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What is a C Corporation?

illustration of a storefrontCorporations have been used for over 500 years to limit owners’ liability and thus encourage business investment and risk taking. Their use for this purpose continues to this day. 

You will hear about both C Corporations and S Corporations. Both are corporations with charters granted by the state of organization. You can organize in Nevada for the best asset protection laws, for example, and qualify to do business in California. In that case, you will have one corporation paying annual fees in two states (which many people do). While we like and often use S Corporations, we keenly appreciate the advantages of C Corporations. They certainly have their merit and a place in your entity structure strategy.

The C and the S refer to IRS Code Sections. C corps feature a double taxation – one tax at the company level and another tax on profits distributed to shareholders. This double tax is why many people consider S corps, which has only one level of tax. But there are restrictions on ownership of S corps, where as there are no such limits on C corps.

Here is a quick list of C Corporation advantages:

  • They can have an unlimited amount of shareholders, from anywhere in the world.
  • For Nevada and Wyoming corporations, officers and directors can reside anywhere in the world. This can be a boon for foreign investors. 
  • They can have several different classes of shares.
  • They have the widest range of deductions and expenses allowed by the IRS (more on this below).
  • They are the most widely recognized business entity in the world, and are the premier entity for going public.
  • In Nevada and Wyoming, nominee (or stand-in) officers and directors can be utilized, adding extra levels of privacy.
Image Link to download full c-corporation guide pdf

Tax Advantage: Wide Range of Deductions and Expenses

A C Corporation has the widest range of deductions and expenses allowed by the IRS, especially in the area of employee fringe benefits. A C Corporation can set up medical reimbursement and other employee benefits, and deduct the costs of running these programs, including all premiums paid. The employees, including you as the owner/shareholder, will also not pay taxes on the value of those benefits.

This is not the case in a flow-through entity, such as an S Corporation, LLC or LP. In each of those cases the entity may write off the costs of the benefits, but any employee/shareholder who owns more than 2% of the entity will pay taxes on the value of their benefits received. So, if having the maximum deductions and all of the employee fringe benefits on a tax-free basis is important to you, a C-Corp may be your entity choice.

Which type of business works well as a C Corp?

C Corporations are great for a business that sells products, has a storefront and employees, and may or may not have a warehouse where it keeps its inventory. C-Corps don’t work well with businesses that want to hold appreciating assets, such as real estate, because of the tax treatment on the sale of these assets.

Tax Disadvantage: Double Taxation Issues

The most often-cited disadvantage of using a C-Corp is the “double-taxation” issue. Double-taxation happens when a C-Corp has a profit left over at the end of the year and wants to distribute it to the shareholders as a dividend. The C-Corp has already paid taxes on that profit, but once it distributes the profit to its shareholders, those shareholders will have to declare the dividends they receive as income on their personal tax returns, and pay taxes again, at their own personal rates.

How to Avoid the Double-Taxation Scenario

There are many things you can do to avoid the double-taxation scenario:

  • Structure the C-Corp so that there are no profits left over – use all of the write-offs and deductions allowed by the IRS to reduce the C-Corp’s net income.
  • Offer great benefit plans!
  • Pay higher salaries to yourself and the other owner/employees than you would if you were using a flow-through entity such as an S-Corp. Yes, you will have to pay payroll taxes and personal income taxes on those monies, but you would pay personal taxes on dividends paid to you anyway. And it may be that in the big picture, the savings on one side outweigh the additional taxes paid on the other side.

The decision as to what entity is best for you really does, in so many cases, hinge on taxes, and that is why, with any corporate-related decision, you are wise to seek the advice and assistance of a good CPA.

Corporate Direct along with your CPA can help you decide which corporation is best for you.