corporation

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Related to Corporations: Multinational corporations

Corporation

A legal entity that is separate and distinct from its owners. A corporation is allowed to own assets, incur liabilities, and sell securities, among other things.

Corporation

A business that is legally completely separate from its owners. Most publicly-traded companies (and all major ones) fall under this classification. For United States tax purposes, corporations, legally known as C corporations, are required to pay income taxes on their profits. The advantage to a corporate structure is the fact that, unlike other structures, there is no limit to the number of shareholders. A disadvantage is the fact that, because a corporation is taxed by itself and its individual shareholders are taxed on dividends, it is subject to double taxation. It is important to note that the term corporation almost never refers to an S corporation, which is not entirely separate from its owners.

corporation

An organized body, especially a business, that has been granted a state charter recognizing it as a separate legal entity having its own rights, privileges, and liabilities distinct from those of the individuals within the entity. A corporation can acquire assets, enter into contracts, sue or be sued, and pay taxes in its own name. Corporations issue shares of stock to individuals supplying ownership capital and issue bonds to individuals lending money to the business. The corporation is a desirable organization for a business entity for a variety of reasons including the increased capability such an entity has to raise capital. Most large firms, especially those engaged in manufacturing, are organized as corporations. All stocks sold in the primary market and traded in the secondary market are shares of corporate ownership. Compare partnership, proprietorship. See also incorporate, limited liability, unlimited liability.

Wall Street Words: An A to Z Guide to Investment Terms for Today's Investor by David L. Scott. Copyright © 2003 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. All rights reserved.

corporation

a North American term for a JOINT-STOCK COMPANY.

corporation

1a private enterprise FIRM incorporated in the form of a JOINT-STOCK COMPANY.
a publicly owned business such as a nationalized industry.

Collins Dictionary of Economics, 4th ed. © C. Pass, B. Lowes, L. Davies 2005

corporation

A legal entity created by filing documents with the local secretary of state, commissioner of corporations,or similar official. It may have as few as one shareholder,must begin life with some minimal amount of assets gained as a result of the shareholder(s) paying for shares of stock, may be stipulated as having a limited life span or perpetual existence until formally dissolved, and may be designated as having the powers to do only limited types of things or anything allowed by law.The entity thus created will enjoy all the rights and responsibilities of natural persons,including owning and renting real estate,and suing or being sued in the courts.The IRS allows corporations to be segregated into three main types for tax accounting purposes:

1. S-corporation. A small corporation that is allowed to file information returns only. It pays
no taxes on its income but, instead, sees all income taxed to the shareholders according to
their pro rata share of the corporation.

2. C-corporation. Any corporation that does not meet the limitations for an S-corporation,
     or one that otherwise qualifies for S-corporation status but elects to be treated as a C-cor-
     poration. The corporation files its own tax returns, pays taxes on income, and then dis-
     tributes dividends to shareholders who pay taxes on the dividends.

3.501(c)(3) corporation. A not-for-profit corporation authorized by Section 501(c)(3) of the
Internal Revenue Code, which files an information tax return but pays no taxes.

Corporation

For income tax purposes, an entity that is incorporated under the laws of a state, a foreign entity that is treated as a corporation under IRS regulations, or an unincorporated entity that elects to be taxed as a corporation by filing Form 8832.

References in periodicals archive ?

2006-45, the Service continues to simplify the procedures for corporations to obtain automatic consent to change a tax year.

IRS updates automatic approval procedures for accounting-period changes

Prior tax rules limited S corps to having no more than 75 shareholders--forcing some privately held corporations into C corp status.

C corps vs. S corps: how tax law changes may prompt switching

Owing to the complexity of the I.T.A., the large volume of transactions reported by large corporations on their returns, the plethora and scope of issues, and the substantial number of steps and computations involved in the proper determination of a large corporation's tax liability, it is impractical to require large corporations, with respect to each issue, to specify all the "particular elements" in their notices of objections that would then become fixed in respect of the issues, relief, and maximum amount.

In the Supreme Court of Canada

If corporations are going to have free rein on a global level, then there must be a counter balance--a "New Deal for the global economy" --to protect the environment, establish labor standards, temper the rush toward genetic engineering, and so on.

COLOSSUS: How the Corporation Changed America

When a firm or corporation distributes to its shareholders all of its assets, both tangible and intangible, and ceases doing business, the IRS says there is a taxable distribution of its intangible goodwill.

Avoid taxes in liquidation

The proposals, if enacted, would greatly change the tax treatment of: third party service subsidiaries; closely-held REITs; and built-in gains on the conversion of a C corporation to a REIT or the merger of a C corporation into a REIT.

BLACK ENTERPRISE polled 10 corporations with active minority-business development programs to find out the key to winning contracts.

How to pitch to corporate America: the top seven priorities of corporate procurement officers

The IRS is considering certain mergers involving corporations and partnerships that may raise additional tax consequences to the parties to the transaction, including the extent to which the principles of Rev.

Significant recent developments

In cases where there is no wrongdoing by the corporation, a prompt response to the SEC may result in an early termination of an investigation that could otherwise drag on for months or years.

Responding to an SEC investigation: two attorneys review the dangers posed by an SEC probe, and the ways in which public companies could and should react to minimize the potential damage, including possible litigation

1.367(b)-3, which is applicable to an acquisition by a domestic corporation of the assets of a foreign corporation in a liquidation described in section 332 or an asset acquisition described in section 368(a)(1).

Ernst & Young Online

In third-party transfers involving closely held corporations, the scenario changes.

Avoiding third-party transfers in a divorce

But the notion that corporations have responsibilities, just like real people, touches a deep chord; and while the term "corporate responsibility" may strike jaded modem ears as oxymoronic and naive, historically it is exactly right.

Reinventing the corporation

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