississippi corporations merging into multi-member LLCs.

Mississippi's Merger Statutes

Bearing in mind that mergers can be among the most complicated of business transactions, this section provides a very brief summary of the process of conversion-via-merger under Mississippi's merger statutes. Like most states, Mississippi has one merger statute under its Business Corporation Act and another merger statute under its Limited Liability Company Act; portions of each of these statutes apply to a corporation-into-LLC merger. Among the most important parts of each of the two statutes are Sections 79-4-11.02 and 79-29-221 of the Mississippi Code Annotated (Miss. Code. Ann.).

To convert your Mississippi corporation to a Mississippi LLC via a statutory merger, you need to:

• create a new LLC
• prepare an agreement of merger (a.k.a. plan of merger)
• have your corporation's board of directors adopt the agreement of merger
• obtain shareholder approval of the agreement of merger
• obtain LLC member approval of the agreement of merger; and
• file a certificate of merger with the Secretary of State.

Step 1: Create an LLC

Creating an LLC is a multi-step process. However, for immediate purposes, the key elements are preparing a certificate of formation and an operating agreement; the certificate of formation will be filed with the Secretary of State. Through these LLC organizational documents, the shareholders of your preexisting corporation will also become the members of your new LLC. For more detailed information on forming an LLC in Mississippi, check How to Form an LLC in Mississippi. Note: Initially, the name of your corporation cannot also be used as the name of your new LLC. However, you can specify in the plan of merger that the name of the LLC will be changed to the name of your corporation when the corporation merges into the LLC (at which point the corporation ceases to exist).

Step 2: Prepare an Agreement of Merger

As its name suggests, the agreement of merger will contain details about the merger; it must include:

• the name of your corporation
• the name of your new limited liability company prior to the merger
• the name of the limited liability company after the merger
• the "terms and conditions" of the merger
• the manner and basis for converting corporate shares into LLC membership interests; and
• any amendments to your new LLC's certificate of formation (such as change in name).

Steps 3 and 4: Board Adoption and Shareholder Approval of Agreement

On the corporation side of this transaction, the agreement of merger must be adopted by the board of directors, and then approved by the shareholders. (For a small business, the directors may well be the same people as the shareholders.) By default, shareholder approval requires a simple majority of votes in each share class or series entitled to vote separately on the agreement. However, the statute also allows for the possibility that your articles of incorporation or board of directors require a greater shareholder vote. For more details, check Miss. Code Ann. § 79-4-11.04.

Step 5: LLC Approval of Agreement

On the LLC side of this transaction, the statute states that approval of the agreement of merger requires the approval of a simple majority of votes to be cast on the agreement, including a majority of any class or series entitled to vote separately on the agreement. Unlike some other states' statutes, Mississippi does not allow for the possibility that an operating agreement or other document might impose different voting requirements, such as a greater majority vote. However, generally speaking, where the LLC is formed for the primary purpose of the merger, and the shareholders of the corporation are also the members of the LLC, it should be the case that all LLC members will approve the merger. For more details, check Miss. Code Ann. § 79-29-223.

Step 6: File a Certificate of Merger

The certificate of merger must include:

• the name of your corporation and its legal type (type = corporation)
• the name of your new LLC and and its legal type (type = limited liability company)
• the effective date for the merger, if other than the filing date
• a copy of the agreement of merger
• the name and legal type of your business after the merger (type = limited liability company)
• the jurisdiction of your new LLC (= Mississippi)
• a statement that your corporation duly authorized the agreement of merger and the performance of its terms by all action required under the Mississippi Business Corporation Act, and under the corporation's articles of incorporation and bylaws
• a statement that the members of your new LLC duly approved the agreement of merger, including, as necessary, approval by each separate voting group, as required by the Mississippi Limited Liability Company Act, and by your LLC's certificate of formation and operating agreement
• for your corporation, various information related to shares voting on the agreement of merger
• any amendments to your new LLC's certificate of formation (such as change in name); and
• authorized signatures.

The Secretary of State has a form for "Cross Entity Mergers" that you can use to prepare your certificate of merger. The form currently is not available on the Secretary of State's website, but you should be able to obtain a copy of the by contacting the Secretary of State.

Other Important Advice

Some people may consider the formation of the new LLC, the agreement of merger, the agreement approval process, and the certificate of merger all to be straightforward. However, as mentioned above, mergers are complex transactions, and often involve unexpected complications. Therefore, you should strongly consider working with a business attorney to draft the required documents and otherwise complete the merger process.

Your total filing fees for this process will be at least $75, which includes $50 for filing the certificate of formation for the new LLC and $25 for filing the certificate of merger.

Be aware that the merger statute under Mississippi's LLC Act states not only that all of your corporation's property, as well as all of its liabilities, are transferred to the new LLC, but also that your new LLC may be substituted for your old corporation in any legal actions against your business. The merger statute under Mississippi's Business Corporation Act contains essentially the same provisions. For more information, check Miss. Code Ann. § § 79-29-227 and 79-4-11.07.

Apart from the items mentioned in How to Form an LLC in Mississippi, one other important step when undertaking this type of merger is to make sure that no business contracts or agreements, such as bank documents, leases, licenses, and insurance, will be nullified by your corporation's conversion to an LLC.

Tax Consequences

Merging a C corporation into an LLC taxed as a partnership often results in a large tax bill. This is largely because the IRS considers this kind of merger to be a liquidation of the corporation for which the corporation will owe tax, on top of which the corporation's stockholders will also be taxed personally on the corporate assets assumed to be distributed to them; in other words, there is double taxation.

Merging a corporation into an LLC that will continue to be taxed as a corporation generally does not have the same degree of adverse tax consequences as when merging into an LLC taxed as a partnership, and may even be largely tax-free. However, as this type of merger will not change the basic elements of how your business will be taxed going forward, you should investigate closely how it would benefit the business, other than by providing a more flexible management structure. Also, in order for your LLC to continue to be taxed as a corporation, you must file a special election form with the IRS.

Merging an S corporation into an LLC is fundamentally different from a merger involving a C corporation, because an S corporation has only one level of taxation; as a rule, an S corporation itself does not pay tax, only its shareholders do. Therefore, the tax consequences for this type of merger are often more limited than mergers involving a C corporation.

In general, the tax consequences associated with merging your corporation into an LLC will be complicated. Therefore, for any kind of corporation-into-LLC merger, you should consult with an experienced tax adviser.

Additional Reading and Guidance

For further guidance on converting from a corporation to an LLC, check Corporations and S Corporations vs. LLCs. Also, while they are not a substitute for expert tax advice, you should also consider looking at Tax Savvy for Small Business, by Frederick Daily (Nolo), and Legal Guide for Starting & Running a Small Business, by Fred Steingold (Nolo). For a more complete discussion of the steps involved in forming and running an LLC, consult Your Limited Liability Company: An Operating Manual, by Anthony Mancuso (Nolo). And, finally, for information on conversion rules in other states, check Nolo's 50-State Guide to Converting a Corporation to an LLC.