Both S corp and C corp businesses have a shareholder basis, also sometimes called a stock and debt basis. Per the IRS, this shareholder basis is your capital investment in a property for tax purposes. In this case, your business is the property.
Shareholders of S corporations report the flow-through of income and losses on their personal tax returns and are assessed tax at their individual income tax rates. This allows S corporations to avoid double taxation on the corporate income.
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.
Shareholder base refers to the total number of shareholders in a company. In other words, it is a base of owners (investors) of a company that holds a certain number of stock (shares) in the business distributed proportionally, depending on the amount of investment made.
Tax Exempt Interest increases shareholder basis. Basis is increased by this amount to preserve the nature of the Tax Exempt income. If the shareholder fails to include Tax Exempt Interest in the calculation, then the Tax Exempt Interest will be taxed when the stock is sold (even though it shouldn't be taxed).
A company is considered a single shareholder if it has only one founder. This is usually the case for freelancers, consultants, digital nomads and other forms of digital solopreneurs. If, however, a company has several co-founders, it is a multi-shareholder company.
All U.S. citizens and U.S. residents can be shareholders of an S corporation. S corporations can have a maximum of 100 shareholders. Most entities, including business trusts, partnerships, and corporations are prohibited from holding stock in S corporations.
One major advantage of an S corporation is that it provides owners limited liability protection, regardless of its tax status. Limited liability protection means that the owners' personal assets are shielded from the claims of business creditors—whether the claims arise from contracts or litigation.
Because of the one-class-of-stock restriction, an S corporation cannot allocate losses or income to specific shareholders. Allocation of income and loss is governed by stock ownership, unlike partnerships or LLCs taxed as partnerships where the allocation can be set in the partnership agreement or operating agreement.
Step 2: Weigh the pros and cons Advantages: Enhanced credibility, access to capital, limited liability, and the ability to attract investors and top talent. Disadvantages: Higher setup and maintenance costs, double taxation, extensive record-keeping and reporting requirements, and reduced privacy.