I have employees in three states and use paychex for payroll. If I’m paying extra for the extra states, it’s not enough of a bill that I’m noticing.

Run?

I’d offer to buy his half for more than what it is worth. The attractive sum of $100.

No one else on the planet would pay that much.

If he says no, I’d sell him my half for $1 and open a new LLC.

People think that owning a business means they own an asset. Thats only true if the owner could stop working there tomorrow and the business keeps making money.

The only vehicles to achieve something like what you say you want are

1. S corp: the profit will still pass through and increase your income, but s corp profit is not subject to payroll tax (SS/FICA)
2. Use an IRA to stash the profit in a tax advantaged way

You’d need to use a C corp if you want to profit to stay in the company, but C corps pay 21% federal plus state income in many states, so that won’t work.