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The public limited company it is a form of organization in which social capital is mostly in the hands of workers who provide paid services in them. It is assumed that these partners work for the company under an indefinite contract.
If you are thinking of this legal form for your business, you need to register in the Mercantile Registry, providing the certificate of the Ministry of Employment and Social Security (confirming your job qualification and proof of your registration in the Register of Labor Societies.
Keep in mind that job qualification may be lost if the organization of work increases the burden of “non-partner” workers in terms of hours per year, and these exceed 49% of those worked by working partners for more than 12 months.
Features of public limited company
The fact that social capital is in the hands of the working partners is one of the defining characteristics of this form of organization. Another identifying feature has to do with the fact that no member can own more than one in three shares of the share capital, with the exception of some cases included in the Law that It is flexible in cases where the partners are public entities or there are only two founding partners, the latter circumstance in which they would have up to three years to adapt to what is required in the regulations for this type of company.
The minimum share capital to establish a public limited company is € 60,000 and it will be divided into registered shares, some of the labour class, owned by the indefinite workers, and others of the general class, which will be the rest. The labour society may hold shares of both classes.
In addition to legal or statutory reserves, it is necessary to have a special Reserve, of 10% of the liquid benefit of each year, until the amount of the share capital is doubled.
Those who set up a public limited company have some obligations, how:
- Keep a book of inventories and annual accounts.
- Have a daily record of operations.
- Have a Book of Minutes.
- Maintain an updated book-registry of registered shares.
Which is a better public limited company or a limited company?
The best way to compare these two options is to meet criteria such as formal requirements or minimum social capital, since, in other aspects, both legal forms are comparable. This is what happens at the level of responsibilities, wherein both cases, that of the partners vis-à-vis third parties will be limited to their contributions; or in taxation, where both obtain benefits.
The two types of companies will enjoy a “99% bonus of the fees that are accrued by means of onerous asset transfers of goods and rights from the company from which the majority of the working partners of the labour society come”. This benefit applies to the Tax on Patrimonial Transfers and Documented Legal Acts.
But there are differences, such as:
| Public Limited Company | Labor Limited Society | |
| € 60,000 | Minimum capital | € 3,000 |
| It is the best option when high participation is planned. | Number of partners | It is the alternative to consider in family businesses or projects with few partners. |
| Both during its life cycle, and its dissolution, they imply greater complexity and higher costs. | Formal requirements | They are simpler and are associated with lower spending. |