Yes, You May Want to Reconsider the C Corporation Now

December 23rd, 2018 at 7:44 AM

23 Dec Yes, You May Want to Reconsider the C Corporation Now

Posted at 12:44h Business Structuring by MF

When you first see that 21 percent tax rate for the C corporation, you have to think that this could be the choice of entity for your business operation.

 

Further, when you find yourself in the out-of-favor group for the 20 percent deduction, you naturally gravitate to thinking about the C corporation, perhaps as a means of getting even.

 

If you operate as an S corporation, the profits come to you on a K-1 and you pay your Form 1040 taxes at the 34 percent rate, for a total tax on your S corporation profits of $34,000.

 

If you operate as a C corporation, the profits are first taxed at the C corporation level at a rate of 21 percent, for a tax of $21,000. This leaves you with $79,000 of the $100,000 in profits available for distribution as a dividend to you.

 

You are in your “give me the money” mode, so to get the cash, you endure the double taxation, starting with the dividend tax of 15 percent. This creates an $11,850 tax ($79,000 x 15 percent).

 

Your tax bracket also triggers the net investment income tax (NIIT) that applies because of your dividend income. The NIIT is $3,002 ($79,000 x 3.8 percent).

 

As a C corporation, your total federal taxes on the $100,000 of income are $35,852, which consists of the following:

 

  1. C corporation taxes of $21,000
  2. 1040 dividend taxes of $11,850
  3. 1040 NIIT of $3,002

 

Based on the same $100,000 in profits, operating as an S corporation results in $34,000 to the government compared with the C corporation, which pays $35,853. The winner: the S corporation.

 

You might ask: Why no NIIT on the S corporation profits? Answer: If the shareholder materially participates in the S corporation, the NIIT does not apply to the pass-through income derived from active business operations.

 

Mark S. Fineberg, CPA

 

 

 

 

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