Forms of Business
Forms of Business
Forms of Business
FORMS OF BUSINESS
Partnership
It is a contract whereby two or more persons bind themselves to contribute money, property, or
industry to a common fund, with the intention of dividing the profits among themselves (NCC, Art. 1767).
NOTE: Two or more persons may also form a partnership for the exercise of a profession (NCC, Art.
1767).
A corporation is an artificial being created by operation of law, having the right of succession and
the powers, attributes and properties expressly authorized by law or incident to its existence. (CC,
Sec. 2)
1. Proprietorship – is a business that is owned by a single individual who has full control and
authority in running this kind of business. The owner, called proprietor, owns all the assets and is
solely responsible for all the liabilities of the company. He or she enjoys all the profits but also
suffers all losses of this business. The proprietor and his proprietorship business/businesses is
considered as one taxpayer, sharing a single TIN (Taxpayer Identification Number) for tax purposes.
A sole proprietorship must apply for a business trade name and be registered with the Department of
Trade and Industry.
2. Partnership – is a business that is owned by two or more individuals or partners. Under the Civil
Code of the Philippines, a partnership is considered as juridical person, having a separate legal
personality from that of its owners (partners). Partnerships may either be general partnerships,
where the partners have unlimited liability for the debts and obligation of the partnership, or limited
partnerships, where one or more general partners have unlimited liability and the limited partners
have liability only up to the amount of their capital contributions. A partnership with more than three
thousand pesos (P3,000.00) capital must register with Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Partnerships are generally treated like corporations for income tax computation purposes.
a. Stock Corporation – This is a corporation with capital stock divided into shares and authorized to
distribute to the holders of such shares dividends or allotments of the surplus profits on the basis of
the shares held.
b. Non-stock Corporation. This is a corporation organized principally for public purposes such as
foundations, charitable, educational, cultural, or similar purposes and does not issue shares of stock
to its members.
Sole proprietorship
The problem, however, is that a sole proprietor has unlimited liability. Creditors
may proceed not only against the assets and property of the business, but also
after the personal properties of the owner. In other words, the law basically
treats the business and the owner as one and the same. This uniform treatment
also has important tax implications. Partnerships and corporations may lessen
their tax liability through a myriad of business expenses and other tax avoidance
techniques. These tax deductions may not be applicable to a sole proprietorship.
Also, the potential growth and reach of a sole proprietorship pale in comparison
with that of a corporation.
Partnership
A partnership consists of two or more persons who bind themselves to
contribute money or industry to a common fund, with the intention of dividing the
profits among themselves. The most common example of partnerships are
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professional partnerships, like in the case of law firms and accounting firms.
Just like a corporation, it is registered with the Securities and Exchange
Commission (SEC).
Corporation
A corporation is a juridical entity established under the Corporation
Code and registered with the SEC. It must be created by or composed of at
least 5 natural persons (up to a maximum of 15), technically called
“incorporators.” Juridical persons, like other corporations or partnerships,
cannot be incorporators, although they may subsequenly purchase shares and
become corporate shareholders/stockholders.
The liability of the shareholders of a corporation is limited to the amount of their
capital contribution. In other words, personal assets of stockholders cannot
generally be attached to satisfy the corporation’s liabilities, although the
responsible members may be held personally liable in certain cases. For
instance, the incorporators may be held liable when the doctrine of piercing the
corporate veil is applied. The responsible officers may also be held soliarily
liable with the corporation in certain labor cases, particularly in cases of illegal
dismissal.
The partnership has an existence separate from that of each of the partners. 2
Unlike a corporation, a partnership does not have shares of stock, which are the
basis for the distribution of the profits (i.e., dividends) among the stockholders.
Instead, in a partnership, the losses and profits are distributed in accordance
with the agreement of the partners. If only the share of each partner in the
profits has been agreed upon, the share of each in the losses shall be in the
same proportion. In the absence of an agreement, the share of each partner in
the profits and losses shall be in proportion to what he has contributed to the
partnership, but the industrial partner shall not be liable for the losses. 3
As for the profits, the industrial partner shall receive such profits as may be just
and equitable under the circumstances. If the industrial partner contributed
capital, he shall also receive a share in the profits in proportion to his capital. 4
A corporation is “an artificial being created by operation of law, having the right
of succession and the powers, attributes and properties expressly authorized by
law or incident to its existence.”5