Which is a disadvantage of S corporations?

• A. There are very strict qualification requirements for becoming an S corporation
• B. There is a limited number of allowed S corporations
• C. They are subject to double-taxation
• D. They have high taxation rates

Answer: (A)

S corporations are taxed as pass-through entities, so profits and losses flow to shareholders rather than being taxed at the corporate level. The main drawback is that qualifying to be an S corporation is highly restrictive. To elect S status, the business must be a domestic corporation and meet several limits: there can be no more than 100 shareholders, shareholders must be eligible entities (typically individuals, certain trusts or estates, but not corporations or nonresident aliens), there must be only one class of stock, and all eligible shareholders must consent to the election. These rigid rules can block otherwise strong businesses from using this structure, making the eligibility requirements the key disadvantage. The other statements don’t fit because S corps aren’t subject to double taxation, and they don’t inherently face high tax rates—the tax impact is determined by the shareholders’ personal tax brackets.