The simple answers to your questions are
1 - No
2 - YES, ABSOLUTELY, DEFINITELY, 100% †
3 - Absolutely no difference.
On the ground:
† Do note this answer from a handsome list member The fact is I would say most, if not "the vast majority" of programmers in Cali and other US states, simply operate as "themselves".
When you absolutely DO NOT need an ovcerprice "business-labelled" bank accountuse TaxAct in March (or .https. June, or whatever ://money ) to finally do your taxes, click the "self-employed" button, pay TaxAct an extra $25, and that's all there is to it.stackexchange End of story.com/a/133459/41786
Hot tip:
A few folks bother to get an "LLC" instead of just being "John Smith", perhaps thinking it looks slightly more professional. But if I think of blokes I know that make TotallyRidiculous™ amounts of money each year, they are just "John Smith". Nobody cares.
Tip: it's surprisingly expensive to set up and maintain an LLC. I say, why waste the odd thousand bucks?
You didn't hear this here:
Every programmer, well human, in the world asks, how aggressive can one be in deducting business expenses? Everyone who ponders "should I get an LLC or just be John Smith," deep down wants to know whether you can, you know, Deduct More Stuff if it's an LLC. The answer is a plain "no" (if anything it draws attention, I'd say). As a John Smith you can try to deduct anything you feel you should try to deduct, just the same. Regarding this critical issue, there is no difference.
† Do note this answer from a handsome list member, you absolutely DO NOT need an ovcerpriced "business-labelled" bank account. https://money.stackexchange.com/a/133459/41786