A dummy corporation or dummy company is an entity created to serve as a front or cover for one or more legitimate companies. It can have the appearance of being real (logo, website, public relations) but lacks the capacity to function independently. The goal of dummy corporation can be to conceal true ownership and/or avoid taxes. A dummy corporation is one way to cook the books in a dishonest attempt to hide the true financial status of a company.

An example of a dummy company is the now-defunct Japan Asia Airways (JAA). JAA was a fully-owned subsidiary company owned by Japan Airlines (JAL) designed to fly Japan-Taiwan route, which was a politically sensitive issue due to Japan's normalization of relations with the People's Republic of China.

See also

• Front organization
• Shell corporation