Sole Proprietorship
A sole proprietorship has no assets separate from those of its owner, who is personally liable for business debts with their own assets. No minimum capital is required.
Legal forms
The forms a San Andreas business can adopt and states in its tax return (art. 1-3.1 of the Business Code).
General Partnership
A business formed by at least two partners who run it together and share the profits. Each partner is personally liable for all of the business debts. A written partnership agreement sets out each partner’s share and role.
Limited Partnership (LP)
A business with at least one general partner, who runs it and is personally liable for its debts, and one or more limited partners, who contribute capital without taking part in management and are liable only up to their contribution.
Limited Liability Partnership (LLP)
A business in which all partners take part in management, but none is liable for the misconduct or debts caused by the others: each is only answerable for their own acts and contribution. A common form for law, consulting and accounting firms.
Limited Liability Company (LLC)
An LLC is a company whose members are liable for its debts only up to their contributions. It requires sufficient declared capital, written articles and a founding deed approved by a lawyer.
C Corporation (C-Corp)
A company whose capital is divided into shares, with no limit on the number of shareholders. It has full legal personality, its shareholders only risk their contributions, and it can issue and transfer shares under its articles. The usual form for large businesses.
S Corporation (S-Corp)
A corporation with restricted ownership: a limited number of shareholders, all of them individuals, and a single class of shares. The same limited liability as a C Corporation, with a simpler structure suited to family or medium-sized businesses.
Professional Corporation (PC)
A corporation reserved for licensed professions (lawyers, doctors, accountants, architects…). Its shareholders must practise the profession concerned, and each remains personally liable for their own professional misconduct.
Professional Limited Liability Company (PLLC)
An LLC reserved for licensed professions. Its members must practise the profession concerned: limited liability protects them from the company’s debts, but not from their own professional misconduct.
Non-Profit Organization (NPO)
A non-profit organisation (association, foundation, charity): any surplus is reinvested in its mission and never distributed to its members or officers. Its written articles set out its purpose.