What is widely held public company?

Answer 1

Widely held public companies are those limited companies which are listed with Stock exchanges and closely held limited companies are the ones which are not listed.

Answer 2

Widely held public company is one where public are substantially interested.Whereas a closely held companies is one where public are not substantially interested.

Closely held company is perceived generally as unlisted public companies and private companies Every company which falls in the following categories, is considered a company in which the public is substantially interested, and Every company which does not fall in the following categories, is considered closely held:

1. a company owned by the Government or the Reserve Bank of India or in which not less than forty per cent of the shares are held (whether singly or taken together) by the Government or the Reserve Bank of India or a corporation owned by that bank

2. Section 25 companies

3. a company having no share capital and if, having regard to its objects, the nature and composition of its membership and other relevant considerations, it is declared by order of the Board to be a company in which the public are substantially interested

4.a mutual benefit finance company, that is to say, a company which carries on, as its principal business, the business of acceptance of deposits from its members and which is declared by the Central Government under section 620A of the Companies Act, 1956

5.a company, wherein equity shares carrying not less than fifty per cent of the voting power have been allotted unconditionally to, or acquired unconditionally by, and were throughout the relevant previous year beneficially held by, one or more co-operative societies

6. A company which is not a private company and whose shares are listed as on the last day of the previous year, in a recognised stock exchange,

7. A company whose equity shares carrying not less than 50% voting power have been allotted unconditionally to, or acquired unconditionally by, and were throughout the relevant previous year beneficially held by (a) Govt (b) Corporation established by central or state or provincial legislation or (c) any other company in which the public is substantially interested.

8. In case of an Indian company whose business consists mainly in the construction of ships or in the manufacture or processing of goods or in mining or in the generation or distribution of electricity or any other form of power, the shareholding referred in point 7 need only be 40% Thus we see that even unlisted public companies can be one in which public is substantially interested, if the shareholding is by the entities mentioned. The concept of this classification is mainly to tax pretended loans to related parties of the closely held company as deemed dividend U/s 2(22)(e) of the income tax act