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Business Structures Within The United States

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One of the most important decisions when starting a company is to determine the type of legal entity best suited for your business. Each country has different legal business entities under its regulatory framework. According to Dewhurst (2014), the most common types of business structures within the United States are: proprietorship, partnership, corporation, limited-liability company, and cooperative. Additionally, there are other types of legal entities derived from the association of different corporations, such as joint ventures.
A proprietorship is the most basic business entity (Dewhurst, 2014), in which an owner receives all profits and is legally liable for the obligations related to the business. It is the easiest structure to set-up, register and maintain, and additional tax incomes are not legally separated from the person. Its biggest disadvantage is that the personal property of the owner are not legally protected in case of financial obligations or company debts (Pakroo, 2004).
A partnership is related to any business entity conformed for two or more owners, not registered as a corporation or a limited-liability company. The partnership can be of two types: General partnership or limited partnership. In a limited partnership, one of the owners generally acts as the general partner assuming responsibility for managing the business decisions, while the limited partner only acts as a financial contributor to the business without any participation on business

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