Corporation
Organization—usually a group of people or a company—authorized by the state to act as a single entity and recognized as such in law for certain purposes.
- Corporation500 related topics
Company
A company can be created as a legal person so that the company itself has limited liability as members perform or fail to discharge their duty according to the publicly declared incorporation, or published policy.
Others may be foreign companies or export-based corporations.
Limited liability company
US-specific form of a private limited company.
It is a business structure that can combine the pass-through taxation of a partnership or sole proprietorship with the limited liability of a corporation.
Sole proprietorship
Type of enterprise owned and run by one person and in which there is no legal distinction between the owner and the business entity.
If an individual elects to incorporate as a Limited liability company but elects to be taxed as a Corporation, the IRS no longer recognizes the individual as a sole proprietorship.
Corporation sole
Legal entity consisting of a single incorporated office, occupied by a single ("sole") natural person.
A corporation sole is one of two types of corporation, the other being a corporation aggregate.
Limited liability
Legal status where a person's financial liability is limited to a fixed sum, most commonly the value of a person's investment in a corporation, company or partnership.
In the UK there was initially a widespread belief that a corporation needed to demonstrate its creditworthiness by having its shares only partly paid, as where shares are partly paid, the investor would be liable for the remainder of the nominal value in case the company could not pay its debts.
Legal person
Any person or 'thing' that can do the things a human person is usually able to do in law – such as enter into contracts, sue and be sued, own property, and so on.
The reason for the term "legal person" is that some legal persons are not people: companies and corporations are "persons" legally speaking (they can legally do most of the things an ordinary person can do), but they are not people in a literal sense.
Share capital
A corporation's share capital, commonly referred to as capital stock in the United States, is the portion of a corporation's equity that has been derived by the issue of shares in the corporation to a shareholder, usually for cash.
Partnership
Relation between persons who have agreed to share the profits of a business carried on by all any of them acting for all."
Among developed countries, for example, business partnerships are often favored over corporations in taxation policy, since dividend taxes only occur on profit before they are distributed to the partners.
Livery company
There are 110 livery companies, comprising London's ancient and modern trade associations and guilds, almost all of which are styled the 'Worshipful Company of...' their respective craft, trade or profession.
Livery companies evolved from London's medieval guilds, becoming corporations under Royal Charter responsible for training in their respective trades, as well as for the regulation of aspects such as wage control, labour conditions and industry standards.
Corporate law
Body of law governing the rights, relations, and conduct of persons, companies, organizations and businesses.
The term refers to the legal practice of law relating to corporations, or to the theory of corporations.