To qualify for S corporation status, the corporation must meet the following requirements: Be a domestic corporation. Have only allowable shareholders. Have no more than 100 shareholders. Have only one class of stock.
A small business corporation elects federal S corporation status by filing federal Form 2553 (Election By a Small Business Corporation) with the Internal Revenue Service. When a corporation elects federal S corporation status it automatically becomes an S corporation for California.
Limited number of shareholders: An S corp cannot have more than 100 shareholders, meaning it can't go public and limiting its ability to raise capital from new investors.
Unlike sole proprietorships, a corporation can be owned by multiple people.
Limited number of shareholders: An S corp cannot have more than 100 shareholders, meaning it can't go public and limiting its ability to raise capital from new investors.
With certain exceptions, a corporation is treated as having only one class of stock if all outstanding shares of stock of the corporation confer identical rights to distribution and liquidation proceeds. The regulations then elaborate on how to analyze if there are identical distribution and liquidation rights.
While the vast majority of U.S. public companies (approximately nine in 10) have a single class of voting stock, in recent years, a growing proportion of U.S. companies going public have multiple classes of common stock with differential voting rights.
IRS Requirements for an S Corp It must have only one class of stock. There can be no more than 100 shareholders. Shareholders must meet certain eligibility requirements, that is, they must be individuals, specific trusts and estates, or certain tax-exempt organizations 501(c)(3).