BUS101: Introduction to Business

What feature of corporations do business owners find most attractive? The most attractive feature of a corporation is limited liability, which means that the shareholders (owners) cannot be held personally liable for the debts and obligations of the corporation. For example, if a corporation cannot pay its debts and goes bankrupt, the shareholders will not be required to pay the creditors with their own money. Shareholders cannot lose any more than the amount they have invested in the company.

What feature of corporations do business owners find least attractive? Most would agree that the least attractive feature of a corporation is "double taxation". Double taxation occurs when the same earnings are taxed twice by the government. Let's use a simple example to show how this happens. You're the only shareholder in a very small corporation. This past year it earned $10,000. It had to pay the government $3,000 corporate tax on the $10,000 earned. The remaining $7,000 was paid to you by the corporation in the form of a dividend. When you filed your personal income tax form, you had to pay personal taxes on the $7,000 dividend. So the $7,000 was taxed twice: the corporation paid the taxes the first time and you (the shareholder) paid the taxes the second time.