In this activity, your instructor will assign you to a group with four of your peers. Each of you will research the possible suggestions for forming and operating the business and report your findings back to your group.

Amy, Bob, and Carol want to discuss forming an S corporation instead of a partnership to operate a marina in Florida. They wish to have equal ownership in the business entity. Amy can contribute $400,000, and she is a boat mechanic. Bob has management expertise in running a marina, and he has five acres on the Intracoastal Waterway that he can contribute. Carol has experience running an office, and she has $300,000 in cash and office furniture and equipment worth $50,000. The three partners in this endeavor are interested in providing health insurance, life insurance, and dental insurance for each owner.

In your report, explain whether there are any tax advantages of having the business provide employee benefits for owners as well as other employees. What are some options that should be considered to fairly compensate each of the owners for what they are contributing and for the work they will do running the business?

Once everyone in the group has reported on the possible suggestions for forming and operating the business, build on one anothers ideas until, as a group, you have fully fleshed out the advantages and disadvantages of each approach to successfully operating the marina.

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