成立公司可以有几种形式？

 

 

　　As far as is generally known,there are several forms of entrepreneur stipulated in laws like Corporate Law and other laws,statutes and regulations.Generally speaking,we can divide entrepreneurs or businesses into the following forms:

 

　　大家都知道，在公司法和其他法律法规里规定了几种企业形式。一般而言，我们可以将企业划分为以下的几种形式：

 

　　1.Self-employed business

 

　　You can individually set up a self-employed business,which is based on each household and shall not be considered as a company or corporation.You should bear the joint and several liability for any liability such business bears.Therefore,from perspective of civil law,a self-employed business does not have much distinction in legal personality with the operator of such self-employed business.Taxes to be imposed upon a self-employed business is often lower and sometimes the taxes are set at a fixed rate,which is more favorable for small businesses.

 

　　The basic problem for the operations of a self-employed business is that it does not provide a shelter for its operators against liability,and when the proprietors are seeking cooperation,if the potential partners find out it is only a small self-employed business,then the doubts as to its adequacy of assets and the capability to repay the liability arises.

 

　　1、个体工商户

 

　　你可以以个人名义设立个体工商户，它以家庭为单位设立，不具有公司主体性质。个体工商户的所有者个人需要为该工商户的债务承担连带责任。因此，从民法角度看，个人工商户和其经营者的法律人格并没有很明显的区分。个体工商户所缴纳的税收一般较低，且很多时候缴纳的税收是固定税率，这对工商业者是有利的。

 

　　个体工商户的一个主要问题是不能为业主提供屏障使其免于承担外在债务，同时当业主寻求合作时，潜在合作对象发现这只是一个小的个体工商户，那么就会产生对其资产充足性和偿债能力的疑问。

 

　　2.partnership

 

　　There are two forms of partnership:the first one is general partnership and the second one is limited partnership.As a principle,partners of a partnership shall bear the joint and several liability for any liability incurred by the partnership.For general partnership,all the partners shall bear joint and several liability for any debts incurred by the partnership.Such debts payable shall be distributed among the partners according to proportions of equity held by the partners,but such distribution has nothing to do with the creditor’s right to ask any partner to pay full amount of debts.

 

　　The other form of partnership is limited partnership.A limited partnership normally comprises several limited partners and one general partner.The limited partners only bear the liability of the partnership as to the extent that they have exhausted their capital contributions made to the partnership;from the perspective of limited liability,their legal status highly resemble that of shareholders of limited companies.The general partner shall bear the liability of the partnership unconditionally,and thus he is the only manager and operator of the partnership,the other limited partners are not authorized to involve in daily operations of the partnership.

 

　　Different from a company,which shall pay corporate income taxes before it could distribute the dividends to its shareholders,the partnership is not considered as a taxpayer but the partners are to be considered as taxpayers,thus the partnership is exempt from corporate income taxes.Many venture capital funds,private equity funds or other investment funds all adopt the form of limited partnership.

 

　　2、合伙企业

 

　　合伙企业存在两种模式，一种是普通合伙企业，另一种是有限合伙企业。原则上，合伙人应当对合伙企业所产生的债务承担连带责任。对于普通合伙企业而言，所有的合伙人都对合伙企业发生的债务承担无限连带责任。当然，这些债务应根据合伙份额的不同由合伙人在内部予以分担，但是这种分担并不影响债权人要求任何合伙人偿还全部债务的权利。

 

　　另外一种合伙企业的模式是有限合伙。有限合伙企业一般由数位有限合伙人和一位普通合伙人组成。有限合伙人只以自己对合伙企业的出资为限承担合伙债务；从他们的有限责任这一角度而言，有限合伙人与有限公司的股东高度类似。而普通合伙人应当无条件承担合伙债务，他也是合伙企业的经营管理者，其他有限合伙人不得接入合伙企业日常经营事务。

 

　　合伙企业和公司在税收上也有所不同。公司需要在发放红利之前先缴纳企业收入税，而合伙企业并不被视为一个纳税主体，而是由合伙人作为纳税主体缴纳个人所得税，合伙企业免交企业所得税。很多风投资金、私募股权基金或者其他投资基金都采用有限合伙模式。

 

　　3.Limited Companies

 

　　The investors only have to go through very simple procedures to register with the industrial and commercial authority to set up a limited company.The Corporate Law as amended in 2014 provides for that there is no requirement for minimum registered capital and no restrictions on minimum paid-in capital.Investors can agree unanimously on making a flexible mechanism for corporate management and supervision,such as issuing virtual stock as incentive plan,issuing different classes of shares which are assigned different rights and powers such as the people holding Class B shares having voting rights far exceeding the proportion of shares,and granting specific managers the power to veto a plan.The form of limited company allows for the largest extent of corporate autonomy.

 

　　3、有限公司

 

　　投资者经过很简单的程序就可以在工商部门注册以成立有限责任公司。2014年修正的公司法已经取消了最低注册资本的要求，同时也对实缴资本不设最低标准。投资者可以通过一致同意为公司管理和监督设立灵活的机制，比如设立虚拟股权这一激励计划，发行不同类别的股权如A/B股，持有B股的股东可以享有超过A股的表决权，也可以享有一票否决提案的权利。有限公司允许最大程度的公司自治。

 

　　Nanjing Corporate Lawyer suggests that investors shall select the form of enterprise that best fit their demands,in consideration of factors as flexibility,tax favors,and sophisticated institutional structure,etc.

 

　　南京公司律师许光律师（电话微信同号17712855901）认为投资者应该选择最适合他们需要的企业形式，考虑因素包括经营灵活性、税收优惠或者成熟的公司治理结构等等。