Types of corporations

Types of corporations

A corporation is an institution that is recognized as a separate legal entity with detached accountability.  It has its own rights, privileges, and liabilities distinct from those of its members or individual owners.  There are different types of corporations, most of which are used to conduct business.

Different types of corporations are as follows:
•    Publicly Held Corporation: The establishment most often referred by the word corporation is a publicly held corporation.  A publicly held corporation is a publicly traded corporation.  The shares of such corporations are traded on a public stock exchange (e.g., the New York Stock Exchange or NASDAQ in the United States).
•    Closely Held Corporation: A closely held corporation is a corporation that has only a small number of stockholders with no public market for its stock.
•    Limited Liability Company: Unlike a corporation, an LLC is a pass-through type of business.  Pass-through businesses are those in which the profits and losses of the business pass through to the owners.  In other words, the business income is considered as the owner’s income, and the owner pays the tax on his or her personal tax return.
•    C Corporation: A “C Corporation” is a business entity that can have an unlimited number of shareholders, which may include shareholders who are foreign citizens.  Shareholders are protected from the corporation’s liabilities.  The corporation is taxed on its profits, and shareholders are also taxed on the distributions they receive, such as profit sharing payments or dividends.

Different Types of Corporations:

Advantages and Disadvantages of Corporations

Types of Corporations

Anyone who operates a business, alone or with others, may incorporate. This is also true for anyone or any group engaged in religious, civil, non-profit or charitable endeavors. You do not have to be a business giant to be able to have the financial and other benefits of operating a corporation. Given the right circumstances, the owner(s) of a business of any size can benefit from incorporating.

General Corporation:

This is the most common corporate structure. The corporation is a separate legal entity that is owned by stockholders. A general corporation may have an unlimited number of stockholders that, due to the separate legal nature of the corporation, are protected from the creditors of the business. A stockholder’s personal liability is usually limited to the amount of investment in the corporation and no more. Corporation Advantages

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  Owners’ personal assets are protected from business debt and liability
  
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  Corporations have unlimited life extending beyond the illness or death of the owners
  
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  Tax free benefits such as insurance, travel, and retirement plan deductions
  
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  Transfer of ownership facilitated by sale of stock
  
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  Change of ownership need not affect management
  
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  Easier to raise capital through sale of stocks and bonds
  

Corporation Disadvantages

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  More expensive to form than proprietorship or partnerships
  
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  More legal formality
  
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  More state and federal rules and regulations
  

Close Corporation

There are a few minor, but significant, differences between general corporations and close corporations. In most states where they are recognized, close corporations are limited to 30 to 50 stockholders. In addition, many close corporation statutes require that the directors of a close corporation must first offer the shares to existing stockholders before selling to new shareholders.

This type of corporation is particularly well suited for a group of individuals who will own the corporation with some members actively involved in the management and other members only involved on a limited or indirect level.