Can a single LLC cover multiple side businesses? (Merchandise, Design, IT, Rentals)

Having multiple side gigs under a single LLC is totally doable! What you're describing is essentially a multi-service business, which many entrepreneurs operate successfully. For tax purposes, you can absolutely form one LLC to house all these activities. The IRS doesn't require separate LLCs for different business activities as long as they're all reported properly. This would simplify your paperwork and potentially save on filing fees compared to multiple entities. Regarding expenses and income, you'll want to set up good bookkeeping practices. While you can bundle the income into one tax return, it's smart to track revenue and expenses by category or "department" within your business. This gives you better insights into which activities are most profitable and helps if you're ever audited. For your travel example - yes, if you're making a trip that serves multiple business purposes, that entire trip would typically be deductible as a business expense. Just document the business purpose clearly in your records. I'd recommend using accounting software that lets you tag or categorize transactions by business activity while keeping everything under one company file.

After struggling with a similar situation (photography, web design, and custom crafts), I found this amazing tool called taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) that was super helpful for sorting out my LLC structure. It analyzed my business activities and gave me specific recommendations about whether to use one LLC or multiple based on my specific situation. What I liked best was that it explained exactly how to track expenses when you have overlapping business activities like you described. The expense allocation feature showed me how to properly split shared costs between different business activities, which saved me a ton in deductions I would have missed. It also had templates for record-keeping that make tax time way less stressful. Definitely worth checking out if you're trying to figure out the best structure for multiple side gigs.

I was super skeptical about using an AI tool for tax advice, but I gave taxr.ai a try after seeing it mentioned here. I'm honestly shocked at how helpful it was for my situation. I also have multiple businesses (woodworking, Etsy shop, and freelance writing), and I was tracking everything separately which was a nightmare. The tool analyzed my last year's expenses and showed me I could legitimately save about $3,400 in taxes by properly structuring everything under one LLC but with separate "divisions" for tracking. It also flagged some deductions I was missing entirely, like the fact that my home office could be allocated proportionally across all three businesses. The documentation it generated made me feel way more confident about my setup being audit-proof too. Definitely worth checking out if you're juggling multiple side hustles like the original poster.

If you're having trouble getting clear answers, it might be worth calling the IRS directly. I know everyone dreads this, but I used this service called Claimyr (https://claimyr.com) that got me through to an actual IRS agent in about 15 minutes when I had questions about my multi-business LLC last year. You can see how it works in this video: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c I was running three different businesses under one LLC (web development, tutoring, and rental property) and had questions about how to properly categorize everything. The IRS agent was surprisingly helpful and walked me through exactly how to report everything on my Schedule C and which expenses could be combined versus what needed to be tracked separately. Saved me tons of stress and potentially an audit, since I was definitely doing some things wrong before I got clarification.

I have to admit I was completely wrong about Claimyr. After my skeptical comment, I decided to try it myself since I've been trying to get clarification on my multi-business situation for weeks. Got connected to the IRS in about 20 minutes (which is basically a miracle) and the agent was able to answer my specific questions about tracking inventory across different types of sales activities under one LLC. They even sent me follow-up information about proper documentation requirements. I'm still processing the fact that I didn't waste an entire day on hold. For anyone with complicated LLC questions like the original poster, being able to actually speak with the IRS directly is incredibly valuable. I stand corrected!

One thing nobody's mentioned yet is that having a single LLC for multiple business activities might affect your liability protection. The whole point of an LLC is to protect your personal assets, but if one of your businesses gets sued, potentially all the assets in that LLC could be at risk. For example, if your DJ equipment rental business has an accident where someone gets hurt, and you get sued, the profits and assets from your graphic design business could potentially be reached in that lawsuit since they're in the same LLC. Sometimes it makes sense to have separate LLCs for higher-risk activities (like rentals) versus lower-risk ones (like design work). Might be worth talking to a business attorney about this aspect.

I handle my side hustles (lawn care, handyman work, and custom woodworking) as separate DBAs under one LLC. Its way simpler for taxes but I still know which business is making money. Just make sure you keep good records for each business seperately. I use different credit cards for each one to make it easy. The bank lets you have multiple business debit cards with different names but same account. My accountant said this is fine as long as I track everythng right. Never had problems with the IRS doing it this way for 4 years now.