Definition of "Limited liability company (llc)"
Company in which shareholders limit their liability exposure to their percentage of ownership or equity interest in the company. Shareholders' personal assets are protected in the event of business-related lawsuits. The tax situation for this type of company is much like that of the partnership in that it acts as a pass-through tax entity. A tax return for a partnership is filed with the IRS for information purposes only. All income and expenses are attributed to the stockholders of the LLC. According to the LLC agreement, the stockholders can allocate income and its resultant tax liability the same way as partners in a partnership. The LLC has advantages over the sub-chapter "S" corporation to include the following: LLC has no restriction on number of persons who may be stockholders; "S" corporations are limited to 35 stockholders; LLC may have multiple classes of stock; an "S" corporation can have only one issue of stock; and LLC may own subsidiaries; an "S" corporation cannot own subsidiaries.
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