What are corporations?

A relatively small corporation may apply for tax status under Subchapter S of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code (26 USC 1361 et seq.). The Code limits the number of investors, their nationalities, classes of stock, and types of investors (generally individuals, not corporations), and the restrictions and definitions change from time to time.

In general, the major advantage of an S-corp is that it is not subject to income taxes, but rather they are "passed through" to the shareholders, pro rata. Therefore, shareholders of an S-corp only pay personal income taxes on the corporate income and the income is not taxed twice (once as corporate income and once as shareholder income). Furthermore, taxation of dividends paid to shareholders are subject to special treatment and may be excluded from gross income of the shareholder in some cases.