S-Corp vs C-Corp – How They Differ And How To Decide Which Is Better?

Starting a business seems a great dream to come true that comes with lots of hurdles and challenges. Most importantly, and determining what type of entity your business should be is also a great decision too. A corporation is one of the most popular choices among several options including sole proprietorship, partnership, and limited liability company LLC – Low-Limited Liability corporation. Corporations provide certain key benefits over other corporate entities. For starters, the owners are not personally liable for the debts of the business unlike partnerships and sole ownerships. Often, a corporation is usually the best option if you are looking to expand a business to a significant size and here we will be knowing differences between C – corp Vs S -corp and which one is better

What Factors Seem Common In Both C-corp And S-corp?

This combines the same forms of companies. State laws governing incorporation and laws governing state enterprise organization treat all corporations the same. Both offer the significant edge of limited liability.

C Corps and S Corps have similar requirements for enacting bylaws, selling stock shares, conducting shareholder and manager meetings, filing annual reports and paying fees and equally structured, with boards of directors, directors, officers and shareholder members.

Tax Benefits In C-corp And S-corp

The next major difference relates to taxation. C corps undergoes double taxation and the corporation pays federal net income taxes. The owners are again paying federal income tax on any dividends that they earn.

In comparison, S Corps are pass-through bodies. The S Corp is not paying the taxes. Instead, any earnings flow untaxed to the founders, who pay taxes on income at their individual rates.

Furthermore, If the S Corp has losses, then these always flow to the owners. And more importantly owners can then use those losses to shelter income from other sources on their individual returns. C Corps is unable to move the losses on to owners.

Here Are The Some Difference You Must Known About C-corp And S-corp 

Both types of businesses must be equally integrated. You would need to register the company with state agencies everywhere you do business, as well as file your incorporation papers with the state office director of your state. Corporations are also required to have by-laws that act as the corporate governing documents, and to file annual reports.

Actually, an S corp and a C corp both shield and protect shareholders from personal liability. And any sort of corporation acts as an individual entity with its own rights and liabilities. Corporations can sign contracts, and can sue others just like business owners.

Taxation

An S corp is considered a pass-through entity, meaning that all profits and losses of a company would be passed on to the personal income of the business or company owner. The owner of the business will pay taxes based on his personal income tax rate. Corporate income tax does not extend to S companies. The enterprise would have to submit IRS Form 2553 and include signatures from all shareholders to become an S corp.

Following new tax laws that came into force in 2018, pass-through business owners are able to deduct up to 20 per cent of their eligible business income. And service and trade-based enterprises may not be eligible for the deduction.

C-corp – Here C corps is required to pay profits tax on corporate income. C corps also face double taxation–the company itself is taxed and shareholders have to pay dividend taxes on their personal tax returns. And one more thing you need to know that the recent tax reform brought changes for the corps of C. The highest corporate tax rate has been set at 21 percent by 2018.

Additionally, depending on the nature of the company, corps C and corps S may also be responsible for employment taxes and excise taxes.

Shareholder Criteria In C-corp And S-corp You Must Know

First of all, All the citizens must be from the United States and an S company can not exceed 100 shareholders. Other corporations or partnerships are not capable of acting as shareholders in an S corp. S corps can only issue common stock, and the limit on the number of shareholders could prevent the company from raising significant capital from holders. S corp shareholders, however, are typically highly involved in the business.

In contrast to S corps, C corps is not limited in the number of shareholders holding shares in the company or business. C corps have more flexibility in selling different sorts of stocks, allowing the company to raise capital through shareholders when it is required and necessary.

C corp shareholders may not be similarly interested in the company as shareholders of S corp. C corps often have a large number of shareholders who may have no interest in the company’s everyday happenings. Some shareholders may have voting rights while others don’t have depending on which type of stock is issued.