While there are significantly more pass-through entities than C corporations, corporations still earn the largest portion of total gross receipts. In 2011, corporations earned 62 percent of the $30.9 trillion in total business receipts. Meanwhile, pass-through businessA pass-through business is a sole proprietorship, partnership, or S corporation that is not subject to the corporate income tax; instead, this business reports its income on the individual income tax returns of the owners and is taxed at individual income tax rates. es make up nearly 95 percent of all firms and account for the remaining 38 percent of gross receipts with $11.8 trillion.
It’s interesting to note, though, that despite earning $8 trillion less in total gross receipts, pass-throughs earned more net income (over $1.3 trillion) than corporations (over $800 billion) in 2011.
For more charts like this, please see our new chart book, Business in America: Illustrated.
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