Shareholder restrictions: S corps are restricted to no more than 100 shareholders, and shareholders must be US citizens/residents.
But the Internal Revenue Code does place several restrictions on who can be shareholders in order for the corporation to qualify to be an S corp. Shareholder restrictions: S corps are restricted to no more than 100 shareholders, and shareholders must be US citizens/residents.
(A 2-percent shareholder is someone who owns more than 2 percent of the outstanding stock of the corporation or stock possessing more than 2 percent of the total combined voting power of all stock of the corporation.)
Spouses can co-own shares of a business, and, in fact, there may be legal and tax benefits for doing so. However, in the typical case of one spouse being involved with the business while the other is not, it usually does not make sense for the spouses to co-own the shares.
LLCs can have an unlimited number of members; S corps can have no more than 100 shareholders (owners). Non-U.S. citizens/residents can be members of LLCs; S corps may not have non-U.S. citizens/residents as shareholders. S corporations cannot be owned by corporations, LLCs, partnerships or many trusts.
LLCs can have an unlimited number of members; S corps can have no more than 100 shareholders (owners).
LLCs can have an unlimited number of members; S corps can have no more than 100 shareholders (owners).
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.
An S corporation can have only one class of stock, although it can have both voting and non-voting shares. Therefore, there can't be different classes of investors who are entitled to different dividends or distribution rights. Also, there cannot be more than 100 shareholders.