corporations (Meaning)

an association of employers and employees in a basic industry or of members of a profession organized as an organ of political representation in a corporative state, a political unit created or otherwise given corporate status (as by a charter) by a superior governing authority (as a state) and endowed with powers of local self-government (as eminent domain), a group that is authorized by law to carry on an activity (as a business enterprise) with the rights and duties of a single person, a business corporation whose stocks are publicly traded, a body formed and authorized by law to act as a single person although constituted by one or more persons and legally endowed with various rights and duties including the capacity of succession, a for-profit corporation whose purpose is to provide a benefit to society (such as improving the environment or promoting good health) in addition to making a profit for shareholders, public corporation in this entry, a corporation that pays taxes as a corporate entity compare S corporation in this entry, a corporation (as a bank) authorized to engage in the investment, exchange, or lending of moneyed capital, a corporation described in section 1361 of the Internal Revenue Code that has 35 shareholders or less and only one class of stock and that may if eligible elect to be an S corporation and taxed accordingly, small business corporation in this entry, a government-owned corporation (as a utility or railroad) engaged in a profit-making enterprise that may require the exercise of powers unique to government (as eminent domain), an invisible, intangible, artificial creation of the law existing as a voluntary chartered association of individuals that has most of the rights and duties of natural persons but with perpetual existence and limited liability see also pierce compare association, partnership, sole proprietorship, a corporation organized by one or more licensed individuals (as a doctor or lawyer) to provide professional services and obtain tax advantages, a corporation organized under the laws of a state or government other than that in which it is doing business, a small business corporation that is treated for federal tax purposes as a partnership, the municipal authorities of a town or city, potbelly sense 1, s corporation in this entry, a public corporation (as a utility) created to act as an agency of administration and local self-government, a group of merchants or traders united in a trade guild (see guild sense 1), a corporation formed for purposes of tax evasion or acquisition or merger rather than for a legitimate business purpose, a corporation that exists as a legal entity without independent assets or operations as an instrument by which another company or corporation can carry out dealings usually unrelated to its primary business, a corporation whose shares are held by a small number of individuals (as management) and not publicly traded