"Stock bonus and profit sharing plans have somewhat less restrictive rules than ESOPs, ... particularly around distribution requirements, valuation requirements, and what percentage of assets must be held in company stock. In general, companies not needing to borrow money through the plan, not using the plan to provide the seller the special tax deferral treatment available to sellers to C corporation ESOPs, and/or not wanting to be an S corporation to obtain the special S corporation ESOP tax benefits may find there are no special benefits to having a statutory ESOP. [A table] summarizes the key differences between these plans."

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