Final answer:
An S Corporation typically offers the lowest tax rate compared to other forms of business due to its pass-through taxation, which avoids the double taxation seen in regular corporations.
Step-by-step explanation:
When considering tax rates among different business forms, an S Corporation generally has a lower tax rate when compared to a sole proprietorship, partnership, and traditional corporation. An S Corporation is a special type of corporation that's designed to avoid the double taxation drawback of regular C corporations while still providing limited liability protections. Income in an S Corporation is passed through to the shareholders' personal tax returns, where it is taxed at personal income tax rates, rather than at corporate tax rates.
Conversely, a sole proprietorship reports income on the owner's personal tax return, and is taxed at the owner's individual tax rates, which may be higher. A partnership also passes through its income to the individual partners who are then taxed at their personal rates. A regular corporation is taxed at the corporate tax rate, which can be higher than personal tax rates, and dividends paid to shareholders are also taxed, resulting in double taxation.
Therefore, for the question of which form of business has the lowest tax rate discussed in the chapter, the answer would be d. S Corporation.