"Authorized shares" refers to the number of shares the corporation is allowed to issue under its certificate or articles of incorporation. If your corporation has shares that do not have a par value, the tax rate is five cents on each authorized share of stock.Authorized shares are the maximum number of shares that a company is permitted to issue to investors, as laid out in its articles of incorporation. Every corporation shall have power to create and issue the number of shares stated in its certificate of incorporation. Such shares may be all of one class. Every state demands that you supply three basic facts about your business: its corporate name, its registered agent and the number of authorized shares. There is no minimum number of shares that must be authorized in the articles of incorporation. One or more shares may be authorized. It must then obtain board approval to issue additional shares. Section 5001 - Authorized shares 1.