When a small business incorporates, it is automatically a C corporation. The primary attribute of a corporation is that it is legally viewed as an individual entity, separate from its owners. The owners are the shareholders whose personal assets are not exposed to liability as they would be if the business was a sole proprietorship.
C corporations can experience uncapped growth through the sale of company stocks to an unlimited number of investors because there is no limit to the number of shareholders. C corporations offer limited liability which protects directors, officers, shareholders, and employees from loosing personal assets in the event of a lawsuit.
• Due to the protection provided to owners from being responsible for debts, lawsuits, and other financial obligations. C corporations are complex to set up and maintain. They experience more government oversight and regulation
…show more content…
If the C corporation fails to meet its financial obligations, no one person or group within the company is responsible to repay creditors. Creditors cannot go after the personal financial assets of any company employee or shareholder. If the C corporation is sued, shareholders can only loose the value of their investment in the stock.
C corporations are separate entities from owners and are viewed as an individual taxpayer by the IRS. Because of these two entities, C corporations are subject to double taxation as revenue is taxed at the corporate level and once again on shareholders' personal income taxes. C corporations are the only business structure subject to a double tax.
A C corporation may be dissolved or fall into bankruptcy, but it may live in perpetuity because most states require that corporate charters provide for perpetual existence. Transfer of stock, change of shareholders or death of an owner does not alter the perpetuity
A corporation is a separate legal entity that possesses distinctive liabilities and privileges than that of their members or shareholders. As an investor, a corporation’s advantage is liability for their own investments especially in risky investments (Kubasek, et al., 2012, p. 760). Among the various types of corporations for Betty to select from, an S corporation is an enticing venture for new entrepreneurs given that it grants limited personal liability for debts, sharing of corporate profits, and taxation relief. Double taxation is a main disadvantage of C corporations but not for S corporations. The General Corporation Law (Corp C §§100-2319) treats S corporations similarly to partnerships for taxation purposes.
• LIABILITY – Stockholders personal assets are not subject to claims of creditors. The corporation itself is responsible for its actions and liabilities. • INCOME TAXES – Shareholders in a corporation are subject to “double taxation” as in first the corporation is subject to corporate taxation, then money is paid out in dividends. Which then is taxed again as personal income tax. • LONGEVITY - The life of a corporation is limitless as
C corporations are able to have unlimited shareholders, which is probably an important characteristic to large companies. (S corporations, for example, may not have more than 100 shareholders.) C corporations can also be owned by non-citizens or other business entities, where S corporations can only be owned by individuals who are US citizens.
Regular C corporation: A regular C corporation is the most is the most sophisticated form of business and most common for large companies. It gets its name from the 1986 IRS code... C-corp.
In a C- Corporation the profits are divided among the stockholders. The amount of profits depend on the percentage stocked owned. For example if you owned 15 percent of the corporation’s stock, you may receive 15 percent of the profits. The more stock you own the greater the return.
CONVENIENCE/BURDEN - The major convenience of a C-corporation is how easily it can obtain additional funds through issuing additional stocks. C-Corp's are burdened by the double taxation of both the corporation itself and dividends paid to the shareholders.
* Taxes are paid through the corporation on a corporate tax return. It is separate from the owner’s income taxes, commonly referred to as shareholders. Shareholders also include income or losses on stocks sold or dividends earned on their yearly individual tax return.
Liability: Ownership of a C-Corporation is vested in its stockholders, whose liability is limited to the amount of their investment. The Corporation is liable for all of its debts, and for the actions of employees acting as agents of the organization. Creditors may lay claim against corporate assets, but cannot reach stockholders’ personal assets. Additionally, stockholders have no claim against corporate assets.
Also be obliged to pay taxes and dealt with civil and little acts of criminal penalties perform through agents. “The corporation is governed primarily by the statutory guidelines of the state statute that provides for its creation. The requirements for the creation and management of a corporation vary somewhat between the states, but as is usually the case, there are common threads that can be found in the corporate statutes of all states.” (Rogers,
Choosing a Corporation/Company Structure - the business structure of a company/ corporation is highly recommended, it has the flexibility to gain more capital, or credit capability and assets used as security. Based on the Corporation Act 2001 (Cth) AC 22, a corporation is another legal entity with their own legal rights, duties and responsibilities separate to the individual or owner of the company (Harris, Hargovan & Adams, 2013, pp 229). The risk and consequences are one of the principal considerations of choosing a company structure (Harris, Hargovan & Adams, pp 50). Based on the “Corporate Veil” Liability is owned by a separate legal entity and not to the extent of the owner, for instance, the debt of the company is not a personal liability, but the company. This is further explained in the case below.
A Corporation can be defined as a legal creation, however the corporation itself, would only exist on a piece of paper. A corporation will never die a natural death like humans die naturally, and corporations will always outlive the individual who created it. With that said, the corporation itself is never really committed to any employee or committed to any neighbor. However, a corporation can always demand employees, a corporation can always demand taxes that are extremely high, and a corporation can also restrict environmental laws. Corporations hold a great deal of power in today's society.
In order for an informed decision to be made in regards to appropriate business structure for any business it is necessary to understand each business structure separately and any attempt to understand business structure must consider the C-corporation as a baseline against which to compare subsequent business structures. A C-corporation is a business organized as a separate entity from the owner or owners of the business that requires the observation of certain formalities. In Texas these formalities include adopting bylaws, maintaining a record of accounts, issuance of stock, recording the issuance and transference of stock, recording minutes of board of director and shareholder meetings, as well as maintaining a record of current and past shareholders (Tex. BOC § 21). It is important to remember that corporate formalities will require time and expense to maintain and every attempt should be made to comply with these requirements to protect the liability limitation of the corporation’s shareholders, officers, and owners.
limited liability, lower taxation than C corporation, potential to maintain significant control of the enterprise
Corporations are a different type of business. They are more complex to start because more paperwork is involved and the corporation generally has to be registered at the state level. An ordinary corporation is formed through the articles of incorporation. These corporations are legal entities, and therefore bear legal responsibility. The shareholders of the corporation do not bear legal liability. In addition, corporate income is taxed differently it does not flow through to the owner's personal income tax statements. The
Corporation origin from the Latin word Corpus which means body. It is formed by a group of people and has separate rights and liability from those individual. In any means, corporation exists independently from its owner and this principle is called the doctrine of separate personality. Doctrine of separate personality is the basic and fundamental principle in a Company Law. This principle outline the legal relationship between company and its members. Company’s assets belong to the company not the shareholders as assets are the equity for creditors. Company must use up all its assets to pay off the creditors if it became insolvent. The same applies to the corporation’s debts. For limited liabilities company, the shareholder liability is limited which means that the shareholder is restricted to the number of shares they paid and not personally liable for the corporation’s debts. If the company does not have enough equity to pay off debts, the creditors cannot come after the shareholders. However, limited liability company can be very powerful when in hands who do fraud and on defeating creditors’ claims. Courts then can ignore the doctrine for exception cases and lifting the corporate veil. Lifting the corporate veil is a situation where courts put aside limited liability and hold a corporation’s shareholders or directors personally liable for the corporation’s debts.