Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, 558 U.S. 310 (2010), is a US constitutional law case, in which the United States Supreme Court held that the First Amendment prohibits the government from restricting political independent expenditures by corporations, associations, or labor unions.

FEC (Supreme Court) Federal Election Commission that held that corporations could be banned from making electioneering communications. The Court upheld the reporting and disclaimer requirements for independent expenditures and electioneering communications.

Summary. On March 26, 2010, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals held that the provisions of the Federal Election Campaign Act that limit the contributions that individuals may make to SpeechNow.org, and the contributions that SpeechNow.org may accept from them, violate the First Amendment.

The Court ruled, 5-4, that the First Amendment prohibits limits on corporate funding of independent broadcasts in candidate elections. The justices said that the government’s rationale for the limits on corporate spending—to prevent corruption—was not persuasive enough to restrict political speech.

Decision. On January 21, 2010, the Court issued a 5–4 decision in favor of Citizens United that struck down the BCRA’s restrictions on independent expenditures from corporate treasures as violations of the First Amendment.

Federal Election Commission that held that corporations could be banned from making electioneering communications. The Court upheld the reporting and disclaimer requirements for independent expenditures and electioneering communications. The Court’s ruling did not affect the ban on corporate contributions.

Unlike traditional PACs, Super PACs can raise funds from individuals, corporations, unions, and other groups without any legal limit on donation size. The result of the Citizens United and SpeechNow.org decisions was the rise of a new type of political action committee in 2010, popularly dubbed the “super PAC”.

House Joint Resolution 21, the “People’s Rights Amendment” overturns Citizens United and makes clear that the rights protected by the Constitution are the rights of natural persons.

Corporations may make donations to Political Action Committees (PACs); PACs generally have strict limits on their ability to advocate on behalf of specific parties or candidates, or even to coordinate their activities with political campaigns. PACs are subject to disclosure requirements at the federal and state levels.

The nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center said in a statement that the dark-money provision ensures “that the door to secret foreign dollars in U.S. elections remains wide open through secret contributions to these ostensibly ‘nonpolitical’ groups that run campaign ads without any disclosure of their donors.”

Legislation in the United States. the words “person” and “whoever” include corporations, companies, associations, firms, partnerships, societies, and joint stock companies, as well as individuals; This federal statute has many consequences. For example, a corporation is allowed to own property and enter contracts.

A corporation is owned by shareholders. If you are the sole owner of the company, then you own 100 percent of the shares. If there are other owners besides yourself, the ownership position of each is based on the percentage of the total shares owned.

The law treats a corporation as a legal “person” that has standing to sue and be sued, distinct from its stockholders. The legal independence of a corporation prevents shareholders from being personally liable for corporate debts.

Furthermore, corporations are usually owned by multiple people and the ability to exchange ownership is easy, while companies can be owned by one individual and ease of transferring ownership depends on the business structure.

The Secretary of State where the company is incorporated You can find out whether the company is a corporation in good standing and has filed annual reports with the state through the secretary of state where the company is incorporated.

Amazon.com, Inc. is a C Corporation. This is the “company” of Amazon that most people know about and care about — it’s listed on NASDAQ and issues stock, and it’s in the news whenever Amazon makes a new announcement or launches a new service or product.

Forming an LLC or a corporation will allow you to take advantage of limited personal liability for business obligations. LLCs are favored by small, owner-managed businesses that want flexibility without a lot of corporate formality. Corporations are a good choice for a business that plans to seek outside investment.

An LLC can achieve pass-through taxation status without any of those restrictions. LLCs also offer more income tax choices in how you are taxed. By default, LLCs enjoy pass-through taxation under IRS rules. However, by making an IRS election, you could have your LLC taxed as a C corporation or an S Corporation.

Because distributions are taxed at both the corporate and the shareholder level, C corporations and their shareholders often end up paying more in taxes than S corporations or LLCs.

An S corporation can have only one class of stock, although it can have both voting and non-voting shares. Therefore, there can’t be different classes of investors who are entitled to different dividends or distribution rights. Also, the number of shareholders is limited – there cannot be more than 100 shareholders.

The S Corp advantage is that you only pay FICA payroll tax on your employment wages. The remaining profits from your S Corp are not subject to self-employment tax or FICA payroll taxes. Those profits are only subject to income tax.

Yes, you can have an S corporation with only one shareholder. Under U.S. tax rules, an S corporation is permitted to have anywhere from 1 to 100 shareholders.

Owner’s draw in an S corp Since an S corp is structured as a corporation, there is no owner’s draw, only shareholder distributions. But a shareholder distribution is not meant to replace the owner’s draw. Instead, you must take a salary as a W-2 employee.

Owner’s Draw. Most small business owners pay themselves through something called an owner’s draw. The IRS views owners of LLCs, sole props, and partnerships as self-employed, and as a result, they aren’t paid through regular wages.

Paying Dividends Amounts you withdraw from your company above the basic salary should normally be treated as dividends. Dividends are only payable from post-tax profits so, if you’re not yet turning a profit and need to take out funds, you’ll have to do this via a salary instead.