There are many considerations that influence how a transaction is structured, including tax considerations. The most basic tax issue is whether to structure the transaction as taxable or tax-free. In general, there are four basic structures for a corporate acquisition: (1) a taxable acquisition of a target corporation's stock; (2) a taxable acquisition of a target corporation's assets; (3) a tax-free acquisition of the target corporation's stock; or (4) a tax-free acquisition of a target corporation's assets.