Exam 12: Entities Overview

Roberto and Reagan are both 25 percent owner/managers for Bright Light Enterprises. Roberto runs the retail store in Sacramento, CA, and Reagan runs the retail store in San Francisco, CA. Bright Light generated a $125,000 profit companywide made up of a $75,000 profit from the Sacramento store, a ($25,000) loss from the San Francisco store, and a combined $75,000 profit from the remaining stores. If Bright Light is taxed as a partnership and decides that Roberto and Reagan will be allocated 70 percent of his own store's profit with the remaining profits allocated pro rata among all the owners, how much income will be allocated to Reagan?

In its first year of existence, BYC Corporation (a C corporation) reported a loss for tax purposes of ($40,000). How much tax will BYC pay in year 2 if it reports taxable income from operations of $35,000 in year 2 before any loss carryovers?

In the current year, DNS (a C corporation) had taxable income of $600,000 and distributed all of its after-tax earnings to Daniel, its sole shareholder. DNS's tax rate is 38 percent. Assuming Daniels's marginal tax rate on ordinary income is 28 percent and his dividend rate is 15 percent (he is not subject to the net investment income tax), what is the overall tax rate (combined corporate level and shareholder level) on DNS's $600,000 of taxable income?

Which legal entity provides the least flexible legal arrangement for owners?

Unincorporated entities with only one individual owner are taxed as sole proprietorships.

For the current year, Creative Designs Inc., a C corporation, reports taxable income of $300,000 before paying salary to Ben the sole shareholder of Creative Designs Inc. (CD). Ben's marginal tax rate on ordinary income is 28 percent and 15 percent on dividend income. Assume CD's tax rate is 39 percent. a. How much total income tax will Creative Designs and Ben pay on the $300,000 taxable income for the year if CD doesn't pay any salary to Ben and instead distributes all of its after-tax income to Ben as a dividend? b. How much total income tax will Creative Designs and Ben pay on the $300,000 of income if CD pays Ben a salary of $100,000 and distributes its remaining after-tax earnings to Ben as a dividend? c. Compare your answer in part a. with your answer to part b. Explain why these numbers are different.

Which of the following is not an effective strategy for mitigating the double tax associated with C corporations?

What is the maximum number of unrelated shareholders a C corporation can have, the maximum number of unrelated shareholders an S corporation can have, and the maximum number of partners a partnership may have?

Jamal Corporation, a C corporation, projects that it will have taxable income of $500,000 before incurring any lease expenses. Jamal's tax rate is 34 percent. Ali, Jamal's sole shareholder, has a marginal tax rate of 33 percent on ordinary income and 15 percent on dividend income. Jamal always distributes all of its after-tax earnings to Ali. a. What is the amount of the combined corporate and shareholder level tax on Jamal Corp.'s $500,000 pre-lease expense income if Jamal Corp. distributes all of its after-tax earnings to its sole shareholder Ali? (ignore the 3.8% net investment income tax) b. What is the amount of the combined corporate and shareholder level tax on Jamal Corp.'s $500,000 pre-lease expense income if Jamal leases equipment from Ali at a cost of $120,000 for the year? (ignore the 3.8% net investment income tax) c. What is the amount of the combined corporate and shareholder level tax on Jamal Corp.'s $500,000 pre-lease expense income if Jamal Corp. leases equipment from Ali at a cost of $120,000 for the year but the IRS determines that the fair market value of the lease payments is $80,000? (ignore the 3.8% net investment income tax)

S corporations have more restrictive ownership requirements than other entities.