If you’re a shareholder in a corporation, you have certain rights, and not just the right to receive a dividend or sell off your stock for money. Shareholders are, after all, essentially the owners of a corporation, and as an owner (or, at least, a part-owner), you’re entitled to have a say in how your company operates. However, not all these rights are obvious and may require you to do a little extra legwork to enforce them. Continue reading “Four Things You Need to Know as a Shareholder”
Tag: Corporations
Double Taxation: How Can a Business Get Taxed Twice?
If you’re a business owner, chances are you’ve heard of “double taxation,” and the scourge it presents to business owners. Indeed, double taxation can eat into a company’s profits and aggravate any financial issues you might be having. But how is it possible for a business to be taxed twice? Is that even legal? Continue reading “Double Taxation: How Can a Business Get Taxed Twice?”
Breaking Up a Business is Hard to Do
Starting your own business can be difficult and stressful, and running that business can be even more so. However, breaking up a business and wrapping up its affairs can be difficult in its own way, if you’re not appropriately prepared. However, how hard it is can depend on how your business is organized, and how many other people own the company you’re trying to break up. Continue reading “Breaking Up a Business is Hard to Do”
Why Do So Many People Incorporate in Delaware?
It’s hardly a secret that many people look to Delaware when they want to incorporate a new business or reorganize an old business. However, people unfamiliar with business law might wonder why someone would want to incorporate there, even people who don’t intend to do business there. After all, isn’t it easier to just incorporate in your own state? Continue reading “Why Do So Many People Incorporate in Delaware?”
Hanging Up Your Hat: What Happens When You Want to Leave Your Business?
Nothing lasts forever. Even if you’re a business owner and you love what you do, at some point you’ll want to leave your business, either to move on to greater things or to enjoy your retirement. But what happens once you leave your business? Does it linger on, or do you close shop for good? And what happens if you do? Continue reading “Hanging Up Your Hat: What Happens When You Want to Leave Your Business?”
Delaware Court Approves Shareholder Demand to See Facebook’s Books
The Delaware Chancery Court has recently approved a demand by Facebook’s shareholders to see their books and records. This demand, called a Section 220 demand, was filed as a means of examining potential wrongdoing by Facebook’s leadership during the Cambridge Analytica scandal. Cambridge Analytica (CA), a now-defunct political consulting firm, was accused of stealing the data of 50 million American Facebook users which it utilized to influence the 2016 United States Presidential Election. Continue reading “Delaware Court Approves Shareholder Demand to See Facebook’s Books”
The Danger of Double Taxation
Oftentimes, when people are discussing corporate taxation, one of the things they’ll refer to is “double taxation,” and how unfair it is. The term may be confusing for people unfamiliar with the tax code, who wonder how it is that corporations can be taxed twice. However, it’s not as complicated as it sounds, and understanding double taxation can make a big difference when deciding how to organize your business.
Continue reading “The Danger of Double Taxation”
Why Incorporate?
Even though corporations are an omnipresent part of day-to-day life in the modern world, many people don’t know what a corporation is, or why someone would want to incorporate their business in the first place.
A corporation put simply, is a legal entity that exists independently of the people who own and run it. Due to what is known as “the legal fiction of corporate personhood,” corporations are treated as legal “persons” for a variety of purposes, most significantly for the purposes of legal and financial liability. In other words, when a business loses money or gets sued, it would normally be the business’ owner or owners that are held responsible for paying off the business’ debts or paying for any legal judgments. However, when a business is incorporated, those losses and judgments are generally incurred by the corporation, not the owners, and so the owners generally aren’t held responsible if the company can’t pay for everything and goes bankrupt.
Continue reading “Why Incorporate?”
Forming A Business Corporation in New York
There are many types of business entities you can form, including sole proprietorships, partnerships, LLCs, and corporations, among others. Many entrepreneurs opt to form a corporation because of the unique benefits that are associated with it, which include: Continue reading “Forming A Business Corporation in New York”
When One Size Does NOT Fit All for Business Start Up
Sure there are some times when one size can fit all. Tents, for example. Bathrobes. Umbrellas. But when it comes to starting a business, it really doesn’t work that way.
If you’re a restaurant, or a dry cleaner, or some other kind of business that requires people to walk in your front door all the time, location is the most important consideration.
But what if you’re a wholesaler of electronic parts? If your marketing plan or sales force are good enough, you can be anywhere. Continue reading “When One Size Does NOT Fit All for Business Start Up”
