Private limited company including limited companies and US LLCs, are treated as bodies corporate subject to United Kingdom corporation tax if the profits of the entity belong to the entity and not to its members. A limited liability company (LLC) is a relatively new business structure authorized by state statutes. The LLC is chiefly inspired by the GmbH ("Company with limited liability"), a type of business organization in Germany, and by the , a type of business organization available in many Latin American countries. In the United States, the first limited liability company act appeared in Wyoming in 1977 as special interest legislation
Interest of the company may nonetheless be ratified by the shareholders of the company, and will thereby be binding upon the company, see for example under English law, "Multinational Gas and Petrochemical Co v Multinational Gas and Petrochemical Services Ltd" [1983] Ch 258. The rule is generally seen to be particularly harsh towards both third parties and against directors, who could be regarded as being in breach of their duty merely by acting with what others might regard as common human decency. Where the company's property could not be recovered from the third party, the directors would be personally liable to recompense the company.