If you file your taxes jointly, (you did say 'our tax return') it's really a moot point as far as tracking income is concerned.  Legally, plenty of people own companies and don't work.  They're called 'stockholders.'   If your spouse has a job elsewhere and doesn't want his employeer to find out he (or she) owns a company, then what you're suggesting might be a good idea.  That's a personal decision you need to make.   Would your husband be trying to bid on government work, and figures that he can get women-owned business set-asides if it's filed in your name?  If that's the case, when you fill out the paperwork to be certified as a woman-owned business, you will find lots of direct questions about who really runs the business.    I'm not saying that it hasn't been done before, but if your husband answers the questions incorrectly and says you run the business when he really does, the penalties are quite severe if you ever get caught.   One more thing - if you own the business and your spouse runs it, and one day you get divorced, not only will the question of ownership, income and alimony become more complex, but if it were a messy divorce, your spouse could do some pretty bad things in the business name and leave you, as the owner, to suffer the consequences.  Things like take out a large loan from the bank and not pay it back, leaving the owner of the business to worry about it.  I'm not suggesting your spouse would do that, I'm just conjecturing hypothetically, of course.    

Hi katherine70, You need to file and register the legal name of your LLC with the state government. When choosing a business name for your LLC, there are 3 rules you need follow: (1) it must be different from an existing LLC in your state (2) it must indicate that it's an LLC (such as LLC' or Limited Company') (3) it must not include words restricted by your state (such as bank' and insurance'). Read more here about choosing a business name and forming an LLC on Business.gov.